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From now through August 2, Costco members can save $1,000 on a 2022 Bolt EV and EUV, $3,000 on a 2020/2021 Chevrolet Bolt EV, and $2,000 on a Volvo XC40 Recharge Pure Electric. Those deals and much more have been added to our updated best Electric Vehicle prices and leases.

2022 Chevrolet Bolt EV and Bolt EUV

The redesigned 2022 Chevrolet Bolt lineup started trickling onto dealership lots a few weeks back with a starting price that’s thousands less than its predecessor. MSRP for the 259-mile 2022 Bolt EV is only $31,995, and the slightly larger 247-mile Bolt EUV is priced at $33,395, so the last thing anyone might expect is a $1,000 cash incentive this early in the game. What is expected (unfortunately) are dealerships that find no shame in trying to squeeze another $1,000 out of their customers. While conducting our nationwide search for electric vehicle lease deals and discounts, we ran across a number of dealers adding a $995 “market adjustment” over the MSRP of in-stock 2022 Bolt EVs and EUVs. These ridiculous offers can be ignored since the vast majority of Chevrolet dealers are listing what they have in stock at MSRP. In fact, we even found several dealerships already offering discounts on 2022 Bolt models. Quirk Chevrolet in Massachusetts ($1,000 off on a Bolt EV), Rydell Chevrolet in California ($500 off on a Bolt EV), Mike Anderson Chevrolet in Illinois ($1,575 off on a Bolt EUV), and Chevrolet of Columbus in Ohio ($1,112 off on a Bolt EUV) all seem to be good places to start shopping.

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Chevy’s 2022 Bolt EV and EUV

Thinking of leasing rather than buying? According to the payment estimator on Chevrolet’s website, the 2022 Bolt EV will set you back $420(nice)/month plus tax and license for three years on a 10,000 mile per year lease. The slightly larger Bolt EUV leases for a bit more at $453/month. Applying the $1,000 Costco incentive might trim $30/month off of these figures, but the resulting cost would still be significantly higher than the manufacturer lease offers on affordable 200-mile EVs from Nissan, Hyundai, and Kia.  However, we did find a couple of California dealers with relatively attractive lease offers that might be worth considering. Mission Bay Chevrolet in the San Diego area is offering a three-year lease on a 2022 Bolt EV at $259/month, $2,999 at signing before tax and license, which calculates to a palatable effective cost of $335/month. Stevens Creek Chevrolet in the San Francisco area is advertising $189/month, $5,999 at signing, which translates to an effective cost of $350/month. Costco membership is required for either of these deals. Check for availability and deals on a 2022 Chevrolet Bolt EV or Bolt EUV in your area.

2020/2021 Chevrolet Bolt EV

Prospective buyers that have been waiting to score killer deals on the outgoing first-generation Bolt EV may have missed the sweet spot, which started in March and ran through early May. At this point, most Chevy dealers we track have either sold out or zeroed out their discounts on remaining inventory, so the starting point of negotiation at most dealerships is simply MSRP minus factory incentives. The good news is that the factory incentives are still hefty, currently at $10,000 for a 2020 and $9,000 for a 2021, plus an additional $1,000 bonus cash incentive on particular in-stock vehicles. Piling on the $3,000 Costco member-only incentive takes the total cash back up to a range of $12,000 to $14,000, which should lower the cost of buying a 2020/2021 Bolt EV to well under $30,000 before tax and license.

2020 Chevy Bolt

We did find more than a handful of dealer discounts on a 2020/2021 Bolt, ranging from about $1,500 off to over $3,000 off before any of the above mentioned factory incentives. The total discount at some of these dealers can be well over $16,000 for Costco members. As far as lease deals, Quirk Chevrolet in Massachusetts and Simi Valley Chevrolet in California have great lease offers with an effective cost that’s under $200/month before tax and license. Check for deals on remaining 2020/2021 Chevrolet Bolt EV at a dealership near you.

2021 Volvo XC40 Recharge Pure Electric

Outside of loyalty incentives, Costco’s $2,000 incentive is the first we’ve seen on the 208-mile Volvo XC40 Recharge since its introduction earlier this year. With an MSRP of $55,300, this compact luxury SUV that seats five can now be had for just under $46,000 by Costco members that enjoy a tax bill high enough to take full advantage of the $7,500 Federal EV tax credit. That’s about $7,000 less than its closest competitor, the 326-mile Tesla Model Y, which is a cost difference that can be compelling to a buyer that doesn’t need the impressive segment-leading range of the Model Y, or perhaps prefers Volvo’s relatively mainstream styling. This all-wheel-drive XC40 Recharge is no slouch – it moves from 0 to 60mph in a very respectable 4.3 seconds, slightly quicker than the base Model Y. Its top speed is limited to 112 mph versus the Model Y’s 135 mph.

