100.00 battery lease is a steal??

[mwalsh]

That link didn't work.

It wasn't supposed to work. It's called sarcasm.

 

[jhm614]

That link didn't work.

No,it didn't. But it was pretty funny.

I think TYOB was making more of an editorial comment, rather than actually provided a link.

J.

 

[evboy]

i am going to say that nissan will allow anyone that buys the car as a 1st owner or 10th owner to sign up for this lease program. i dont see why they wouldnt. the cost of the battery will come down for them. at 100 a month they will make 6k in 5 years. by then the cost should be less than that or close to it. if they break even on the lease over 5 years, they should be happy because it will mean more sales for the leaf. thats the ultimate goal. to sell a million of these puppies, and possibly break even on the battery lease to make customers happy, so people will be less scared of getting 30 miles on a charge. this is actually smart on nissans part.

Now, if they would have used a liquid cooled battery system at the start they wouldnt have to worry about a lease, but maybe it is just too expensive to do and make a profit. i have a feeling the chevy spark ev is losing money on their liquid cooled ev, but they dont mind because they know the price will come down and they will make a profit in a few years. nissan said they make a profit on every leaf now, so they must have had to go air cooled to accomplish this at 27k.

 

[Cmahrle]

If you consider the Smart Car's deal, I wouldn't say it's a "steal", and I would think it would be available to 2nd, 3rd, etc. owners.

If you buy an SC, you can buy it with the battery, or without (and lease the battery). If you lease the battery, they knock $5.2k (or 5.1k or 5.3k... can't remember for sure) off the price and lease you the battery for $80/month. Coincidentally [not], the car payment for that $5,x00 is about $80 (assuming 72 months, 4%). So it's about the same until you need a new battery. Once you need a new battery (probably about the time your car is paid off), SC will probably still lease you one. Either way, you've paid the same amount each month. (Of course, some people will need one a little sooner and some a little later, but to SC, it averages out.)

Now flash back to the Leaf: You've "bought" the battery with the car, and now you need a new one. So you opt-in and start paying $100/month. Nissan brings you a new battery. Same situation as the SC: Now you do not own a battery, and you're paying a monthly fee to have one.

I'm not saying it's a bad deal, but I think it's far from a steal for the consumer.