DETROIT -- Chevrolet is cutting the sticker price on the Spark EV by $1,650 and adding cash incentives that will allow buyers to get the battery electric minicar for as low as $14,995 after federal and state tax breaks.
Chevy also has begun offering a lease offer of $139 per month for 39 months with no money down.
General Motors is the latest automaker to cut EV prices as lower fuel prices make green cars a tougher sell. On Monday, the average price for regular gasoline was $2.41, down from $3.65 a year ago, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Chevy spokeswoman Annalisa Bluhm said lower fuel prices are not a factor in the price cut and added incentives. She said Chevy wants to reach more customers.
General Motors has sold the Spark EV in some California and Oregon markets since mid-2013 and will begin sales in Maryland sometime this summer. Bluhm said Chevy has sold 2,116 Spark EVs since its debut.
The price reduction, effective today on the 2015 Spark EV 1LT (base trim), results in a $25,995 sticker, including the destination charge, down from the previous $27,645.
Most individual buyers also should be eligible for a federal tax credit of up to $7,500. Some states also offer tax breaks: California has a $2,500 tax rebate for some buyers, while Maryland offers a $2,300 excise-tax exemption.
Chevy is offering bonus cash to further sweeten the deal for would-be EV buyers: $1,000 in California, $1,200 in Maryland and $3,500 in Oregon, where state tax incentives aren't offered to EV buyers.
“Chevrolet is committed to making EV driving more accessible, affordable and fun,” Steve Majoros, director of car and crossover marketing for Chevy, said in a statement today.
Although the car is selling in very low volumes, Chevy is luring non-GM buyers, especially in California, where the brand has struggled historically. More than 90 percent of Spark EV owners traded in a non-GM vehicle or added the car as a new vehicle to the household, GM says.
The Spark EV gets an EPA estimated range of 82 miles on a full charge and is rated at the equivalent of 119 mpg in combined city and highway driving.
In October, Ford cut the price of the Focus EV by $6,000 to $29,995, including destination. In the last two years, the price of Nissan's Leaf EV, the Chevy Volt plug-in and other electric cars also have been sharply reduced amid lower-than-expected demand.
