Hot August EV Deals: Volvo C40, Solterra, Ioniq 5, EV6, more
The latest new vehicle transaction report from KBB indicates that electric vehicle supply is still high, hovering at around 100 days, despite the average transaction price of an EV declining all summer long to a year-to-date low of $53,469. Legacy automakers continue to react by tweaking their incentives, and now we’re finding some of the best EV lease deals we’ve seen in a while.
Below are some of the best deals we found while updating our Electric Vehicle Price Guide and Electric Vehicle Lease Guide.
Volvo C40 Recharge
Missed out on last month’s Costco member-only incentive on Volvo EVs? Don’t fret, because Volvo sweetened their lease offers yet again.
A C40 Recharge can now be had for $483/month with $3,983 due at signing before tax and license. That’s an average monthly cost of $580/month, which is about $30/month better than it was last month with the expired $2,500 Costco incentive included. Not a bad deal for a five-passenger, all-wheel-drive SUV that blasts from zero to 60mph in 4.2 seconds.
Drawbacks? Well, with an 80 MPGe combined rating, a range of 226 miles, and 15-cubic-foot cargo capacity behind the rear seats, it’s less efficient, doesn’t go as far on a charge, and doesn’t haul as much as similarly priced electric SUVs. But recent Volvo lease terms and dealer offers appear to be helping shoppers look past all that, as availability seems to have dropped to half of what it was last May.
Speaking of dealer offers, we found a few Volvo retailers advertising lease terms that beat the factory offer on a C40 Recharge. Volvo Cars Gilbert in Arizona is advertising a 3-year, 7,500 mi/year lease at $399/month with $4,499 to start, for an effective cost of $513/month before tax and license. Volvo Cars North Haven in Connecticut and Galpin Volvo Cars in the Los Angeles area also have their own C40 Recharge lease deals with an average cost that’s close to $550/month. And there are a number of dealers offering significant C40 Recharge discounts from MSRP before incentives, which should translate into even lower lease payments.
If you need a little more room to carry stuff behind the rear seats or prefer a squareback look over the C40’s fastback styling, Volvo’s lease terms on the XC40 Recharge (MSRP $54,645) are also quite compelling, with an average monthly cost of $580/month. Check for Volvo C40 Recharge and XC40 Recharge deals in your area.
Subaru Solterra
Another relative bargain in the all-wheel-drive electric SUV/crossover category that’s worth a look is the Subaru Solterra (MSRP $46,220). Subaru’s lease offer of $399/month for 36 months with $3899 to start computes to an effective cost of $496/month plus tax and license, which is a significant savings over factory lease deals on the Model Y and C40 Recharge.
Yeah, you’ll have to do without the thrills and frills of the faster, upmarket Tesla and Volvo offerings, but the Solterra does scoot to 60mph from standstill in a very respectable 6.5 seconds and is as nicely equipped as other EVs at its price point. It also has 29 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seats – about the same as the Tesla, which is almost twice that of the Volvo.
Oh, and at $496/month, the Solterra lease is about $19/month cheaper than the factory lease deal on its front-wheel-drive version of its platform twin, the Toyota bZ4x. So Toyota fans that are willing to switch their allegiance to Subaru can get two more driven wheels for free.
As far as dealer deals, McGovern Subaru in New Hampshire is advertising over $6,000 off on a Solterra, while Brattleboro Subaru in Vermont and Hanlees Subaru in California have Solterra discounts at around $2,000. Find Subaru Solterra deals near you.
Hyundai Ioniq 5
Passing the full $7,500 Federal tax incentive to lessees of the Ioniq 5 has resulted in some compelling lease terms on what is arguably one of the best-looking EVs on the market that rivals the Model Y in performance and utility. In all-wheel-drive form, this five-passenger SUV with 27 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seats will hurl you from zero to 60mph in 4.4 seconds – all numbers that fall well within the Model Y’s domain.
Curiously, Hyundai’s website only lists lease deals for rear-wheel-drive configurations, but we can deduce that the average monthly cost of an Ioniq 5 SE AWD (MSRP $50,335) lease should be close to that of the Ioniq 5 SEL RWD (MSRP $48,785). Hyundai’s 3-year lease offer for the SEL RWD is $414/month with $5,001 due at signing, which averages to $541/month before tax and license. Since the SE-trimmed AWD configuration is $1,550 more expensive and has a lower residual value than the SEL RWD, I’m figuring that its average monthly cost is slightly more than that, but not by much.
Dealer offers somewhat validate this estimate. Mirak Hyundai in Massachusetts, for example, has a great lease offer with an effective cost of $500/month before tax and license on a discounted Ioniq 5 SE AWD. And Valencia Hyundai in the Los Angeles area has a lease on a discounted SEL AWD that averages to $542/month.
Other dealers with Ioniq 5 discounts that should result in attractive lease terms include Norm Reeves Hyundai in southern California and Ourisman Hyundai Laurel in Maryland.
Current Hyundai owners can qualify for an additional $2,500 off on a new Ioniq 5, which should lower lease payments by about $30 to $40 per month.
