Post by Barry Kresch
Which Dealerships Are EV Friendly
This is our annual update of rebates by dealership, but let’s start with the backstory.
If a consumer has a poor dealership experience when shopping for an EV, who better to vent to than the EV Club, right? It’s been happening for years, war stories about being pushed to buy an ICE vehicle, a salesperson who doesn’t know anything about the car, about how to charge, or the incentives, the test drive vehicle not being charged, etc. After they’ve gotten that off their chest, they then say that they are still interested in the vehicle and ask if we can recommend a better option to get it. There are 251 automotive dealerships in the state and, no, we don’t personally know anywhere near all of them. So we began using CHEAPR rebates as a proxy for EV-friendliness, and based on anecdotal feedback, it has proven useful.
When we started doing this a half-dozen years ago, we saw large variations across dealerships. Some do a great job; others don’t seem to know how to spell EV. The hope was that over time the performance would even out. That hasn’t happened. The bigger concern going forward is with many manufacturers, particularly American ones, pivoting away from EVs in the wake of the abrupt loss of the federal incentive and the challenges of negotiating a capricious tariff regimen, that day may be further away. For dealerships that don’t care to sell EVs, this becomes a convenient excuse. Even for dealers that make an effort to sell EVs, this becomes a complicating factor. The danger on the manufacturer side is that these companies are ceding their future as Chinese competitors in particular continue making strides.
This is exacerbated by the fraught state of our international relations. For example, Canada, a market roughly the size of California, is in the process of finalizing a deal with China that would lower tariffs on Chinese EVs to 6.1%, down from 100%, for up to 49,000 EVs annually, increasing over 5 years to 70,000. Canadian imports of US-made EVs, which were which were 7,815 in May of 2024 fell to 772 in October 2025. Canada has characterized relations with the US as increasingly “unpredictable” and “volatile.” The non-partisan American EV Jobs Alliance, headed by former Republican political strategist Mike Murphy, issued a statement that said in part, “China just gained a foothold in the North American EV market, and it did not happen by accident. When U.S. trade policy becomes chaotic, unpredictable, and destructive, bad outcomes are inevitable…” (Chinese EVs are also being imported into Mexico in significant numbers.)
But, I digress.
Back to CT
CHEAPR is the state’s EV purchase incentive program. It awarded a total of 5467 rebates in 2025 (that number may go up slightly when Q4 numbers are finalized). 5291 were for new vehicles and 177 were for used cars. Of the new car rebates, 3565 were for Teslas and 1726 were for all other makes. CHEAPR offers rebates for both battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids. (The EV adoption goals that the state has set for itself, and which it is not achieving, include both powertrains.) Both are included here. That is what the following charts are based on since Tesla does not have dealerships. The chart at the top of the post is total rebates by make, excluding Tesla. Interestingly, though the legacy auto companies that are pivoting away from EVs say they are boosting production of hybrids to keep prices lower, the purchase behavior recorded in the CHEAPR program continues to overwhelmingly favor BEVs, which accounted for 86% of rebates last year.
There is an important limitation to the data, which is the CHEAPR MSRP cap of $50,000. There are some significant brands and models that do not have eligible vehicles.
The charts below are for all makes with a minimum of 20 rebates. Each chart is dealership within make to compare like to like. There are dealerships that do not appear in the charts and that is because their rebate count was zero (they don’t appear in the file). These are stacked bar charts that show specific models within each make. It is common for only some trim levels of a given model to be rebate-eligible, so the individual trims are displayed and would have to be added to have a total for a model. The charts are ordered by make from most rebates to least.
Toyota
Toyota led with 427 rebates for new EVs. Toyota has focused on PHEVs and only recently introduced a BEV, the bZ4X (renamed the bZ, thankfully, for the refreshed design in the new model year). The RAV4 PHEV continues to lead with 184 rebates, followed by the Prius PHEV at 131 and the bZ4X BEV at 112. Toyota has a forthcoming crossover, the small C-HR, expected to clock in at a mid-$30s price point, featuring an unusual design of a crossover coupe.
Chevrolet
Chevy followed closely with 418 new vehicle rebates and had a major success last year with the affordably priced Equinox BEV, the best-selling non-Tesla BEV in the country in 2025. Some of the trim levels of the Blazer qualified for the rebate. The Silverado pickup is too expensive. The new Bolt had not yet gone on sale. Kudos to Richard Chevrolet in Cheshire for cracking 100 rebates.
