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Toyota has made its fully electric 2024 bZ4X – which only just landed on dealers’ lots – available to lease with a $10,000 discount.

Toyota’s 2024 bZ4X lease deal

Toyota released prices and specs of the 2024 bZ4X in January, and it hasn’t even been available at dealerships that long. But CarsDirect reports that the EV is available in the Greater New York area with a lease cash discount.

Lease cash is a manufacturer incentive that lowers the cost of a new vehicle when it’s leased. The bZ4X starts at $43,070 for the 2024 model year.

CarsDirect scouted out this Greater New York deal that enables car buyers to lease a bZ4X XLE for just $299 per month for 36 months with $3,999 due at signing. These figures are based on an MSRP of $47,734 and an allowance of 10,000 miles per year.

The car-buying website doesn’t say exactly where in Greater New York, but a quick Google search confirmed that this deal does indeed exist:

However, when I click on Toyota’s “Greater New York” link, it’s not on the lease deals list. [Eye roll.]

CarsDirect says it was also able to find the 2024 electric Toyota SUV with up to $9,000 in lease cash in other parts of the US.

Meanwhile, the 2023 bZ4X is available with up to $12,500 in lease cash in New York, but Toyota has stopped advertising lease payments for that model.

As Electrek reported this week, Toyota only sold 1,897 bZ4X models in Q1 2024. Although that’s up 9% from the 1,698 handed over in Q1 2023, it only accounted for a minuscule 0.4% of its total US sales.

Electrek’s Take

This $10k lease discount deal caught my eye because of the bigger picture. Toyota is getting its BEV sales hat handed to it by other automakers such as Volvo, Kia, and Hyundai.

Kinda makes you think Toyota just isn’t trying very hard to sell the bZ4X – because it’s not. It’s focusing on hybrids and gas cars.

As I’ve said before, Toyota’s strategy, which reflects its conservative corporate culture, has been wrongly steered by its belief that the market and EV technology still need to mature to meet its reliability and efficiency standards.

Read more: Toyota to invest $1.3B to build EVs at its Kentucky plant

Click here to find a local dealer that may have the Toyota bZ4X in stock. –affiliate link*


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Tesla wipes odometer on Cybertruck in service, scratches it, and returns it to owner

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Tesla wipes odometer on Cybertruck in service, scratches it, and returns it to owner

Tesla has wiped off the 26,000 miles on the odometer of a Cybertruck in service, scratched the vehicle, and then returned it to the owner like nothing happened.

A Tesla Cybertruck owner in Oregon was quite surprised when he went to pick up his Cybertruck, which was in service to install a new lightbar, fix some panel gaps, and figure out an ABS alert that wouldn’t go away.

According to a thread on the Cybertruck Owners Club, Tesla had wiped the odometer clean on the Foundation Series ‘Cyberbeast’, which had over 26,000 miles on it.

The owner shared a video of the Cybertruck’s odometer going from 0 to 1 mile for the second time:

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The odometer on the vehicle was wiped and both the app and service many also showed the same mileage.

The owner shared a screenshot of the app after 15 miles:

He went to the online forum for advice:

Anyone else have their odometer Thanos-snapped after a controller swap? Can Tesla unsnap it or am I forever “True Mileage Unknown”?

Interestingly, Tesla is currently being sued for allegedly messing with the odometers of its vehicles. However, the lawsuit is for accelerating the mileage, not reducing it, like in this case.

It was not the only surprise from this service visit for this Cybertruck owner.

The owner was not satisfied with the lightbar installation, which he claims has a half-inch gap on the passenger side while it is flush on the driver side. He wrote:

It’s basically smiling sideways at everyone.

It’s also unclear why Tesla was messing with the vehicle’s tailgate, but it ended up having a bolt moving around it, causing scratches and Tesla left a bolt unbolted:

At this point, the truck was returned with more problems than it had when it entered service.

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Ray Dalio says the risk to U.S. Treasuries is even greater than what Moody’s is saying

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Ray Dalio says the risk to U.S. Treasuries is even greater than what Moody's is saying

Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates LP, speaks during the Greenwich Economic Forum in Greenwich, Connecticut, US, on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023.

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Bridgewater Associates founder and billionaire Ray Dalio warned Monday that Moody’s downgrade of the U.S. sovereign credit rating understates the threat to U.S. Treasuries, saying the credit agency isn’t taking into account the risk of the federal government simply printing money to pay its debt.

