WASHOUGAL — Like many car dealerships across the country, Westlie Ford in Washougal has seen decreased customer demand for electric vehicles in the past few years.
Nevertheless, the dealership remains firmly invested in the EV market and is cautiously optimistic that consumers will warm to EVs as technology improves.
“When they first came out, EVs were a really hot ticket,” General Manager Ryan Dickerson said. “We basically at one point had a waiting list for them. But there was also a lack of production on those cars, and it has flipped the opposite way right now. But I think that the technology is just going to get better over time.”
Westlie Ford is one of 13 dealerships in Clark County — 12 are in Vancouver — participating in the Washington State Department of Commerce’s new Electric Vehicle Instant Rebate Program, which provides up to $9,000 off a new EV lease for low-income drivers at point-of-sale, bringing lease payments to less than $200 per month on electric models at current pricing — well below the average gas-powered car payment of more than $700 per month.
“For folks who want to pay $0 at the gas pump, electric vehicles make that possible,” Gov. Jay Inslee said during a kickoff event in Seattle on Aug. 1. “These rebates open up so many affordable new options to thousands of lower-income drivers. This brings down costs for consumers and reduces pollution in our communities.”
Washington residents earning up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level — $45,180 annually for a single person or $93,600 for family of four — are eligible to receive $9,000 for a new EV lease of three years or more, or $5,000 for new EV purchases or two-year leases. Used EVs are also eligible for a $2,500 rebate on both purchases and leases.
The state has identified 26 models — including the Chevrolet Bolt, Ford F-150 Lightning, Hyundai Ioniq, Nissan Leaf, and Tesla Model 3, Model S and Model X — as eligible for rebates.
“The benefit to it is that the incentive can be taken as a rebate directly at the time of purchase, so that the customer doesn’t need to file taxes and file for it to come directly back,” Dickerson said. “The eligibility is pretty strict, so that’s the only tough part. We’ve had a lot of interest, but not everybody qualifies.”
Westlie Ford sells five or six EVs per month, Dickerson said, adding that through Aug. 11, the dealership has sold more Lightning EVs than gas-powered F-150s — though he admitted that’s “probably not going to stay that way for the rest of the month.”
Dickerson said Ford is set to introduce a program that “makes it simple and pretty easy for customers to set up home charging.”
Westlie Ford recently installed two Level 3 chargers and multiple Level 2 chargers that will come online later this month, adding to the number of charging stations that have popped up in east Clark County over the past several years.
