$7,500 off a Lucid is still a solid discount, but there is a catch.
Oh, what a fun and exciting year 2023 is already turning out to be. Not only are (some) used car prices finally crashing back down to Earth, but some automakers are having a rethink about pricing. Tesla, for its part, dropped a whopping $13,000 off some Model Ys, and chopped several thousand dollars off their other models for good measure. Now, Lucid is responding in kind — well, sort of.
As folks over on the Lucid Forum point out, you can indeed get a $7,500 discount on the Lucid Air sedan. “Save $7,500 immediately. Accelerate instantaneously”, it tells would-be buyers via e-mail.
However, there’s a caveat in the same vein as the upcoming Alfa Romeo Tonale: You only get that discount when you lease a Lucid Air through the automaker’s own financial services arm. The company fleshes it out further in their FAQ: “At this time, Lucid Motors is able to pass on a $7,500 savings for lease customers only through Lucid Financial Services.” (Emphasis added).
Lucid Financial Services operates under a strategic partnership with Bank of America.
Why is it only for leasing customers?
As of this year, the Lucid Air is not eligible for the consumer-focused $7,500 tax credit under the Inflation Reduction Act signed into law last year. In fact, the company scrambled to find a solution for its customers, as the bill eliminated the credit for passenger cars with an MSRP over $55,000 (SUVs and trucks have a higher $80,000 MSRP cap).
The solution they’ve ostensibly found takes advantage of the Commercial Clean Vehicle Credit, which lets businesses claim a credit for EVs in their fleet. If the GVWR is under 14,000 pounds, then those businesses get to claim $7,500 on their tax return.
This is why you have to lease the vehicle, since the lender (Bank of America, in this case) claims the credit as the vehicle is still under their purview, according to the terms of the lease contract you’d sign with Lucid Financial Services. The lender then passes along the tax credit as a capitalized cost reduction to the lessee.
Lucid offers 24-month, 36-month and 48-month leases, and Lucid says you are able to purchase the vehicle at the end of your lease barring some excepted states (Kansas, Maine, New Hampshire or Ohio).
Again, $7,500 off a car that costs at least $107,400 before destination is certainly better than nothing. Lucid’s move could be a sign that Tesla’s pricing strategy is set to bring EV prices down further, improving accessibility, but we’ll still have to wait and see.