Dealer discounts on the XC40 Recharge are still few and far between, but that has been improving lately. We’ve seen advertised discounts range from $1,000 to nearly $4,000 at dealerships in Texas, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, and California. On lease offers, Weston Volvo Cars in Florida is the first Volvo dealership to make our list of electric vehicle lease deals with a fantastic offer of $499/month plus tax for 36 months, $999 plus tax and license at signing. With an average monthly cost of $513/month, Weston Volvo handily beats the XC40 Recharge 3-year factory lease terms of $599/month, $4,099 at signing, which works out to an average monthly cost of about $696/month. Costco members can apply their $2,000 incentive to these terms to effectively reduce the average monthly cost to around $650/month with no dealer discounts. Interestingly, this just happens to be slightly more than the average lease cost of a Model Y, which rings in at $633/month before tax and license.

Current members that have been with Costco since May 31, 2021, qualify for these limited-time incentives that expire on August 2, 2021. Not a member? If you’re planning to buy a new electric vehicle soon, a $60 annual membership could pay off in thousands. Consider that Costco has run these special auto incentives for years. Since January 2020, Chevrolet’s Bolt EV and Audi’s e-tron have each been included in these special offers three times, and Volvo has participated twice. As a side benefit, you’ll be able to enjoy a $1.50 hot-dog-and-a-Pepsi along with $4.99 rotisserie chickens as many times as you want while you wait for that coveted incentive to show up.

As always, be sure to check our monthly survey of best electric vehicle lease deals and best electric vehicle discounts. Information is current for manufacturer lease offers, Chevrolet dealer offers, and Volvo dealer offers. We are currently gathering dealer data from dealerships of other marques, so please check back throughout the month for additional updates.


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Angela Rayner says Taylor Swift’s London police escort was ‘needed to make sure she was safe’

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Angela Rayner says Taylor Swift's London police escort was 'needed to make sure she was safe'

Angela Rayner has defended Taylor Swift being given a blue-light escort through London as they “needed to make sure she was safe”.

The deputy prime minister denied senior Labour figures, including the home secretary and London mayor, were given tickets to Swift’s August shows in the capital in exchange for police protection.

Ms Rayner reiterated what other Labour politicians have said, that the decision to give the megastar a police escort was “an operational decision” by the Met Police.

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“I absolutely dispute that somehow that this was, in any way, connected to whether somebody went to a concert or not,” she said.

She said it was down to the fact Swift’s concerts in Vienna had been cancelled due to a foiled terror attack, which was meant to kill tens of thousands of fans.

“We needed to make sure that that person was safe. And it was a policing matter, not an issue for politicians. It was the police that make the decision,” she said.

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“It’s right that they make the decision. And I fully support them in that.”

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Home Sec given free Swift tickets

Ms Rayner added that police provided the security to ensure Swift could continue with the concerts “which brought in huge amounts of investment of money into our economy, including those small businesses that need that support”.

Sky News reported on Wednesday Ms Cooper’s husband, former Labour MP Ed Balls, had been given free tickets by Swift’s label Universal and she went as his guest.

Mr Balls was offered the four tickets on 4 August, before Swift’s shows in Vienna were cancelled, and the couple attended the gig on 16 August after the security discussions.

Ms Cooper and London Mayor Sadiq Khan spoke to the Metropolitan Police to encourage them to give the megastar a “VVIP escort” through London for her Wembley Stadium concerts.

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Fans gather outside Wembley Stadium ahead of Taylor Swift's latest Eras Tour concert. 
Pic: PA
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Fans gather outside Wembley Stadium ahead of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour concert. Pic: PA

The Met were reportedly reluctant to sign it off as a blue-light escort is typically reserved for senior members of the Royal Family and high-level politicians, as it comes at huge expense to the taxpayer, The Sun reported.

No information about the tickets appeared in the public domain until Wednesday.

The tickets were understood to be worth £170 – less than the £300 that would make it a declarable expense – but the home secretary made the declaration to the Cabinet Office on Wednesday.

Sky News understands the Home Office department was informed as soon as the tickets were offered and the permanent secretary’s office informed the Cabinet Office on 23 September. At this point there was concern that the Commons Parliamentary commissioner was not willing to make it public.

It also understood the home secretary’s team had been liaising with their permanent secretary’s office about this for the last week or so.

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Oasis singer Liam Gallagher says he and Noel won’t do interviews

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Oasis singer Liam Gallagher says he and Noel won't do interviews

Liam Gallagher has revealed why he and his brother Noel “don’t want” to give interviews ahead of the Oasis reunion tour.

