Ford and GM have apparently worked up an interesting scheme to keep the expiring $7,500 federal EV tax credit from driving down sales. According to Reuters, the automakers are working with dealers on short-term programs that would allow customers to continue to receive the tax credit on leased EVs through the rest of the year.

The programs will operate under each automaker’s financing arm, according to documents viewed by Reuters and interviews with dealers briefed on the plan. It basically works like this: Ford and GM will buy EVs from its own dealers by having their finance divisions put down payments on all the electric models in their inventory before the tax credit expires. The dealers will then lease the vehicles to customers with a $7,500 discount baked into the price.

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