By the way, for folks that would rather buy than lease, Hyundai now has a $5,000 incentive on a purchase. Look for Hyundai Ioniq 5 deals in your locale.
Audi Q4 e-tron
At $58,895, the all-wheel-drive Q4 e-tron 50 in Premium trim seems a bit overpriced since it costs almost $10K more than the cheapest Model Y. However, it can now be leased at $499/month for 36 months, $5,389 due at signing before tax and license. That works out to an effective cost of $635/month, which is over $60/month less than a Model Y lease. Costco members can take another $20/month or so off of a Q4 e-tron lease by applying a limited-time $1,500 incentive that Costco is running on Audi electrics through October 2.
Audi dealers are starting to advertise discounts rather than markups on this 5-passenger SUV capable of zero to sixty times in the mid-fives, carries just under 25 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seats, and runs for 236 miles on a full charge. Audi Nashville is taking almost $4,000 off on a Q4 e-tron 50, while Audi Appleton in Wisconsin and Audi Bethesda in Maryland have discounts of $3,405 and $2,500 respectively. Discounts of that magnitude should reduce monthly lease payments by $30 to $50.
Still too expensive? Buyers that can get by with rear-wheel-drive can opt for the Q4 e-tron 40, which leases for about $50/month less than a similarly equipped all-wheel-drive Q4 e-tron 50 and goes 29 miles farther on a full charge. Check Audi Q4 e-tron pricing in your area.
Kia EV6
Kia noticeably improved its lease offers on the EV6, now with terms that essentially match current factory offers on its platform sibling, the Hyundai Ioniq 5. An all-wheel-drive EV6 in Wind trim (MSRP $53,925) can be leased for $449/month over 36 months with $4,999 plus tax and license due at start, for an effective monthly cost of $575/month.
We found significant dealer discounts on an all-wheel-drive EV6 Wind at Crowley Kia in Connecticut ($4,005), Courage Kia in North Carolina ($3,101), and Car Pros Kia Glendale in Los Angeles ($4,373) that should drive that lease closer to $500/month.
Like Hyundai with its Ioniq 5, Kia is is offering a $5,000 incentive to consumers that prefer to buy an EV6 rather than lease. Look for EV6 deals at a Kia dealer near you.
As always, check our Electric Vehicle Price Guide and Electric Vehicle Lease Guide for the best deals on EVs in the US.
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Bybit said it replenished its reserves following a $1.5 billion hack last week, the largest in the history of the crypto industry.
In less than 72 hours, Bybit pieced together hundreds of thousands of ether tokens through a mix of emergency loans and large deposits. While the rapid recovery restored the exchange’s balance and kept customer withdrawals open, it didn’t account for the stolen crypto.
The breach occurred during a routine internal transfer, when Bybit was moving funds from its offline “cold wallet,” designed for secure, long-term storage, to a “warm wallet,” which enables active trading. During that transfer, hackers exploited security gaps, intercepting the transaction and redirecting the funds to an unknown address.
Bybit CEO Ben Zhou wrote in a post on X on Sunday that the exchange remained solvent, adding that client assets were still fully backed, and that withdrawals remained open.
The company secured nearly 447,000 ether tokens through emergency funding from firms like Galaxy Digital, FalconX, and Wintermute. A proof of reserves audit conducted by cybersecurity firm Hacken confirmed that Bybit had successfully restored its reserves, verifying that all major assets — including bitcoin, ether, solana, tether, and USDC — exceeded a 100% collateralization ratio.
Recovering the stolen assets remains a challenge.
Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic has identified North Korea’s Lazarus Group as the perpetrators of the attack. The stolen funds were initially dispersed across 50 different wallets, each holding about 10,000 ether tokens, according to Elliptic, as part of an effort to launder the coins.
As of Feb. 24, more than $195 million — roughly 14.5% of the stolen assets — have already been transferred.
Bybit has offered a 10% bounty for the return of the stolen funds, but history suggests the odds of recovery are slim.
The Lazarus Group has a track record of laundering crypto to evade international sanctions, reportedly using stolen assets to fund North Korea’s nuclear program. In 2022, the group stole $600 million from Axie Infinity and, despite law enforcement intervention, only $30 million was recovered.
Ether, the token at the center of this attack, fell by about 5% in the past day.
BMW is preparing for a “technological quantum leap ” with its next-gen EV batteries. The German automaker claims its new tech will deliver 30% more driving range, 30% faster charging, and perhaps, most importantly, at a cheaper price.
BMW’s next-gen EV batteries will boost range, cut costs
With the debut of its first Neue Klasse, or “New Class” EV, in just a few months, BMW is giving us a closer look at the batteries and electric drive systems.
BMW revealed new details of its 800V platform that will underpin upcoming BMW, Mini, and Rolls Royce brand EV models. The platform, dubbed “Gen6,” is a “quantum leap forward” compared to its current electric cars.
BMW claims its sixth-generation eDrive system will deliver “30% faster charging speed and a 30% increase in range.” And some models may offer even more performance.
“We are leading the way with this drivetrain technology,” boasted Dr Joachim Post, a member of BMW’s purchasing and supplier network board.