Kia
Kia was third with 363 rebates, led by the Sportage PHEV. The EV6 BEV is an example of a vehicle that spans the MSRP threshold with 2 of its 7 available trims being eligible, neither of which has AWD. That is just for context as the numbers in these charts should not be read as an indicator of the overall sales of a model. One of the dealerships reads as “Columbia Ford,” but the dealership is actually “Columbia Ford and Kia.” The rebates below are only for Kia.
Kia has a forthcoming rebate-eligible BEV in the EV3, a downsized EV6, expected to go on sale this year at a roughly $35K price point. The company has no plans at present to bring the even smaller EV2 to the USA, though it is generating a lot of buzz in Europe.
Hyundai
The Tucson PHEV was responsible for 41 of the 112 recorded rebates for Hyundai. The company has a strong selling BEV in the Ioniq 5 but many of those aren’t rebate-eligible. Hyundai has an Ioniq 3 on the near-term horizon, a sibling of the Kia EV3. No word is yet available about the Ioniq 2.
Subaru
Subaru had one EV for sale in 2025, the Solterra, which is basically a Toyota bZ4X, accounting for all 101 rebates. Like with the bZ, the refresh carries into the Solterra for 2026 and the specs are considerably improved. Subaru is expanding its BEV lineup with the Trailseeker and the Uncharted. Its Crosstrek PHEV was discontinued, though there have been rumors about a re-emergence as a BEV.
Volkswagen
All 62 rebates were for the ID.4. At one point, it had quite respectable sales, but it has struggled more recently. The ID Buzz is too expensive for CHEAPR and production has been paused for the 2026 model year, though the model reportedly isn’t going away. VW has a number of vehicles in the pipeline, such as the compact ID.Polo, but it is unlikely any will make an appearance this year. They may also ditch the ID moniker.
The big forthcoming news from VW is the vehicles emerging from their partnership with Rivian that promise to finally get them out of their software quicksand. These will most likely appear in 2027. Included in this is their new flanker brand, Scout (likely too expensive for CHEAPR), which has announced a direct sales model.
Ford
Most of the 57 rebates went to eligible trim levels of the Mustang Mach-E, which again in 2025 outsold its gasoline counterpart. There are a few rebates for the Escape PHEV. Ford announced a discontinuation of this model after the 2026 model year, but with its shifting of models, we’ll see if that holds. The F150 Lightning is too expensive for CHEAPR. The BEV version of the truck has been canceled and will be replaced by an EREV powertrain. No price has been announced. Ford is also working on their new low-cost, smaller EV trucks to be produced on their new Universal Platform that are scheduled to go on sale next year at an approximately $30,000 price point.
Nissan
Nissan, once an EV pioneer, has stalled in recent years, and the company faces financial challenges with frequent reports of an investment or tie-up with another manufacturer that has yet to happen. There were only 54 total rebates, mostly for the Leaf. In the new year, there are some major developments. The Ariya is no being sold in this country and the Leaf has been thoroughly redone as a crossover. It is now on sale with prices starting around $30K.
VinFast
A new entrant to the EV market and to the country, this Vietnamese company is an EV pure-play. They stumbled a bit out of the gate with software, but have reportedly overcome their early issues. If you own one, let us know what you think. VF, along with Hyundai, Tesla, Kia, and Lucid participated in our event offering test drives in September. The company has very few dealerships, only one in CT, Premier in Branford. All of the trim levels of the VF 8 are incentive-eligible. The VF 9 is too expensive. There is a forthcoming compact VF 7.
Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo had big plans to electrify, but as with all things Stellantis, nothing much has happened. They are represented here by the Tonale PHEV, which continues to be for sale.
Volvo
Volvo makes 5 plug-in models but the only one falling within CHEAPR territory is the EX30 compact BEV. Both its trim levels are eligible. It received early positive notices as an affordable entry level EV. But Volvo had to work through an early battery recall, and tariffs have escalated the price to where it starts at around $40K. Volvo has manufacturing facilities in the USA, but this car is manufactured in China and Belgium.
Mini
The final make exceeding our modest bar of 20 minimum rebates is Mini. There is only one trim level.
