Reply to Getting an EV - buy new, buy used or lease?

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[quote=jsteele]I chose to buy an EV (two EVs in fact), but that was because I always buy cars and I can't really argue that it makes the best financial sense. We always keep our cars a long time and I expect that same will be true in this case. But, with EV technology changing so much, we may want a new one sooner than expected.

Leasing has several advantages. One, as I mentioned, the technology is changing quickly. It is very likely that in 5 years batteries will be smaller, cheaper, and hold a larger charge. Ranges will be extended and charging speeded up so that today's EVs will be undesirable in comparison.

Another advantage is that a loophole in the rebate law allows dealers to offer the rebates that are meant for American-built cars to be provided on any EV. Therefore, if you have your eye on an EV that does not qualify for the tax incentives if purchased, you can probably save $7,500 by leasing it.

There are a lot of great lease deals available these days.

The downsides that I know of with leasing is that, if you plan to keep the car longer than the lease period (i.e. buy the car at the end of the lease), the residual value may be higher than what used models of the same car are selling for. Therefore, you probably want to look at this as a true lease in which you turn the car in at the end of the lease. In that case, you are stuck with car payments forever as long as you continue leasing. One of my main reasons for buying is that I hate monthly payments. So I pay cash for cars and keep them for as long as possible.

One other thing to consider is that I believe every EV sold in the US has a 8 year warranty on its battery. The battery is the big worry that folks seem to have with EVs. Therefore, you could look at 8 years as a reasonable length of ownership. That is almost half of your current car, but twice or more of most leases. So you might compare the cost of leasing for 2-4 years versus owing for 8.

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