Hello everyone, I checked in the history and the last time this topic was aired seems to have been a while ago, but given the expected advances in battery technology in the next year or so, I was wondering if anyone has had experience of leasing an electric or hybrid car. Good idea? Pitfalls? I am attracted to leasing as I don’t want to buy a new car which may have outdated technology in a couple of years. Perhaps after a two year lease, it may be a good idea to buy a new car. Any pearls of wisdom gratefully received. Thanks.
Poster DeeDee did some good posts around vehicle leasing as she has seen it in France.
I took from them leasing is good if you haven’t a capital and like to be changing your car to another new one relatively often. But you must bear in mind that after the 4 years or whatever you haven’t actually got a car for what you’ve been paying.
Some leases of course you have the option of buying the car in exchange for a further sum.
DeeDee also said in one of her posts it can work to exchange the car early as you may well get a better deal as easier for leasing company to be motivated by swtching you early, selling another car and keeping you.
In UK some companies have a tactic of finding fault with the condition of the car when you return it at the end of the lease and making money on extra charges apparently.
If I took a lease now it wouid likely be more expensive than in the past due to cars being scarce so more expensive ATM. I’d look at the lease terms closely so I would know what would be my position to get out of existing lease as and when market changes if things come about so a new lease would be cheaper.
With electric in particular some say you’d e best leasing the battery (not the whole car) as then if battery fails or performance drops then it is replaced but not at your cost. Was true for original Nissan Leaf but not sure if improved battery technology makes this less important now
You are just hiring a car.
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I’ve never seen any deals which look especially attractive - pure lease arrangements with commitments for 2-4 years might have you paying ½ - ⅔ of the price of the vehicle over the lease period with nothing to show for it at the end and paying much more than just the depreciation on the vehicle.
It seems to only be Renault that do battery lease deals now. When we bought Little Evie the saleswoman was pushing hard for us to lease the whole car. The cost was high and the conditions quite strict in terms of sticking to km limits, returning it in the same condition and so on. It made the car very expensive and a bit restrictive.
You would have to do a calculation as to whether the monthly cost for the car you want is cheaper than a bank loan to buy the car outright.
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Thanks Karen, I will look at the posts DeeDee made. For me it’s less a capital issue. I could fork out for a new car but don’t want to saddled with something which is way out of date in a couple of years. I am aware that I might get nothing back at the end- I assumed it was a kind of long term hire car but not as expensive. Your point about the terms of return and state of the car are valid and will need careful consideration. I had heard about separately leasing the battery. That may in the end be the answer.
Thanks again.
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Thanks Jane,
As I say in my response to Karen. It’s less a question of capital outlay, more one of value for money and resale value after a couple of years. The restrictions you mention on mileage etc may we’ll play a role as we move into a post Covid era (we hope!) and travel outside the region becomes more common again.
Billy,
That is it! Is the price you pay for the lease more or less ( by more than a few euros) than the depreciation cost were you to sell a car you own after a couple of years. More study needed with a calculator I guess.
Don’t see that happening, the resale values of EV’s is very good at the moment. The electrons will always work no matter what variation of chemistry surfaces in a few years time.
Point taken. Thanks.
Just as a balance in the rush to go electric. Did anyone see Channel 4’s ‘Unreported World’ this last week? Very sobering seeing all those deformed babies in the DRC where so much of the cobalt for EVs is mined.
I took apart BMW’s figures for lease in some detail on the “EV buy or wait” thread.
In the UK PCP was cheaper and comes with the option to buy the car, in France it was neck and neck (but PCP is still better as you keep the option to buy).
Both are more expensive than HP and all are more expensive than buying the car outright, if you have the financial resources to do so.
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And for lithium-ion batteries in mobile phones……not sure how many phones would use up equivalent of a car battery, but currently I imagine the phones are the worse culprit as so many thousands of millions of them.
The DRC currently accounts for 70% of world cobalt production of which 15% is from “artisanal” mining i.e. people digging holes wherever they can to find the stuff. This is a dangerous & has certainly led to deaths through accidents, use of child labour etc. However, this does not mean all cobalt (& by extension, batteries) is/are bad.
The oil extraction industry hasn’t got a particularly clean record, in both environmental or humanitarian terms - far from it.
There are many developments in battery technology that will, eventually, lead to their production not being dependant on resources that are either hard to find or mine, exploit the developing world, or both.
Imagine a world that doesn’t have to pivot around the politics of oil…
And for the catalyst to remove sulphur from fossil fuels!
Yes oil and gas kept that very quiet
Hi Ian, we have a Lexus hybrid, it’s 10 years old, but it’s been great. It regularly does 70kms to the gallon. And, as long as you service it regularly, the battery will keep its insurance, so if it goes wrong (which is the most important/expensive thing to be a problem) it’s covered.
Hope that’s helpful.
Tanya
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Thanks for that Tanya. All useful and helpful info.
That does not seem all that frugal - our 6 year old Mazda diesel happily does 45-50mpg (70-80kms).
Did you mean kms to the gallon, or miles?
I bet there is quite a difference in weight between those 2
And our modern diesel does 60mpg!