“You should know that credit ratings understate credit risks because they only rate the risk of the government not paying its debt,” Dalio said in a post on social media platform X.

“They don’t include the greater risk that the countries in debt will print money to pay their debts thus causing holders of the bonds to suffer losses from the decreased value of the money they’re getting (rather than from the decreased quantity of money they’re getting),” the Bridgewater founder said.

Moody’s on Friday cut the U.S. credit rating one notch to Aa1 from Aaa, citing the federal government’s ballooning budget deficit and soaring interst payments on the debt. It was the last of the three major credit agencies to downgrade the U.S. from the highest possible rating.

U.S. stocks fell on Monday as the 30-year Treasury bond yield jumped to 4.995% and the 10-year note yield climbed to 4.521% in response to Moody’s downgrade.

“Said differently, for those who care about the value of their money, the risks for U.S. government debt are greater than the rating agencies are conveying,” Dalio said.

Bridgewater’s assets under management dropped 18% in 2024 to some $92 billion, Reuters reported in March, down from a recent peak of $150 billion in 2021.

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Nissan may have just found its saviour… Toyota?

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Nissan may have just found its saviour… Toyota?

Nissan is on the brink of collapsing. After the Honda deal fell through, it looks like another Japanese automaker is tossing it a lifeline. As Nissan struggles to stay afloat, Toyota is emerging as a potential “backer” in a new tie-up.

Are Toyota and Nissan partnering?

“If we don’t take action now, the situation will only get worse,” Nissan’s President, Ivan Espinosa, said during a press conference on May 13.

Facing falling sales, ballooning debt, and slumping profits, Nissan introduced a new recovery plan last week, “Re:Nissan.” The struggling automaker aims to cut costs by 250 billion yen to return to profitability by FY 2026.

As part of its efforts to turn the business around, Nissan will cut 20,000 jobs by FY2027. It’s also abandoning plans to build a new EV battery facility in Japan. Seven other plants will be closed, including one in Thailand and two in Japan.

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After its planned EV merger with Honda fell through in February, rumours surfaced that Nissan was scrambling to find another partner.

Nissan-Toyota-partnership
(Source: Nissan)

According to a new report from Japan’s MainiChi, a Toyota executive recently reached out to Nissan about a potential partnership. The tie-up could involve Toyota acting as Nissan’s “backer” to support it while it restructures.

Nissan and Toyota both unveiled a wave of new electric vehicles set to roll out over the next few years. The upgraded Nissan LEAF EV will arrive in the US and Canada later this year with more range, an NACS port, and a new crossover style. It will be one of ten new Nissan or Infiniti models to arrive by 2027.

Nissan-Toyota-partnership
Nissan’s upcoming lineup for the US, including the new LEAF EV and “Adventure Focused” SUV (Source: Nissan)

In Europe, Nissan will launch the next-gen LEAF later this year, followed by the new Micra EV and Qashqai electric crossover. In 2026, the new Nissan Juke EV will join the lineup.

Nissan-Toyota-EV-partnership
Nissan’s lineup for Europe. From left to right: The new Nissan Qashqai, LEAF, and Micra EV (Source: Nissan)

Meanwhile, Toyota’s upgraded bZ electric SUV (formerly the “bZ4X”) will arrive at US dealerships in the second half of 2025.

In 2026, the smaller C-HR electric SUV and rugged bZ Woodland EV will follow. By the end of the year, Europe will see three new Toyota electric SUVs: the C-HR+, Urban Cruiser, and upgraded bZ4X.

Electrek’s Take

Toyota already has a stake in several Japanese automakers, including Subaru (20%), Mazda (5.1%), Suzuki (4.6%), and Isuzu (5.9%), so backing Nissan wouldn’t come as a shock.

Espinosa said Nissan was open to new partnerships. Nissan’s chief said the company will continue collaborating with others, including Mitsubishi, which will use the upcoming LEAF as the basis for its new EV for North America.

Japanese carmakers have been notoriously slow in shifting to all-electric vehicles, which is now costing them in key overseas markets like Southeast Asia, Central and South America, and others.

Chinese EV leaders, like BYD, are quickly expanding overseas to drive growth this year. Next year, it will launch its first kei car (see the first spy shots), or mini EV, which is already being called “a huge threat” to Japan.

Pooling resources and teaming up may be the best (or only) option at this point. Can Toyota help Nissan turn things around? Or will it be too little, too late? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Check back soon for details. This is a developing story. We’ll keep you updated with the latest.

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