Would you buy or lease a 150-200 mile Gen II EV?

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asimba2

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Leasing my LEAF was a huge departure from my normal "pay it off and drive the wheels off of it" approach. In the end, it was the right decision but I'm not sure I will do it again in 2017 when my lease ends. My question to you is, if in the next few years you could get an EV with 150-200 miles of range, would you consider buying it as opposed to leasing it? That's what I'm thinking of doing, as there is no better payback on a car than paying it off and driving it for ten years, as opposed to continually "renting" a car through leasing. One could assume that a next-gen 160 mile EV will still be good for our current LEAF's 84 mile range after 8-10 years, no?
 
My goal is to find an EV that will get me 75 miles (which is what I was expecting with my Gen 1 LEAF), except under the worst possible conditions (30% degradation, plus winter capacity/efficiency loss) for no more than I paid for my 2012 LEAF. That will likely require an EPA-rated 170 mile EV, which I don't think Nissan can deliver on by 2017. I think they will give us a 100 mile EV, best case scenario- which is what they promised 5 years ago but failed to deliver on. If they can deliver, I'll do a 2-year lease with the option to buy if it works out.

But most likely, I'll be getting a Gen-2 Volt. Gen-1 Volt lived up to its expectations much better than Gen-1 LEAF. I'll probably aim for a 2-year lease with the option to buy out for long-term (drive the wheels off it) ownership. That will allow me to trade up to the next-best thing if the car depreciates faster than expected, or keep it if it holds its value.

When it comes to new and unproven technology, you can't beat leasing.
 
I also normally buy and drive for the longish term. But with the Leaf I leased to get me to 2017 and the longer range EVs at a decent price. My plan is to wait and see what is available then but if I can get at least a 200 mile EV at the price point I want I will buy it. Willing also to pay a premium for longer range if there are multiple battery options as it will be used long term. The supercharging network makes the Model 3 look like serious contender for me but this will depend on when it actually starts production. But again too many unknowns right now to make a decision. Price wise I would be good probably to $50,000. If Ontario still has the 8500 rebate that will put me back to 41500. At the gas prices we currently pay I would save around 30g in gas (based on the ICE in the driveway right now) over 10 years plus the savings in maintenance.

As for my current Leaf if we get to 2017 and there is possible options to upgrade the battery to a longer range one (either from Nissan or 3rd party) I may keep it. So many maybes and ifs though.
 
kaikara said:
I also normally buy and drive for the longish term. But with the Leaf I leased to get me to 2017 and the longer range EVs at a decent price. My plan is to wait and see what is available then but if I can get at least a 200 mile EV at the price point I want I will buy it. Willing also to pay a premium for longer range if there are multiple battery options as it will be used long term.
Click to expand...

That was why I leased until 2017 as well...hoping there are some affordable 150-200 mile EV options then. If the range isn't there or the price is out of spec, I will probably extend my lease another 6 months. I feel like I've got a pretty good thing going right now in terms of price.

Even though I really want more range, realistically there is only one trip I take every six weeks or so that is beyond the range of the Leaf (~120 miles), so I have to drive the gas car. So in other words, my 2013 LEAF covers most of my driving, a 150 mile EV would cover all of the driving for which I would drive an electric, then beyond that 150 miles I would use our other cars for varying reasons.
 
My real reason to want a longer range EV is not that I really need the range for most of my trips (the leaf does fine for that) but so that I can use the car and original battery for 10 years without having to worry about degradation. If you add in winter driving with the batter degradation the leaf may get to 3 or 4 years for me before there are times when I won't be able to use the heater or will have to take the ICE instead some days.
 
I'd consider buying, because I think I could be rid of ICE altogether and I'd be racking up a lot more miles. I'm hoping the van is here by then, and I'd turn it into a camper. An EV is a perfect fit going to campgrounds.
 
My "buy" requirements

135 miles real range
$32,000 price before incentives which means about $25,000 OTD

pretty simple really and I will be making my decision about the same time as you in Dec 2016 so stay tuned

but I think in 2 years, Nissan's best selling EV will be the same old 88 mile LEAF for under $20,000
 
Depends - on the terms. But I'd like to lease till next-to-next gen. Esp. If I can get an EV for $125 a month (2k down) like I do now.

But if we decide to get Model E - I'd most probably have to buy it since the lease terms won't be nice.

Anyone buying a Volt 2 because of Leaf 1, I think will end up with buyer's remorse. But Volt might be a good leaser waiting for next gen EVs.
 
If there are still federal tax credits available I'd prefer to lease then buy out the lease because it is tax inefficient for me to get the tax credit on a purchase. If no federal tax credits left, then I expect to buy the next EV.

However, the next EV I buy must be Tesla Supercharger capable or I am not interested. I want to get rid of my ICE car, at long last. Until such a car is available and "affordable" my LEAF will suffice. Unlike some, I have no interest in PHEVs.
 
There are a lot of "if"s besides the range. The biggest would be expected battery life and degradation curve. But let's say we get 200 miles and a very good longevity in the next 5 years, for current LEAF prices. In that case we'd be witnessing tremendous acceleration of the technology and I'd have to base a buy decision on my expectations for the continued rate of battery tech improvement. Basically, whether the improvement will be significant over the span of a lease (3 yrs) or over the span of ownership (let's say 7-10 years).

At some point batteries will become good enough to where it just doesn't much matter anymore. When I think in those terms I'm imagining an EV capable of an "all-day" drive; about 600 miles highway range.

Also, now that I've entered into 2 leases I am starting to become fond of driving a perpetually new car. For the cost of buying a single new car outright, I can lease 3 cars over 9 years. That's a reasonable life for a new car, but you end up driving a 9-year-old car. But of course, the tax incentives are skewing that equation at the moment.

Back on the flip side, the nice thing about ownership is you can do a lot more modification if that's your thing.
 
Nubo said:
There are a lot of "if"s besides the range. The biggest would be expected battery life and degradation curve. But let's say we get 200 miles and a very good longevity in the next 5 years, for current LEAF prices. In that case we'd be witnessing tremendous acceleration of the technology and I'd have to base a buy decision on my expectations for the continued rate of battery tech improvement. Basically, whether the improvement will be significant over the span of a lease (3 yrs) or over the span of ownership (let's say 7-10 years).

At some point batteries will become good enough to where it just doesn't much matter anymore. When I think in those terms I'm imagining an EV capable of an "all-day" drive; about 600 miles highway range.

Also, now that I've entered into 2 leases I am starting to become fond of driving a perpetually new car. For the cost of buying a single new car outright, I can lease 3 cars over 9 years. That's a reasonable life for a new car, but you end up driving a 9-year-old car. But of course, the tax incentives are skewing that equation at the moment.

Back on the flip side, the nice thing about ownership is you can do a lot more modification if that's your thing.
Click to expand...

I kinda feel the same but but incentives won't be here on LEAF IV so have to buy LEAF III but like you, I will lease then purchase to maximize the benefits and breaks
 

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