If you’re in the market for a luxury all-electric SUV like the Lucid Gravity, now might be the best time to get behind the wheel of one. The Trump administration is abolishing the $7,500 federal EV tax credit at the end of September, which will make eligible EVs much more expensive. Fortunately, Lucid is stepping in and will continue to offer a $7,500 credit through to the end of the year.

Lucid has announced that qualifying lessees who place an order for a new Lucid Gravity and finalize a lease between October 1 and December 31 will be eligible to receive the Lucid Advantage Credit, worth a cool $7,500. Qualifying existing customers will get the same benefit.

Read: Lucid’s Gravity X Looks Like It Might Survive A Dirt Road If It Has Enough Warning

In a press release for the incentive, Erwin Raphael, Lucid’s vice president of revenue, noted he has seen “firsthand how [the federal EV tax credit] has played a meaningful role in encouraging people to make the switch to an electric vehicle.”

Tax Credit Pain

The removal of the tax credit comes at a bad time for Lucid. It has been developing the Gravity SUV for several years now, and to fund its own credit, will now have to take an additional $7,500 hit on every Gravity that is leased. That’s bad news for a company that remains unprofitable and wants to become a serious mass-market EV player.

Lucid started production of the Gravity in late 2024 and has been slowly ramping up volume. Recent drone footage from YouTuber LucidFlys shows there are currently hundreds of Lucid Gravity models parked across staging lots at its factory in Casa Grande, Arizona. According to the YouTuber, Lucid has been dealing with some supplier constraints impacting Gravity production, in particular relating to shortages of head-up displays and power outlets.

The Lucid Gravity is currently only available in Grand Touring guise in the United States, starting at $94,900, but later this year, the order books will open for the Touring version, set to start at $79,900. All models are underpinned by a 926-volt electrical architecture, allowing the EV to charge at up to 400 kW, meaning 200 miles (320 km) of range can be added in less than 12 minutes.

The Mercedes G-Wagen (aka G-Wagon or G-Class) is a real if-my-numbers-came-up kind of daily for many of us. But even folks with lottery win-sized bank balances haven’t taken a shine to the new electric version, and thus Mercedes is making moves to get them moving.

A bulletin sent to dealers instructed retailers to offer incentives of up to $9,500 in August on the G580 with EQ technology. That’s $2,000 more than the $7,500 that was already on the table last month, and more than BYD charges for an entire Seagull EV in China. There are also deals to be had on the monthly G580 lease costs themselves in the form of promotional lease rates that bring the APR down to 4.3 percent.

Related: BMW Is Planning A Rugged G-Class Rival That May Kill The XM

CarsDirect suggests Mercedes is pushing out the deals to make hay before EV tax credits disappear in September, hoping to attract customers keen to secure a saving before the credits window closes. Although the G580 EQ wouldn’t qualify for the federal rebate (or the Mercedes incentive), if you were buying it outright, due to the combination of its high purchase price and foreign origin, those obstructions are removed if you lease it.

An almost five-figure discount would be game-changing on an ordinary car, but in this case we are talking about a $162,650 SUV. And more specifically, one that costs $13,000 more than the gas-powered G550 many people would prefer to drive, but unfortunately doesn’t qualify for the incentives. The $187,250 G63 AMG, the one almost everyone would – finances allowing – pick first, doesn’t qualify either.

The G580 EQ looks just as cool as a combustion G-Class and can do showboating tank turns, but it’s seriously compromised as an EV by its mammoth 6,800 lbs (3,085 kg) bulk and brick-like shape. Despite a huge 116 kWh battery, the 579 hp (588 PS / 432 kW) EQ has an EPA-rated range of only 239 miles (385 km), though reports claim a new battery coming in 2026 could add at least 100 miles (160 km) to that number.

However, if you can live with that drawback, have deep pockets, and don’t want to wait a year, now is a good time to jump in. CarsDirect says you can get into a G580 EQ for 36 months and 36,000 miles (58,000 km) for $1,869 per month, which works out at a true $2,275 once you’ve accounted for the $14,613 due at signing.

The Dodge Charger Daytona hasn’t exactly had the greatest start to life. Early reviews were critical of its driving dynamics, the base price isn’t exactly competitive when performance is factored in, and it started out as a two-door only, which limits its target demographic. Now, at least one dealer might have a way to interest more buyers, and it’s a lease that’ll cost less per month than the average American spends on coffee.