The band announced their reunion in August following a long-standing feud between Liam and Noel after the band split in 2009.

Liam, 52, revealed on X on Thursday that the brothers “don’t want to do interviews coz we’re scared of the media asking us intrusive questions and trying to pick holes in our relationship”.

Oasis‘s split in 2009 was prompted by a backstage brawl between Liam and Noel, 57, at the Rock en Seine festival in France.

They will reunite on stage for their first UK show since at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on 4 July.

Their string of 19 UK and Ireland dates have all sold out, including two extra Wembley shows, which sparked a furore over ticket sales and inflated prices.

The release of tickets last month in the UK prompted the government and the UK’s competition watchdog to pledge they would look at the use of dynamic pricing.

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Some standard tickets more than doubled from £148 to £355, and the situation was blamed on “unprecedented demand”.

Ticketmaster has previously said it does not set concert prices and its website states this is down to the “event organiser” who “has priced these tickets according to their market value”.

Liam Gallagher performing ahead of the IBF World Heavyweight bout at Wembley Stadium. Pic: PA
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Liam Gallagher performing ahead of the IBF World Heavyweight bout at Wembley Stadium. Pic: PA

Last month the younger Gallagher attacked critics of his vocals after performing in front of a packed, 96,000-strong Wembley Stadium ahead of the heavyweight title fight between Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois.

Liam walked on to a massive cheer and said “yes Wembley vibes in the air,” before launching into Rock ‘N’ Roll Star, Supersonic and Cigarettes & Alcohol.

But some fans called it “terrible”, prompting Liam to claim he had sung in “angelic tones” and accused critics of being “imposters” rather than fans.

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Since their sellout UK leg, the band has announced their US, Canada, Mexico and Australia Oasis Live 25 tour shows

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Taylor Swift donates $5m to help feed those affected by Hurricane Milton

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Taylor Swift donates m to help feed those affected by Hurricane Milton

Taylor Swift has donated $5m (£3.8m) to help those affected by Hurricane Milton, as the deadly storm smashed into the Florida coast on Wednesday.

The pop megastar, the world’s richest female musician, with a reported $1.6bn (£1.2bn) fortune, gave the money to the non-profit Feeding America, as celebrities acted to help people cope with the impact of hurricanes Helene and Milton.

Feeding America chief executive Claire Babineaux-Fontenot said in a statement on the group’s X account: “Thank you, Taylor, for standing with us in the movement to end hunger and helping communities in need.”

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Milton threatens widespread destruction across the state, part of a region devastated by Hurricane Helene just weeks ago.

Swift, 34, is due to play in Miami next week as she kicks off the final run of her record-breaking Eras Tour.

Taylor Swift arrives at the MTV Video Music Awards on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024, at UBS Arena in Elmont, N.Y. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
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Taylor Swift is reportedly worth £1.2bn. Pic: AP

She is known for supporting fundraisers, donating to 1,400 Trussell food banks in Edinburgh, Liverpool, Cardiff and London – the cities where she performed this summer.

The singer recently gave $100,000 (£79,400) to a fundraiser for the family of a woman who died in the mass shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl celebrations.

Swift was at the NFL match to support her Kansas City Chiefs star boyfriend Travis Kelce.

On Wednesday, country musicians including Keith Urban, Luke Combs and Eric Church announced they will stage a Concert for Carolina benefit gig later this month, in Charlotte, North Carolina, for people affected by the two storms.

Another country artist, Morgan Wallen, helped collect supplies and posed for photos with fans at a food drive in Knoxville, Tennessee, on Wednesday.

He had earlier donated $500,000 (£382,000) to the American Red Cross for the hurricane relief effort.

Country superstar Dolly Parton donated $1m (£764,000) of her personal funds to a Tennessee non-profit, the Mountain Ways Foundation, providing immediate help to Hurricane Helene flood victims.

Her businesses, including the Dollywood theme park, matched the amount.

Hurricane Milton made landfall as a Category 3 storm, bringing ferocious winds of more than 100mph (160kph) and producing a series of tornadoes around the state.

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Hurricane Milton rips away stadium roof

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The National Hurricane Center, based in Miami, measured maximum sustained winds of 120mph (205kph) as it roared ashore at around 8.30pm, local time, near Siesta Key.

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More than two million households were without power, the PowerOutages website said, as forecasters warned of a potentially deadly storm surge to much of Florida’s Gulf Coast, along with heavy rains.

Two people died in St Lucie County on Florida’s Atlantic coast, where officials said tornadoes touched down.

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