FFE owners avg 46 years old with $199K of annual income...

Interesting news clip. After incentives, the FFE can be cheaper than a new Focus ICE model. If true, this is yet another indication that the tax credit is not fair. Someone making $77K may not be able to take the full federal tax credit.

http://www.inautonews.com/us-research-sees-electric-car-owners-affluent-and-young

In the given example, which covered the conventional and electric versions of the Ford Focus, buyers averaging 46 and with an average household income of $77,000 per year opted for the first. The latter was chosen by customers with an average age of 43 and with an income that jumped to no less than $199,000.

$199k for Tesla model S buyers, $77k for FFE. To get the full $7500, you need to make around $50k.

Elektra said:

$199k for Tesla model S buyers, $77k for FFE. To get the full $7500, you need to make around $50k.

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The quote said:

With sales of electric cars further driven down by the recent plunge in gasoline prices, researches done in the field continue to show the segment has yet to find its target audience – whether it’s a luxury model such as Tesla’s Model S or a more mundane option. In the given example, which covered the conventional and electric versions of the Ford Focus, buyers averaging 46 and with an average household income of $77,000 per year opted for the first. The latter was chosen by customers with an average age of 43 and with an income that jumped to no less than $199,000.


It's a little bit imprecise, but I read that to say that Focus ICE buyers averaged 46 years and $77K while Focus Electric buyers averaged 43 years and $199K.

The $7500 is accessible to everybody through use of leasing although I do agree there are better ways to structure it than is done at present. I would rather see it as a credit at time of purchase whether as a sale or lease, and not dependent on someone's tax situation. It would also eliminate the variations in the ways that leasing companies allocate the money into the lease calculations. For example:

Ford treats it as a capital reduction
Chevrolet uses it to artificially inflate the residual
BMW uses it to line their pockets.
etc

Elektra said:

$199k for Tesla model S buyers, $77k for FFE. To get the full $7500, you need to make around $50k.

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At first that was what I thought. Then I read it again and it seems like they are referring to Fosuc ICE versus FFE buyers.

Elektra said:

$199k for Tesla model S buyers, $77k for FFE. To get the full $7500, you need to make around $50k.

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I think the $50K may be too low. Check out https://www.calcxml.com/calculators/federal-income-tax-calculator. A single person making $50,000 would have only $5,719 of tax liability and thus not get the full amount. Around $57,000 a year would just get you enough tax liability. Of course, everyone's tax liability is calculated based on their situation.

Wow, you guys are right, I totally misread that. The income seems a little high to me for the FFE. If that's not the Tesla's income, I wonder what is?

Olagon said:

Elektra said:

$199k for Tesla model S buyers, $77k for FFE. To get the full $7500, you need to make around $50k.

Click to expand...

I think the $50K may be too low. Check out https://www.calcxml.com/calculators/federal-income-tax-calculator. A single person making $50,000 would have only $5,719 of tax liability and thus not get the full amount. Around $57,000 a year would just get you enough tax liability. Of course, everyone's tax liability is calculated based on their situation.

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Thanks for the great link! We'd need to make about $20k more per year to qualify for the full $7500 federal rebate. It's funny that FFE buyers have an average income of around $200k, we make just over 1/4 of that combined.

...... It's funny that FFE buyers have an average income of around $200k, we make just over 1/4 of that combined.

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If that average is even close to accurate, then you and I are bringing down the average appreciably...

My Focus is due in mid-July.
Have to gain lots of income and lose a number of years by then to keep up with the average!

The last post made me chuckle...though I am 43 Maybe if I pool my income with a few friends we'll get close.

I think this was bad data or too small a sample size. I wouldn't be surprised if the sample size was 10 for the first year FFE which cost $40K or so.