More: You Can Now Lease A Nissan Ariya For Less Than A Leaf S

Elk Grove Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram is in the midst of what it’s calling a back-to-school sale. It’s offering low APR, thousands of dollars off some models, and one particularly wild-sounding lease deal. That deal is on the aforementioned Charger Daytona, and it reportedly costs just $49.99 a month for buyers who qualify. Since there’s no such thing as a free lunch, though, the list of requirements is where things start to get complicated.

Credit and Rebates

First and foremost, the customer must have the right credit score. Specifically, they have to qualify for tier 1 approval. Typically, that’s a credit score of 750 or higher. On top of that, they have to qualify for five different rebates. The biggest one, the federal EV tax credit of $7,500, is one that lots of people will be eligible for. The others, though, aren’t as simple.

A $1,000 rebate for “lease bonus cash” is only available to customers currently leasing another car. An even larger $4,000 rebate is for “West BC SFS Lease Bonus Cash.” In other words, one has to live in the Western Business Center of Stellantis and finance the loan through it. A further $2,000 rebate is only available to friends and family of Stellantis workers. Finally, a $500 rebate kicks in for first responders or military members.

The $5,000 Fine Print

Provided that all of that checks out, the $49.99 is still on the table, but from what we’re hearing, the fine print makes the deal look a little less sweet. Evidently, buyers need to put at least $5,000 down to get it, which effectively makes the monthly payment closer to $200 over the course of 24 months. Even so, that’s not a bad deal.

What complicates things is that the dealership hasn’t disclosed the mileage allowance, which could mean that it’s set low enough to keep costs down. For anyone driving more than a short commute, the overage penalties could may erase any perceived savings.

So while $49.99 a month makes for an eye-catching headline, the layers of conditions, hefty down payment, and probable mileage cap make it a deal that looks far better on paper than in practice. Elk Grove may draw attention with the figure, but once the fine print is accounted for, most shoppers will recognize it as little more than a flashy number that doesn’t match the reality of driving the car.

All things considered, would this deal be enough to get you into a new Dodge Charger Daytona? Let us know in the comments below.

Carscoops reached out to Elk Grove for further details and will update this piece if we hear back. 

Building an electric vehicle company from the ground up is no small feat. Many startups fizzle out before delivering a single car. Lucid is among the rare few to make it through that gauntlet, scaling up to full-scale production and getting cars into customers’ hands. But manufacturing vehicles is only part of the equation.

Automakers also have to navigate the less glamorous parts of the business, like managing lease agreements and the often fraught process of lease returns. According to both customers and even Lucid itself, this is an area where the company still has some work to do.

More: Service Nightmares Leave Lucid Owner Considering Ditching $100K EV

Every automaker that handles lease deals has to figure out how it’ll navigate excessive wear and tear when a leased car comes back. To its credit, Lucid publicly posts its guidelines for all to see. Many of them are commonsense rules like, don’t return the car with bald tires, or cracked headlights, or cuts to the interior upholstery. None of that is uncommon across the industry.

Customers Say the Charges Don’t Match the Condition

What is a bit strange is the experience some lessees say they’re having when they return their cars. On LucidOwners, several report four-figure bills for ‘excessive wear and tear,’ and we’re not talking about broken mirrors or ripped seats. One says they ended up with a $5,800 charge after returning their car despite the intake employee calling it “one of the cleanest lease returns she’d seen.”

Digging into that $5,800 figure, $1,200 was for a small piece of missing plastic from the inner fender liner. Another $585 was billed for a tiny rock chip in the paint. A $200 fee was added for light wear on the phone holder. Somehow, these tiny blemishes aren’t just an issue for this customer either, because others are having similar problems.

Photos BenTexas / dapellegrini 

The person who started one thread mentioned a $1,825 bill for wear and tear. That total mostly came from a $1,450 charge for a new windshield. Did it have a giant crack or several medium-sized spider cracks in it?

No, instead, it had three very small rock chips that are almost imperceptible. Even more surprising is a $375 charge for “Left interior Qtr Trim Broken,” but the actual issue is even harder to find. “I honestly don’t even see what they are trying to show in the photos,” says the lessee.

