Currently there are great rebate incentives available in California, from the state and from the various electric utilities throughout the state.  

A friend sent this to me, and while it applies mainly to California I thought I’d post it since several of our members are residents in both states. You do not need to have a CA ID to purchase or lease a vehicle or to take advantage of the CA state rebate offers, so even if you live full time on Kauai it seems you can purchase a 2019 Niro EV from California and have it shipped to Kauai. In that case you will need to go to CA to take delivery of your car, and some of the rebates mentioned below might not apply. Please see the disclaimer at the end of this post. *

And if you live full time on Kauai try the local Aloha Kia first, they have been very EV friendly in the past, maybe they can also give you similar rebates.

I edited the following in several places to make it more applicable for Kauai residents. The original author promised more info, and I’ll keep editing this article, maybe he’ll comment on the post too.

And if you decide to buy one, hurry, this offer is too good to last…

So… actually: How to purchase a KIA NIRO EV EX PREMIUM from a car dealer in the LA or SF BAY area.  

(c) Kia

I am happy to provide advice as well as share my experience.  Rest assured that the process is not difficult or complicated.

Purchasing a new EV from a KIA CAR dealer may be one of the most frustrating purchase experiences you will have since the dealer will assume that you know nothing about the pricing or incentives that are currently offered.

Also, they are also limited in their understanding of BOTH the car itself as well as the number of and process to get all the current rebates available.

Thats why I suggest you go to the Costco Auto website and begin the process of getting a Costco Quote by email and making an email connection with a salesperson.

Be sure to use a SPAM email address since they will FLOOD your inbox with LOTS of advertising.

Usually at car dealers, the internet department has the most knowledgeable and most motivated salespeople and they will probably be most helpful to get you the best deal.

However, if the costcoauto.com website (based on the zip code you enter in CA) does not refer you to a dealer in that area for the EXACT MODEL of NIRO EV EX PREMIUM that you want, then you might not be able to get a quote by email or have any discussion for price until YOU SHOW UP at the dealership.  Unfortunately, the pricing that you MIGHT get by email from them will be way out of the ballpark and be turned off altogether to get your car there in the first place.  

Make sure that you choose a dealer zip code that is either in the BAY AREA (so you can easily drop the car off at the Oakland MATSON Terminal) or somewhere in LA (to drop it off in Long Beach).  

And if you use TrueCar.com, you can see which dealers are most aggressive with pricing… being more competitive than others in the general areas of each metropolis mentioned.

Also, the TrueCar.com website is not very user friendly and the dealer that contacts you may offer you a great price on a hybrid or plug-in… this is all part of the user-unfriendliness of the website.

The following links below are to the KIA FACTORY website As of today 2/8/2020, Kia Carson have 23 Niro EX PREMIUM available (in various colors).
Stevens Creek Kia has 20 .

Familiarize yourself with choosing various KIA dealerships and pricing.
I would suggest choosing a dealer which has the largest inventory of those cars because you are more likely to get a larger discount on the “selling price” of the car.

Photo (c) Kia


The selling price of the car will determine (as a foundation) the monthly payment for the car as well as whether you wish to ultimately purchase or lease. KIA of Carson sells about 50 (yes 50) cars (of all KIA models) a day so they are  (currently) most likely the one which will give the best discount of all the dealers in LA…. until they run out of stock.


One thing to note:  The $7500 federal tax credit will be called a REBATE if you decide to LEASE the vehicle (since it will be applied as a $9600 total rebate from KIA) and if you decide to PURCHASE the car, then the $7500 rebate will be yours to claim as a tax credit when you do your taxes so it will NOT be applied to the purchase price.

I LEASED a KIA NIRO EV EX PREMIUM for 39 months at $420/mo before GET with a $2500 down payment.  15k miles.  Tier 1 credit.

The REBATES are $7500 (included in the LEASE PAYMENT) PLUS a $2000 rebate from the CA STATE clean vehicle program.  ($4500 if you are low-income… $39k or less on 2018 tax return.)

To get the rebate from the state, you need to prove residency with an electric bill in CA or if you have another car ALREADY REGISTERED in CA with your name on the bill or registration (anywhere in the state).

Photo (c) Kia


Depending on which address to register the car the various utilities in CA will give a rebate as well.  ( $1000 rebate from SCE or  $800 PG&E )

Click here for the current EV LEASE deals available for various EV’s across the country…  

Let us know in the comments if you have questions!

* Please note and understand that you are fully responsible for your actions and the author / I / KauaiEV CAN NOT and WILL NOT guarantee the exact outcome after you buy or lease your car as outlined below. You are going to be doing the purchase and rebate process at your own risk.

1 Comment

  • Derek

    Hey! This is very thorough and great info, and super helpful for importing EVs! Still can’t believe you guys don’t get the Kona EV out there. Just wanted to make a quick note – the state rebate will unfortunately definitely not fully transfer, as the CVRP (CA state rebate) requires the owner to register + operate the vehicle in CA for a minimum of 30 months for the full rebate, as mandated by the Air Resources Board.

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