http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1100513_electric-car-drivers-love-em-but-dont-buy-em-why-leasing-rules Electric Car Drivers Love 'Em, But Don't Buy 'Em: Why Leasing Rules By Stephen Edelstein Oct 19, 2015
[images http://images.thecarconnection.com/lrg/2016-nissan-leaf_100527037_l.jpg 2016 Nissan Leaf http://images.thecarconnection.com/lrg/chevrolet-bolt-ev-concept-2015-detroit-auto-show_100496689_l.jpg Chevrolet Bolt EV concept, 2015 Detroit Auto Show http://images.thecarconnection.com/lrg/2016-fiat-500e_100524801_l.jpg 2016 Fiat 500e ] 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 currently lease their plug-in cars, rather than buy. Excluding Tesla (which does not release detailed sales information), leasing represents about 75 percent of the electric-car market in 2015--and it was 80 percent in 2013 and 2014. In comparison, leasing accounts for only about 28 percent of the overall car market--and 49.5 percent of the luxury-car market, where it's traditionally been most popular. That's because consumers see multiple advantages in not buying their electric 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. Right now, that's not an unreasonable assumption. The Tesla Model 3 and Chevrolet Bolt EV are both expected to arrive in or around 2017 with 200-mile ranges, and a redesigned, second-generation Nissan Leaf is expected soon as well. And while many electric cars carry a price premium over comparable internal-combustion models, lease-rate comparisons are more favorable. There are currently seven electric-car models being offered with leases lower than $200 per month for 36 months. This is because Federal, state, and local incentives are rolled 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 electric 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 immediately. 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 new electric 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 36 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 40 to 50 percent of their original value after three years, that figure is more like 25 to 30 percent for electric cars. [© greencarreports.com] https://thenewswheel.com/three-quarters-of-ev-drivers-dont-buy-their-cars/ Three Quarters of EV Drivers Don’t Buy Their Cars October 20, 2015 [images http://thenewswheel.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Supporting-TreesCount-20-BMW-i3-Electric-Cars-Donated-to-New-York-City-Parks-side-view.jpg Supporting TreesCount! 20 BMW i3 Electric Cars Donated to New York City Parks side view ] Beyonce would be disappointed in electric car drivers. According to CNBC, while electric car drivers love their vehicles, most of them simply aren’t putting a ring on it, with 75% of all EV drivers leasing their vehicles (this number excludes Tesla, which isn’t really forthcoming with any specific numbers, and whose unique sales model makes it so leasing data is not shared with industry trackers). While this is a light improvement on the 80% of EV drivers in 2013 and 2014, this percentage is far, far more than leasing numbers in the car sales industry as a whole, which comes in at 28%. EV leasing even beats luxury car leasing, which is much more common than the industry as a whole at 49.5%. The main reason, CNBC thinks [ http://www.cnbc.com/2015/10/17/ric-cars.html ], is it doesn’t make long-term sense. To begin with, electric vehicle technology has been rapidly improving over the past several years, with range increasing from year to year. With technology advancing so rapidly, it doesn’t make much sense to commit financially to a car which will soon be outclassed. On top of that, leases on EVs can be significantly less expensive than leases on more mainstream vehicles. This is because any state or federal incentives on the sale of EVs generally go to the owner of the vehicle—in the case of leasing, the dealer. While a driver buying an EV has to wait until the end of the year to reap these benefits, the dealer can apply them to the lease payment right away. Besides, EVs are generally more expensive right now. Perhaps, once technology advances past a certain point and EV prices come down, EV drivers will warm to the prospect of actually purchasing their vehicles. [© thenewswheel.com] For EVLN EV-newswire posts use: http://evdl.org/evln/ {brucedp.150m.com} -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-EV-Drivers-Love-Em-But-Don-t-Buy-Em-Why-Leasing-Rules-Big-tp4678278.html Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Read EVAngel's EV News at http://evdl.org/evln/ Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
