Electric cars are obviously the shiny new toys in the automotive industry. Their the toys everyone want to play with and, more importantly, everyone wants the newest one. As soon as a new EV comes out, with a further range, more power and more technology, older ones become obsolete, unwanted and forgotten. It’s sort of like how every new Madden makes the old one useless and every time a new iPhone comes out, the old ones are used as frappe coasters by mustachioed hipsters. And that out-with-the-old-in-with-the-new nature of electric cars is why customers lease, rather than buy.
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People who bought the original Nissan Leaf or Chevy Volt are probably kicking themselves at the moment, as their cars are so far behind the tech curve they might as well be diesels and depreciation has sucked their values dry. Especially now that some really excellent EVs have just recently hit the market, such as the newly refreshed BMW i3, Chevy Bolt and Tesla Model 3 (I know I’m playing fast and loose with the term “hit the market” with the Model 3). If you own one of the older cars, you’d like to trade up to a newer one but therein lies another problem.
Because there’s not really a lot of data as to how long electric cars last and how mileage effects battery range, charge times and reliability, electric cars don’t really hold their value well. So if you own one, depreciation is going to kill you, thus making it much harder to keep ahead of the tech curve.
That’s why leasing is such an attractive option for electric cars. Not only does leasing allow you to get into a new car every few years but it allows you to drive a new car without investing in a depreciating asset. So you end up saving money and you’re easily allowed to stay with the newest electric car on the market. And, let’s face it, most customers buying electric cars are techies who constantly want the newest tech.
So if you’re in the market for an electric car, it makes much more sense to lease, rather than buy.
[Source: CNET]
The original i3 is still a great car, with enough range to satisfy most people’s daily needs. It’s made of carbon fiber, aluminum, and thermoplastic, so it should last forever. Electric motors last for decades. When the battery finally loses enough capacity, you almost certainly will be able to pop in a new one with the latest chemistry, essentially giving you a current-gen i3. A lot cheaper than a lease.
There are hundreds of improvements in the i3 that make it a better car.
Take the 19 inch wheels for example.
They are tall wheels, they roll over bumps nearly as if they weren’t there. Clearly 200-300% better than most cars.
The ride is clearly a true luxury EV.
The quietness of the cabin. You’ll enjoy midrange, and lower midrange music you haven’t heard so clearly in any car with an engine.
p.s. EVs are not toys.
Digital cameras were toys for Kodak.
Kodak had some nice color algorithms in those digital camera’s. I remember the mid year ones fondly.
The later ones that they cheapened out were subpar.
“Not only does leasing allow you to get into a new car every few years
but it allows you to drive a new car without investing in a depreciating
asset. So you end up saving money and you’re easily allowed to stay
with the newest electric car on the market.”
You think you save money if you lease an ev instead of buy? Because the lease company is a not for profit company? Quite the opposite, in the lease price of an ev the uncertainty of the rest value is calculated.
Depends on the car you might-have-bought.
You can lease an i3 at less cost then you can lease a Prius Prime Advanced. And the i3 is 100% better in all categories than a Prime.
You lease an electric because:
1a) BMW Finance is nice enough to take the Fed. Tax Credit off the lease list price. You do no paperwork. This allows you to take the full credit in one year, where otherwise many of us would not qualify for the full credit.
1b) You get to roll into a new BMW i3 more quickly, at the end of a 3 year lease, with the latest improvements, like the BMW i3 Sport.
1c) Into an i3 with a bigger battery.
1d) Or, if you love the car you just leased, you can buy it, for it’s residual value. Many would say that’s not optimal, because the residual is higher then resale, however, you Know this car. You know how you drove it and maintained it. That’s worth something.
( This is the Lease-then-Buy option )
And with an EV or a REX that meets your needs it’s a viable option.
2) The latest safety systems, are of course, in the latest cars. Collision prevention, and Automatic Cruise Control.
3) Autonomous Driving is just over the horizon. Will be here in 3 years. You don’t want to be tied down to owning a new car for 10 years and miss out on AI driving.
And for the general public.
Leasing is awesome.
Because buyer two typically sees a much lower price in the used car market.
A 3 year old CPO BMW i3 in the used car market is going for around $22,000. This is essentially a FREE CAR, if you drive much and keep it for 10 years. The fuel savings will completely offset the purchase price, along with a nice Positive Cash Flow payment in the later years.
I disagree, about the Volt.
If 50 miles of EV range was all you needed 3 years ago, it’s still all you need today. 50 miles of range for a plugin-hybrid is really optimal for 90% of the population. And fuel savings make a Volt an investment, if you buy it to keep it for 10 years or more.
The Leaf, which doesn’t have the battery management system the BMW i3 has, caused it’s own depreciation issue, and tarnished the industry.
But, I think I see BMW i3’s in the used car market starting to move off the lots quicker, and pick up higher resale values, esp. the REX versions. These are super fun “investment” cars. When you pay 75% less fuel cost, like you do in Pennsylvania, the car starts to pay for itself pretty quickly.