Others Echo Similar Complaints

In other places like Reddit, customers are complaining just the same. One says that Lucid charged them $4,300 for wear and tear, including $650 for a charger that was allegedly gifted to the customer. Another said that they received a bill in excess of $1,500 but managed to get it waived because they did their pre-inspection three weeks before returning the car. That inspection came back completely clean, and the customer was able to leverage that to get out of the extra charges.

Lucid Says It’s Working on It

It’s worth pointing out that some of the examples mentioned above still have active cases open. There’s a chance that Lucid will come to an agreement with those customers that both sides are happy with.

In fact, it appears as though the automaker is eager to straighten things out. It told The Drive that “We are aware of some instances where our lease turn-in standards have not been interpreted consistently. We are collaborating with our banking partner to resolve disputes and sincerely apologize to those who have been inconvenienced.”

It said almost the exact same thing to CarBuzz. The automaker has reached out to some of the affected customers mentioned above, which is a good sign.

Who’s Actually Making the Call?

Importantly, that banking partner is Bank of America, the brand that handles all servicing through a third party. Essentially, when a lease gets turned back into Lucid, a third party reviews the car, BoA demands what it believes it’s owed, and Lucid, the car company, ultimately relays that to the customer.

That sounds like an old-school game of telephone with much more financially impactful results than a silly phrase popping out at the end of the line. At this point, only time will tell whether or not Lucid gets the act together or if more customers find leasing from the brand a risk too big to justify.

Photos BenTexas / dapellegrini 

House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana speaks to reporters about the Republican budget reconciliation package at a weekly press conference on Tuesday, June 24, 2025, at the U.S. Capitol. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)

WASHINGTON — House Republicans are headed home early for their August break after an uproar over the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files all but halted any possibility of floor action.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday he’s sending his members back to their districts until September to avoid “political games” relating to a bipartisan effort pressuring the release of government investigative documents on Epstein. The financier was a Florida sex offender who died by suicide in 2019 in his New York City jail cell, according to authorities, where he was awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.

Epstein enjoyed a wide circle of wealthy, powerful friends, including President Donald Trump. The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that it reviewed a 2003 birthday greeting from Trump to Epstein featuring a cryptic message and hand-drawn naked woman, leading Trump to promptly sue the publication.

“We’re for maximum transparency. We’re engaging in that right now. We don’t need political games,” Johnson said at a weekly press conference where the Louisiana Republican was asked about an effort by his own members to compel the release of case material.

GOP Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky has joined California Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna in spearheading an effort to force a vote on releasing what are commonly referred to as the Epstein files. The procedural move, called a discharge petition, could be ready for the floor in September if Massie and Khanna can gather signatures from a majority of members.

“I don’t understand Thomas Massie’s motivation. I really don’t. I don’t know how his mind works,” Johnson continued.

He said the White House needs “space” to produce documents and is “in the process” of releasing materials related to the Epstein case.

“There’s no purpose for Congress to push the administration to do something it’s already doing,” he said.

On a separate track, the GOP-led House Rules Committee, the last stop for legislation before it reaches the floor, recessed Monday evening before Democrats on the panel could force their Republican counterparts to vote on amendments related to release of the Epstein information.

The bills stuck in that committee, largely to do with immigration, permitting and public lands, will no longer go to the floor this week.

Last floor votes are scheduled for Wednesday afternoon. House members will not return until Sept. 2.

Interview sought with Ghislaine Maxwell

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced on social media Tuesday that federal prosecutors are seeking an interview with Epstein’s one-time girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a lengthy prison sentence for conspiring with the financier to sexually abuse girls.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Tuesday that the department’s attempt to interview Maxwell “sounds appropriate,” adding that he was uninformed about the matter and downplaying the relevance of the Epstein case.

“I don’t know about it, but I think it’s something that … sounds appropriate,” he said.

Blanche was Trump’s personal criminal defense attorney. Asked if Blanche’s involvement in the interview raised any concerns, Trump said no. Democrats have used Trump’s social relationship with Epstein to imply he may have been aware of Epstein’s illegal activities.

Trump urged reporters to drop the Epstein case and instead focus on a recent declaration from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard that former President Barack Obama improperly ordered an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election that Trump eventually won. Democrats denounced the report.

Trump tries to dismiss Epstein uproar

Trump has spent the last couple weeks dismissing loud concerns from Republicans and his voter base since a July 7 Justice Department memo denied the existence of an Epstein “client list” and concluded the department would not publish any of the files.

