Leasing an Electric Car Is a Better Deal

https://www.consumerreports.org/money/car-financing/why-leasing-an-electric-car-is-a-better-deal-a8470317219/

by woldemariam • 3 years ago

19 23 3 years ago

consumerreports.org

slau• 3 years ago

Interestingly on my Mastodon client (Ivory), this link is rendered with the following title:

Delete this version from 7/25/23 since old story got updated.

I don’t see this title when I load the page myself.

patmorgan23• 3 years ago

Probably just a caching issue

iwanttocomment3• 3 years ago

I own a BEV from 2012 and a PHEV from 2014. BEV has only had around 8% battery degradation, PHEV has around 20% but that's still enough to not use gas unless we're driving out of town. They're both in very good condition and look fine.

They've both been paid off for years and years. A new set of tires for each were the most expensive maintenance. We fill up the PHEV with gas around once a year for $40 and get an oil change whenever it prompts us, which is around every two years because we use gas so rarely. Insurance and registration for both cars ends up being a little over $1000/year total - both included. Our power costs are around $.055/KwH here - mostly renewable at this point - so we pay a few hundred in extra power costs each year charging them up.

Back when we got both the conventional wisdom even then was "lease don't own because the technology will be better in three years". Actually, the conventional wisdom was "wow, don't buy an electric car, what are you doing?" You know what? These guys still get around town just fine, don't look like junk yet, and paying a grand total of $750 or so per car per year feels real good.

heattemp992• 3 years ago

Where is electricity that cheap? In California were paying about $0.36 which makes charging my Chevy Volt more expensive than gasoline if gas is under $4.

People with plugin Priuses actually need gas to be $5 or higher for plugging in to payoff at my energy costs.

Californias love complaining our fuel costs 30% more than most states. Yet most don't know our electricity is 300% more.

iwanttocomment3• 3 years ago

Austin. Fully loaded - all electrical costs and monthly surcharges - we're still paying <$80/m for our (detached) house and both cars. Obviously summer costs are way higher than winter costs here. (We have a high-efficiency HVAC system installed 2018, decent windows and various efficiency improvements, thank god.)

We bought our BEV in California and were on Schedule EV with PG&E, and it was always a delicate dance of "charging at the right time" to make things cheap. Here, our EVs just don't cost us much.

exhilaration• 3 years ago

Check out this comment from 4 months back by a guy that's paying $0.08/kWh in Georgia: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35063397

I just signed up for $0.0949/kWh in Pennsylvania, but I'm paying a little bit extra for that feel-good wind power.

JohnFen• 3 years ago

Where is electricity that cheap?

It's even cheaper in my part of my state: 0.029/KWh

gpapilion• 3 years ago

Yes power in CA is expensive, and might be right for a Volt. However, here is a comparison of a Polestar 2 using $0.36 electricity: Full charge (.36 * 78kwh) = 28.08 Range = 276 mi Cost of fuel per mile = $0.10

Subaru Outback Full tank of gas (ca avg 4.89 18.5 gallon capacity) = 90.46 Range = 476 mi Cost of fuel per mile = $0.19

Its still almost half the cost of gas. That said, experientially at times it feels more expensive. Also, there are rate plans that move the cost lower to something like $0.21 instead, which really relies on you managing your charging times.

slotrans• 3 years ago

$0.084/kWh in Colorado (in summer, lower in winter)

amanaplanacanal• 3 years ago

I’m up in Oregon, and I pay .076, verified 95% carbon free. The rest is probably mostly renewable, just not guaranteed.

entropicgravity• 3 years ago

Unless you're leasing from Tesla who might not allow you to buy out the car when the lease is finished.

lockhouse2• 3 years ago

With ICE cars the best deal was always buying a gently used car that was just a couple of years old. Is that not still the case with EVs?

mikestew2• 3 years ago

There's not a reason I can think of that it shouldn't be the case with EVs. Were I to guess (and that's all it is), EV market is smaller than ICE, EVs are pricey to start with, ergo used EVs might be an even better deal than a used ICE.

Regardless, having owned two EVs over that last 12 years, I'd have no problem buying a used one. Not much to go wrong, and they're otherwise like any other car.

sokoloff• 3 years ago

I think 4-6 years old is a better deal financially versus 2 for ICE cars (often right before or just after the factory warranty expires and people get spooked by that, reducing the bid for the fleet at that age).

The incentives on EVs perturb the market slightly, and I don’t expect EVs being made today to last as long as ICE cars being made today, so buying or leasing new could make more sense in the EV case if you can get a bunch of trunk money thrown in. (I say this as a family with an 8.5 year old EV LEAF and an 18 year old ICE CR-V who appreciates both cars.)

mikestew2• 3 years ago

Man, what a load of FOMO bollocks. It's a car, not a phone, and EV technology isn't going to change so fast that one needs to flip cars every three years. (If that is, indeed, the case then we can quit touting EVs as something to reduce carbon emissions if we're encouraging the purchase of a new car every three years.) And what technological leaps are EVs going to make vs. an ICE? Longer range? Our Hyundai already goes as far on a charge than our 2005 Scion xB gasser. More electronic fiddly bits? Don't care; perhaps you do.

Repair costs? We had an OG (as in, we pre-ordered the first day we could in 2010) Nissan Leaf, and we didn't do shit to it. We bought tires once because the stocks ones suck. Threw wipers and a cabin air filter at it once in a while. If your electric car needs a lot of repairs, you bought a lemon.

You’ll enjoy peace of mind. It’s difficult to predict now how much an EV purchased today will be worth in two, three, or five years...

It's not difficult to predict: your car will be worth a fuckton less than it was when you bought it, it's just a matter of degrees. I realize resale value can be a factor, but resale value is mainly a concern of those that...drum roll please...flip cars every few years. And if you want to save the planet, quit flippin' cars.

That said, CR isn't completely wrong. The only way you're getting $7500 off a Hyundai is to take the lease rebate. We did that, and then paid it off at the first opportunity. And that is what makes leasing an EV a better deal. I'm not sure what motivated CR to print the rest of it.

xorcist• 3 years ago

What are you talking about? Of course you need the latest model to get the latest software.

The next version will work as a driverless taxi for you while you sleep! That car will practically pay for itself. It will be out in 2017.

Oh, did I go too far with the last bit?

gumby• 3 years ago

Note that 2017 is only six years away!

kotaKat• 3 years ago

Sure, for Well Qualified Lessees™. Anyone else will get hosed in the money factor.

fomine3• 3 years ago

Leasing new BEV frequently means they supply used BEV frequently. It's a good thing for who can't afford (or don't think it worth) brand new vehicle.

throw9away6• 3 years ago

Government incentives being misplaced is the reason it’s a good deal.

Leasing an Electric Car Is a Better Deal

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