Cross-Country Purchase?

Discussion in 'Clarity' started by NU2EV, Dec 3, 2019.

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  1. insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

    Even if the federal EV tax credit (it's NOT a rebate--you have to owe $7,500 in taxes to take full advantage) was good on a Canadian import, I don't believe the warranty would follow the car across the border.
     
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  3. Back in the early years of the Chevrolet Volt, there were a couple of SoCal dealers who appeared on the gm-volt.com forum and promoted sales to out-of-state customers, including shipping, etc. in the package.

    I believe a California Honda dealer could be very successful joining this forum and doing the same.
    What would be a hassle to a dealer for an individual deal could probably be optimized for potentially dozens of sales.
     
  4. 4sallypat

    4sallypat Active Member

    Yes, an ambitious CA Honda sales person can make a lot of money for out of state sales.

    I have seen lots of this activity on the BMW forums that will ship cars out of state because of the pricing that can't be matched. BMW in Santa Barbara, Murrieta, and Los Angeles has sales people lurking the Bimmerfest and BMW message forums sites....

    Should be easy for the dealership to do as all funding is done before the car leaves the lot, notarized shipping manifest & docs by the shipper, and the customer, bank or dealer would take posessoin avoiding the sales tax.
     
  5. Technobody

    Technobody New Member

  6. Could CA dealers selling PHEV cars in other states have a negative impact on Honda meeting CA requirements to sell a certain number of EV’s in CA?
     
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  8. Perhaps if the supply were constrained. It doesn't appear that Honda dealers in California have had trouble maintaining stock.
     
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  9. Technobody

    Technobody New Member

    Honda's solution should be to produce more Claritys unless they are losing money on each one.
     
  10. There’s some regulation that a certain percentage (maybe 3%?) of a manufacturers vehicles sold in CA must be EV’s in order for them to be able to sell ICE vehicles in the state. You can see that I don’t bother to keep up on the particulars.

    If some of those qualified EV’s get sold in other states, it may cut into that 3%? figure. I don’t believe a dealer maintaining a stock of Clarity’s would have a bearing in the matter.
     
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  12. DucRider

    DucRider Well-Known Member

    Producing more Clarity's will not help them sell in markets outside of CA. Since they had to discount them heavily to get them to move in many markets, it is likely that losing money is part of the decision to discourage sales outside of Section 177 States.
    The CARB credits needed are very far from as simple as a percentage of sales. Different vehicles (BEV vs TZEV vs FCEV) receive varying ZEV credits based primarily on type and range manufacturers can "bank" credits for use in later years and/or purchase sell them (Tesla sells all of theirs since they don't have any ICE sales to offset). There are also limits on the % of required credits that can be from TZEV's (PHEV's fall in this category). It is further complicated in that the ZEV states are divided into regions with independent ZEV credit requirements that must be met for each. Credits used to "travel" freely between those markets, but no longer do so.
    There is no prohibition from selling in CA if the required quantity and type of ZEV credits are not in the manufacturers "bank". Instead they can be fined for the shortfall, but almost always choose to purchase from Tesla or another manufacturer with a surplus instead - the free market value of a credit is always at least a little less than the fine amount. At one point Tesla was making at least $20K per Model S by selling the credits generated.

    The above is only a "skim the surface" summary of the complex mess that is the CARB ZEV credit requirement rules.
    CA Code:
    https://govt.westlaw.com/calregs/Document/I505CA51BB0AD454499B57FC8B03D7856?viewType=FullText&originationContext=documenttoc&transitionType=CategoryPageItem&contextData=(sc.Default)
    Anyone with an hour and a half to kill can find out more in a webinar presentation of the 2018+ MY regs here:
    https://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/zevprog/zevtutorial/2016_zev_tutorial.mp4?_ga=2.244519301.1251537192.1575667917-672438116.1570582384
     
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  13. As tempting as that sounds, I’d rather clean out the chicken coop.

    I may have read somewhere that Honda and Toyota have enough credits that they don’t need to make or sell an EV for 10 years, so not selling Clarities in CA probably isn’t a concern.

    This is just a hunch, but I’d put the Clarity somewhere between a money loser and a low profit vehicle.
     
  14. TomL

    TomL Active Member

    I live in Wisconsin, bought in Missouri. Paid no sales tax or license fees until I registered car in Wisconsin. NOTE: subtract trade-in amount and extended warranty when computing sales tax.
     
  15. NU2EV

    NU2EV New Member

    I appreciate everyones help/input here. Great forum! I especially thank Robert_Alabama for his lead on some somewhat local Clarity Touring models and guidance! I took a road trip to Long Island and signed for a white, 19' Clarity Touring model and will pick it up (hopefully) this week. Loolking forward to it! I have a couple of questions:
    1) I see there is a Deck Lid option/accessory for the Touring model, but in the picture, it looks just like the deck lid spoiler that comes stock with the vehicle. What's the difference between the two?
    2) I am very interested in having Level II charging at home. I have electricity in my garage (120 V). When I did a basic search, it was a little confusing as I'm not very tech savvy. What exactly should I be looking for?
    Thank you!
     
  16. LAF

    LAF Active Member

    I am happy to give
    I am happy to give you a test drive if you are near Boston- Its the best car I have ever owned and that includes an Acura and Prius
     
  17. stacey burke

    stacey burke Active Member

    There are 2 expenses. The first is the cord itself and that can go for about 225 to 700 if you want wifi connection and all the bells and whistles. I purchased the AmazingE form Clipper Creek. IT is low priced but importantly UL tested (do not get one that is not UL approved) Then the 2nd is to have the electrician run the 240 v cable from your panel to the spot you are putting in the station. That cost is very different depending if you have enough room in your existing panel and distance they have to run the cable from the panel to the car. It could be 200 to 800+ depending...
     
  18. NU2EV

    NU2EV New Member

    Thank you for the information! I'll look into it.
     
  19. TomL

    TomL Active Member

    I had the same experience. Since there was an unused 240V pool heater in the garage, it cost me $100 to have it converted to an outlet that is the same 4-pin type used for a clothes dryer or stove. I got a portable Morec Level 2 EVSE (charger cord) on Amazon for $269. After six months and 14,000 miles, everything works great. Level 2 charging takes about 2 hrs 15 min from zero. The only time I use the 120 V Level 1 charging is while traveling. If you don't have a 240V line in your garage, an estimate range of $200-800 to run a line is realistic.

    I could have gotten a free hard-wired charger from my electric coop, in exchange for restricted hours for charging the car. That would have cost me $500 for installation, so the "free" charger was not a good deal for me. The option I chose allows me to charge anytime I want and I get to take the portable cord on trips to use at hotels or other places with outlets.
     
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  20. KentuckyKen

    KentuckyKen Well-Known Member

    The Honda accessory for the deck lid is just a stick on spoiler that does nothing but ruin that aerodynamics IMHO. The only way it spoils is visual and financial. I would not waste my time on this useless piece of fru-fru designed only to line to pockets of your dealer.
     
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  21. insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

    @KentuckyKen is right. Take a look at the Clarity's controversial rear wheel wells--they're shaped for efficiency, not to make the car look unique. If the deck-lid spoiler provided the slightest increase in efficiency, it would be an integral part of the Clarity, not an accessory.
     
  22. An expensive hard to see accessory.
     

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