The new NMC batteries feature BMW’s Gen6 cylindrical cells, which are said to offer 20% greater energy density than their predecessor, the Gen5 prismatic battery cell. BMW confirmed it will also offer bidirectional charging as standard in Gen6 models.
Their slimmer, more efficient “cell-to-pack” design makes it easier to package. More importantly, most development and assembly are now done in-house, which will help BMW drastically cut production costs.
Drastic improvements are coming soon
To give you an idea, the 2024 BMW i4, the luxury brand’s top-selling EV in the US last year, has an EPA-estimated range of up to 301 miles with fast charging (10% to 80%) in about 31 minutes. A 30% improvement suggests just over 390 miles driving range with fast charging in under 22 minutes.
BMW made several improvements to the electric motor, including a second asynchronous motor (ASM) motor that will be fitted on the front axle of AWD Neue Klasse models.
Other improvements include a new water and oil cooling system, an integrated inverter, and redesigned central housing to reduce weight.
The new EV batteries are assembled at five production plants as part of BMW’s “local for local” strategy, including in Bavaria (Irlbach-Straßkirchen), Hungary (Debrecen), China (Shenyang), Mexico (San Luis Potosí), and the US (Woodruff, near Spartanburg). BMW also secured supply agreements with five battery cell factories across Europe, China, and the US.
BMW said its new tech reduces energy losses by 40%, costs by 20%, and weight by 10% compared to a Gen5 xDrive model.
BMW Energy Master, the control unit for the electric motor and electric system, will be produced at its Plant Landshut (Bavaria), where it will also be fitted with the battery. The electric motor and Gen6 eDrive will be produced at Pant Steyr in Austria.
BMW said its plant in Bavaria is already producing pre-series control units. Series production is expected to begin in August 2025, and output will accelerate in mid-2026.
The first Neue Klasse BMW model, an electric 3-series, will debut later this year. Then, the Neue Klasse SUV is due out.
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Environment
PayPal brings many of its brands under a single umbrella, but Venmo remains a stand-alone
A PayPal sign is seen at its headquarters in San Jose, California, on Jan. 30, 2024.
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For Frank Keller, it’s a pivotal moment at PayPal. After two years, two CEOs and endless brand strategy meetings, the company is, in his view, ready to redefine the world of business payments.
With the launch this week of PayPal Open, Keller, who is executive vice president for the enterprise merchant group, and his team are consolidating many of the company’s offerings — Braintree, Zettle, Hyperwallet, Chargehound — into a single brand.
Speaking from Germany, Keller told CNBC that the strategy was set in motion after a customer mentioned, “You have all this amazing stuff, but we don’t know about it.”
“I’ve been working, actually for two years now, on this launch, in terms of how do we establish a PayPal as a B2B business,” Keller said.
PayPal, founded in 1998, was synonymous with its consumer-facing checkout button, but its business-to-business solutions have amounted to an assortment of homegrown technologies and acquired companies with little cohesion. With PayPal Open, those names will fade into the background, and PayPal can focus its centralized effort to become more important to businesses.
Keller likens the effort to other consumer brands that successfully expanded into B2B, pointing to Amazon Web Services as a prime example. Meanwhile, much of CEO Alex Chriss’ early success has stemmed from boosting transaction margins and better monetizing key acquisitions like Braintree, which handles credit card processing for Meta and processed nearly $600 billion in total payment volume last year.
Landing on the name Open took months of market research, internal deliberations and some last-minute strategic pivots. There was even a debate over whether to focus more on Braintree.
“PayPal is one of the most trusted brands” in the world, Keller said, explaining the logic to the decision.
The pressure is on Chriss, who took over as CEO in September 2023 to orchestrate a turnaround after a brutal few years for PayPal.
The company’s branded checkout business — historically its most profitable segment — faces mounting competition. Apple Pay, Google Pay and Shopify’s Shop Pay have all eaten into PayPal’s dominance, particularly among younger consumers who prefer mobile-first payment solutions. Branded checkout accounts for 30% of PayPal’s total payment volume.
PayPal Open is designed to do much more than handle B2B payments. Businesses, developers and partners will also be able to integrate financial services and AI-powered business insights – all through a single connection. For merchants, that means easier access to fraud protection, buy now, pay later options, global transactions in 140 currencies, and lending solutions.
There’s one notable brand that’s not joining the consolidation: Venmo.
The popular peer-to-peer payment app has more than 90 million active users, all in the U.S., and is practically ubiquitous among younger audiences.
“People say, ‘Venmo me,'” Keller said. “It’s such a distinct consumer brand.”
The rollout of PayPal Open begins this week, with a phased transition of brands starting in April, meaning Braintree and Hyperwallet won’t disappear overnight.
Keller said businesses “don’t have to rip and replace their Braintree” or other integrations, but instead gain seamless access to all of PayPal’s offerings. Keller says it’s all about showing that PayPal can be a true enterprise powerhouse.
“We want to be an open platform where businesses, developers and partners can build upon our solutions,” Keller said.
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