After receiving intense criticism, Trump ordered the department on July 17 to release grand jury testimony in the case.

The president called his supporters “weaklings” for expressing concern about the Epstein “hoax,” in a July 16 post on his online platform Truth Social. Trump also told reporters last week that the so-called Epstein files were “made up” by former presidents Obama and Joe Biden.

The president’s supporters, including members of his current administration, have fixated for years on unreleased details surrounding the financier’s involvement in sex trafficking, including possible names of clients and the circumstances around Epstein’s death.

According to federal charging documents, Epstein sexually abused dozens of teenage girls at his residences in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida. The Justice Department has concluded that Epstein likely had more than 1,000 victims.

Jacob Fischler contributed to this report.

February 4, 2025, Madison, Wis. — During its 14th annual Renewable Energy Summit, RENEW Wisconsin, with presenting sponsors Invenergy and Dimension Energy, will honor individuals and businesses who have made significant and lasting advances in clean energy development in Wisconsin. The Summit will take place Thursday, February 6, 2025, at Monona Terrace in Madison.

RENEW’s 2025 Summit, titled “Powering Tomorrow: Collaborative Innovations for Thriving Communities,” will convene stakeholders from across the state to discuss the latest advancements in clean energy technologies and collaborative strategies driving the transition to a sustainable future. More than 50 speakers made up of industry leaders and experts, like keynote speaker Erica Mackie co-founder of GRID Alternatives, are joining RENEW at this year’s Summit.

The awards are grouped under five categories:

• Clean Energy Leadership Award: Maria Redmond – Advancing Wisconsin’s clean energy plan
  
• Clean Energy Community Impact Award: Isaiah Ness – Helping disadvantaged communities transition away from fossil fuels
• Clean Energy Advocate of the Year: Abby Novinska-Lois – Mobilizing health professionals as climate advocates
• Clean Energy Catalyst of the Year: Doral – Developing Wisconsin’s largest solar project
• Member of the Year: Midwest Solar Power – Supporting RENEW Wisconsin and increasing access to clean energy

The ceremony will conclude with the 2023 Clean Energy Honor Roll, in which RENEW will recognize 13 clean energy projects in Wisconsin that recently commenced operation. Whether on the basis of their productivity, innovativeness, attention to detail, scale, resourcefulness, or efficacy in reducing carbon emissions, these projects showcase the skills and know-how Wisconsin stakeholders bring to the clean energy marketplace.

Clean Energy Honor Roll:

• Menominee Nation Elder Homes, Menominee Nation
  Solar and battery backup installations
• Edgerton Retirement Apartments, Edgerton
  Solar-powered retirement apartments
• Centro, Madison
  Solar-powered nonprofit facility
• Kwik Charge, Ashland, Menomonie, Chippewa Falls, West Salem
  DC fast-charging stations at four western Wisconsin locations
• Grant County Solar, Potosi
  200-megawatt utility-scale solar installation with battery storage
• Charter Steel, Saukville
  Largest behind-the-meter solar project in Wisconsin
• Paris Solar Farm, Kenosha County
  200-megawatt utility-scale solar installation
• The Sonnentag Events Center and Fieldhouse, Eau Claire
  Sustainable multi-use community complex
• Dane County Humane Society Flight Pen, Madison
  50-kilowatt flight pen for birds of prey
• Holiday Ford Building and Collision Center, Fond du Lac
  469-kilowatt solar array and EV charging station
• Green Bay Area Public School District, Green Bay
  Solar generation on schools
• Granite Ridge Elementary School, Cottage Grove
  Solar generation on schools
• Madison Metropolitan School District, Madison
  Solar generation on schools
• Nicolet High School, Glendale
  Solar generation on schools
• Badger Hollow Solar Park, Iowa County
  300-megawatt utility-scale solar installation

The award ceremonies will be held in two parts, with the first highlighting the individual awards and the second focusing on the Clean Energy Honor Roll, in which RENEW will recognize both people and projects for their role in the clean energy transition. Whether on the basis of their productivity, innovativeness, attention to detail, scale, resourcefulness, or efficacy in reducing carbon emissions, these accomplishments highlight the skills and know-how that Wisconsin stakeholders bring to the clean energy marketplace in the Badger State.

Click here for more information on the 2025 Summit program agenda, speakers, and registration. For press passes, please email Alex Beld (abeld@renewwisconsin.org).

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