Ford Focus Electric Incentives: $10K Off 3-Year Lease Or $2K Cash

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Ford Focus Electric Incentives: $10K Off 3-Year Lease Or $2K Cash

Antony Ingram

3,123 views Jan 25, 2013

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2012 Ford Focus Electric, New York City, April 2012

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We've clearly not seen the back of tempting electric car leasing deals.

One Mitsubishi dealer is offering the "i" electric car for as little as $69 per month for example, and Ford is now offering hefty discounts on its Focus Electric.

Lease buyers can get up to $10,750 off the cost of a three-year lease deal for buyers taking retail delivery by April 1, reports The Detroit News.

Customers can get a 36-month lease with 10,500 miles per year for $285 per month, and $930 down at signing. Ford says not all Focus EVs will qualify.

The lease includes the value of the full $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit.

It isn't just lease customers who can benefit, though - cash buyers can also get money off the slow-selling electric Focus.

Ford's website lists the price of the Focus Electric as $37,995 for cash buyers--$2,000 lower than list. Buyers financing through Ford Motor Credit can also get $2,000 cash discount, with financing at 1.9 percent.

The discounts have been likened to similar lease deals offered by Chevy last year to help boost Volt sales--though those initial discounts are no longer in place. Ford also says it doesn't have to knock too much money off the car.

"We certainly are not in a situation where we have to completely discount but we do have to respond to competitive pressures" said Ford spokesman, Wes Sherwood.

While Chevy moved 23,461 Volts in 2012 and Nissan sold 9,819 Leafs, Ford sold just 685 of the 1,627 Focus Electrics it built in 2012.

The Focus Electric has recently been given a positive review by Consumer Reports, even attaining a 107 MPGe efficiency figure--but it may take even better deals to encourage the buying public to find out for themselves.

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Comments (14)

John Briggs Posted: 1/25/2013 5:30am PST

$285/month is one way to respond to the competitive pressure of $69/month.

Of course, I'd much rather have a Focus EV than a Mitsubishi "i"

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juan pelotas Posted: 1/25/2013 8:24am PST

The lease is one way of getting people to try them for 2-3 years, and see how many go back to gas stops and $200-$300 gas on their credit cards.

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Douglas Kerr Posted: 1/25/2013 9:11am PST

I beg to disagree on the pricing noted by Green Car Reports. It is constantly noted that the price is around $38K for this car. First, if you price the car on the Ford site, you will find that the current incentive (through April 2013) is $10,750, making the true "price" of the car $30,880, not $38K as noted in this article. Second, the feds provide a $7500 tax credit (if you make enough to get a credit- that's another article altogether), and if you live in California, you get another $2500 payment from the state.

For some people, this makes the effective price of a Focus Electric $20,880. That is an amazing deal when you consider it is LESS than the base gas model. For those who claim you have to pay more for an electric car, I say "HA!

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John Voelcker Posted: 1/25/2013 9:25am PST

@Douglas: It's our policy on this site to quote all prices BEFORE incentives. We view post-incentive pricing by manufacturers as deceptive, since (a) not every buyer qualifies for all of the incentives; and (b) in the case of the Federal income-tax credit, it can take up to 15 months to realize the financial benefit, depending on when you buy the car versus when you file that year's taxes. At least the CA incentive is a purchase rebate: the driver gets a check in the mail (as long as the lease is for 3 years or more).

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Mittar Khalsa Posted: 1/25/2013 10:35am PST

The article implies that the $10,750 is for lease only. Douglas claims that it's for purchase as well. Which is it?

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Douglas Kerr Posted: 1/25/2013 11:03am PST

The Ford website pricing clearly states that the incentive is for $10,750 on the sale of the vehicle. (a) there are "residency restrictions" which I take to mean you have to be from the state where you buy the vehicle, (b) a news publication should at LEAST mention to its readers that there is a $10,750 incentive from Ford. (c) Whether this is "deceptive" should be left up to the reader to figure out, not completely ignored by the publication.

I mentioned the fed tax credit, not because it should have been included in the article; but just as an aside that combined with the state credit in CA, a buyer could get quite a deal (eventually) on the Ford Electric.

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Douglas Kerr Posted: 1/25/2013 11:10am PST

If its the site policy to quote prices BEFORE incentives, why post an article about a lease incentive and not even mention the very SAME purchase incentive? I think you should review your incentive policy considering you actually published an article about one incentive and left the other incentive out.

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John Briggs Posted: 1/25/2013 1:00pm PST

OK, I'm with Voelcker on this one. It is a complex deal.

So far all I have figured out is that if I put in Boston, I can only get the $2000 off (not the lease.

If I put in Calif (94121) there is a $249/month lease.

NYC has no programs at all.

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John Briggs Posted: 1/25/2013 1:03pm PST

Here is a link to ford's incentives page. select Focus EV and put in your zipcode.
http://www.ford.com/cars/focus/incentives/

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Xiaolong Li Posted: 1/25/2013 5:26pm PST

I think this proves the fact that a large "Percentage" of "green" car buyer want a distinct look for their EVs. Focus EV just doesn't look apart...

Leaf and Prius can be easily seen on the road. People who drives those "green" cars want to make "statements"...

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Jim Barbera Posted: 1/28/2013 11:10pm PST

I leased a Focus Electric because I wanted an EV that looked like an ordinary car. I did NOT want some goofy looking thingr to show off my green cred. The Focus Electric is a great looking car and it drives wonderfully. Very quiet on the freeway and well planted on mountain roads. Lots of torque make it fun and it's loaded with features normally found in cars in the high $30k range. After 7 months with the car, I still eagerly look forward to every minute behind the wheel.

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John Voelcker Posted: 1/29/2013 4:36am PST

@Jim: It would appear, however, that you are in the minority. As we've written, Ford delivered a total of just 685 Focus Electrics during all of 2012. Whether that's due to Ford not aggressively selling it, the car's anonymous looks, its price, or other factors is highly debatable.

But the fact remains: The data show there are far more "dedicated" plug-in cars on the roads today (primarily Volt, Leaf, and Tesla) than there are conversions like yours.

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John Briggs Posted: 1/29/2013 5:14am PST

There are 11 Focus EVs in inventory within a few miles of my house at three different dealerships. My guess is that they are having trouble moving them.

I don't know if it is the discreetlooks or the price or Ford not shouting about it, but if you have $38,000 and live in the Boston area, there are three dealerships that would love to have you drop by.

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Mark Tomkiel Posted: 1/29/2013 6:48am PST

This article prompted me to visit the Ford dealer over the weekend. Unfortunately being 6'6" and a Focus is a dangerous combination in the headroom dept. However I sat in a C-Max and was very impressed... more front interior room than my SUV!

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