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Electrical Car Drivers Love Em, But Don t Buy Em: Why Leasing Rules

Electrified Car Drivers Love ‘Em, But Don’t Buy ‘Em: Why Leasing Rules

2016 Nissan Leaf

Electric-car drivers love their vehicles, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re interested in long-term commitments.

It turns out that the majority of drivers presently lease their plug-in cars, rather than buy.

Excluding Tesla (which does not release detailed sales information), leasing represents about seventy five percent of the electric-car market in 2015–and it was eighty percent in two thousand thirteen and 2014.

In comparison, leasing accounts for only about twenty eight percent of the overall car market–and 49.Five percent of the luxury-car market, where it’s traditionally been most popular.

That’s because consumers see numerous advantages in not buying their electrical cars outright, according to CNBC.

It’s essentially down to the “smartphone mentality,” the report says: buyers aren’t interested in keeping their cars long term, because they expect something better to supersede them fairly soon.

Chevrolet Bolt EV concept, two thousand fifteen Detroit Auto Demonstrate

Right now, that’s not an unreasonable assumption.

The Tesla Model three and Chevrolet Bolt EV are both expected to arrive in or around two thousand seventeen with 200-mile ranges, and a redesigned, second-generation Nissan Leaf is expected soon as well.

And while many electrified cars carry a price premium over comparable internal-combustion models, lease-rate comparisons are more favorable.

There are presently seven electric-car models being suggested with leases lower than $200 per month for thirty six months.

This is because Federal, state, and local incentives are spinned into the price of a lease, along with any discounts applied by the manufacturer or dealer.

Incentives like the $7,500 Federal tax credit for electrified cars go to the owner–in this case the finance company holding the lease.

That means dealers can apply it to the rate of a lease, lowering the price instantly. Individual buyers have to wait until they file their taxes to receive the discount.

When combined with manufacturer and dealer incentives, this can dramatically lower the monthly cost of a fresh electrical car.

Back in March, a combination of incentives and discounts on the Fiat 500e led to some California buyers getting leases at $82.75 per month for thirty six months.

Drivers who lease also don’t have to worry about residual values.

Concerns about range, battery life, and the “smartphone mentality” may be keeping the values of cars down when they come off leases, according to CNBC.

While most cars retain forty to fifty percent of their original value after three years, that figure is more like twenty five to thirty percent for electrical cars.

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