General Motors And Ford Found A Way To Keep The EV Lease Credit Alive

• General Motors and Ford are working with their dealers to extend the $7,500 EV tax credit, which expires for other automakers today, Reuters first reported. 
• The automakers themselves are making the initial down payments on available EVs, then leased out to customers with the $7,500 subsidy factored into the price.
• Ford’s program will be available until Dec. 31; GM says it exists “while supplies last.” 

The federal EV tax credit ends today, but automakers don’t want their electric models stuck on dealer lots at inflated prices—or force dealers to shoulder the cost of deep discounts to move them. Instead, Ford and General Motors think they may have a solution that could save EV buyers money even with the credit going away.

Reuters reported today that Ford and GM are both unveiling programs that would effectively extend the $7,500 EV tax credit on leased vehicles through at least the end of this year, in one automaker’s case. 

The program works like this: Each automaker’s financing arm has purchased the EVs in their dealers’ inventory and made the initial down payments on them. “Those down payments will qualify the lending arms for the federal $7,500 tax credit on those vehicles, according to the documents and dealers,” Reuters‘ report said. “From there, dealers would offer leases on those cars to retail customers as usual for several more months, with the $7,500 subsidy factored into the lease rate.”

Ford and GM officials both confirmed the program to InsideEVs. A Ford spokesperson said the lease deals would exist until Dec. 31, and that in order to secure the discounted lease prices, a shopper must use Ford Credit. A GM spokesperson said the deals exist “At participating dealers, while supplies last.”

The Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act created the modern EV tax credit system, which kicked in August 2022. That credit offered up to $7,500 off the purchase of a new electric car. However, it came with strict requirements for where the vehicle, its battery and battery components were made, so only a few EVs qualified for the credit upon purchase. President Trump’s signature One Big Beautiful Bill Act terminated the credits, effective today. 

However, due to the so-called “lease loophole”, any EV that was leased was eligible for the full $7,500 credit. This led to a surge in EV leasing over the past few years; Cox Automotive recently estimated that since 2023, more than 1.1 million EVs have been leased, “with lease share holding above 50% for eight straight months.” 

In other words, Ford and GM have found a way—at least temporarily—to keep shoppers leasing popular models like the Mustang Mach-E, Chevy Equinox EV and others with the discount still baked in. And that could keep sales reasonably strong at least until the program ends.

Most analysts and experts are expecting EV sales in America to decline in the fourth quarter of 2025 and into 2026 without the tax credit to aid in purchasing. Long-term, most automakers are preparing for a more electric future, and one that should be driven by inherently more affordable models as battery costs go down. 

Contact the author: patrick.george@insideevs.com