The City of Tacoma's Electric Car Discount Program pre-negotiates pricing with dealerships to support discounts on electric cars. This program benefits local Tacoma dealerships by increasing sales and leases of electric cars over a focused period of time. There is no fee or cost for the dealerships to participate in this program.
The program is intended to launch on September 15, 2018 during National Drive Electric Week, and will last until the end of November or until supplies run out.
View the Request for Interest to learn more about participation and how to submit your interest response.
Benefits of Participating
By participating in the Electric Car Discount Program, dealerships are expected to see a significant increase in sales and leases of electric cars. During the City of Boulder's program, dealerships sold over four times more Nissan Leafs per month than normal (62 sales per month versus 13). Drive Electric Northern Colorado sold more than six times more Nissan Leafs than during an average month (26 sales per month versus 4).
Who |
Cars Offered |
Cars Sold |
Boulder County |
Nissan Leaf |
248 |
Drive Electric Northern Colorado (DENC) |
Nissan Leaf, BMW 13 |
119 |
University of Utah |
BMW 13, Nissan Leaf, Ford Focus EV, Fusion Energi, C-Max Energi |
75 |
Wisconsin Clean Cities |
Nissan Leaf |
58 |
Drive Electric Minnesota |
Nissan Leaf |
41 |
City of Palo Alto Utilities |
Nissan Leaf, Toyota Mirai |
20 |
Drive Green Mass Energy |
Chevy Volt, Bolt, Nissan Leaf, Kia Optima Hybrid, BMW 13, BMW 330e, x5, 740e, Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid, Prius Prime |
100+ EVs, Continuous Program |
City of Tacoma and Tacoma Public Utilities Will Help Educate Your Customers
Through this group buy program, the City of Tacoma and Tacoma Public Utilities can help you educate your customers on electric cars. Studies show that consumers trust their local utility for highly reliable electric car information. Trust levels tend to be lower when the information comes from other groups, such as environmental organizations, auto manufactures, and car dealers.
Participating dealerships will receive marketing support for their electric car models. The City and Tacoma Public Utilities will promote the group buy program at events such as farmers markets, Electric car 101 workshops, and Ride & Drive events. Additional promotion will happen through social media, newsletters, press releases, utility bill inserts, and the City of Tacoma website.
Dealership Responsibilities
- Offer discount on electric car purchases and leases
- Communicate electric car sales bi-weekly to the City
- Optional: Attend FREE electric car Ride & Drive events to promote your electric car models (July 21 and September 15) and one of the Electric Car 101 workshops
City of Tacoma Responsibilities
- Administer the sign-up process
- Serve as the point of contact for customer inquiries about the program
- Maintain social media presence before and throughout the program
- Provide electric car educational materials at workshops and on the website
- Provide up to date information on the City and TPU websites
- Send out utility bill inserts with program details
- Coordinate public electric car Ride & Drive events
- Include program details in a quarterly newsletter
- Promote the program at community events
- Promote the program through press releases
For more information, email us at electricvehicles@cityoftacoma.org.