PSEG to announce electric car promotion with Nissan

PSEG Long Island on Thursday will announce a promotion with Nissan USA that will offer ratepayers a $10,000 discount on the cost of the carmaker’s all-electric vehicle.

The rebate, available through Sept. 30 (or when the cars run out), is applicable to the 2017 Nissan Leaf, an all-electric vehicle that can travel an average 107 miles on a single charge. Nissan’s 2018 model has greater battery life and distance range. The next-generation 2018 Leaf is expected to have a 200-mile range.

With federal and state tax credits and rebates, the final cost of the $32,500 2017 Leaf could be as low as $13,300, PSEG said. (Customers are eligible for up to a $7,500 federal tax credit, and a $1,700 state rebate.)

PSEG said the program, available to all PSEG employees and customers for as long as the cars last, could help reduce greenhouse gases and could cut commuting costs. Gas-powered cars and trucks contribute more to climate change on Long Island than power plants, state emissions figures show. A projected increase in electric vehicle sales has already been factored into PSEG’s projection for future energy use on Long Island, which the utility expects to decrease for several years before rising slightly over the next 15.

Mike Voltz, director for energy efficiency and renewables at PSEG, said a worker who commutes 35 miles a day in the vehicle would spend around $2 charging it each night. The Leaf gets around 3.5 miles per kilowatt hour, requiring about 10 kilowatt hours to charge it. LIPA rates are just under 20 cents a kilowatt hour. “We think it’s an up-and-coming technology that’s good for the environment,” he said.

PSEG, which is not subsidizing the offer, doesn’t have a firm number on how many vehicles would be available for the promotion, Voltz said, but a similar promotion in Kansas City sold around 200 cars. The vehicles on Long Island will be available until they run out. “We felt it was a good deal and wanted to make customers aware of it,” Voltz said.

PSEG is expected to propose a special off-peak electric rate that would benefit electric-vehicle owners on Long Island. LIPA has long had a more general pricing program that offers a lower rate for off-peak use but a considerably higher rate during peak hours.

Owners of the vehicles would charge them at home, or at one of 90 charging stations around Long Island, though not all are publicly available. PSEG has more information about electric vehicles, including links to a state charging station map, at psegliny.com/page.cfm/EV.

Customers who are interested in the Leaf promotion should bring a copy of the PSEG Long Island electric bill to a local Nissan dealer, Voltz said.

New York State had just under 18,000 electric vehicles statewide as of April 1. Long Island makes up around a third of that market, with 3,614 electric vehicles registered in Suffolk, and 2,336 in Nassau.

By Mark Harrington

mark.harrington@newsday.comMHarringtonNews

Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries.