So I'm trying to do the math on this and figure out how much of a present-day discount this is given a safe equivalent investment into US treasuries. I was thinking of buying a 2-3 year old SUV but it looks like the Model Y is a pretty good deal? (Excluding fees, taxes, etc.)
On the base RWD there's a MSRP of $45,000. With the EV incentive in California, this brings it down to $37.5k. If you took the 72 month financing option with 0 down, and invested $37.5k into US treasuries, you'd be getting a 4.5% return, which is a profit of $10,125.00 (after 6 years, simple interest). Over that same time period, you'd be paying 1% APR on a 37.5k loan, which comes to $1151 in interest (after 6 years). So after 6 years, a difference of $8974. Adjusting for inflation, that has a present value of $7184.
So then, $45,000 - $7500 - $7184 means that the cost to purchase this vehicle is $30,316. Does that make sense? I know you can't technically buy 6 year treasuries but 5 year is close enough.