You can lease a Toyota bZ4X for next to nothing right now
Toyota is now leasing its one all-electric car, the bZ4X, for just $129/mo and $2k down.
Toyota has been dipping its toe into the EV water, mostly focusing on hybrids rather than electric cars.
Its first EV, the bZ4X, hasn’t been a huge success, perhaps due to focus on hybrids. It also faced a rocky launch with an early recall, though that has all been sorted out by now.
So in a market with lots of great EVs, the bZ4X hasn’t attracted a whole lot of attention.
Last quarter, Toyota only sold 1,897 copies of the bZ4X in the US, a 9% increase over the previous year but only accounting for .4% of Toyota’s total US sales, and much less than the number of EV sales from much smaller companies.
As a result, Toyota has resorted to deep discounts on its electric crossover, making it one of the cheapest cars you can lease right now.
The steepest deal is on last year’s 2023 bZ4X base “XLE” trim, which is available for just $129/mo with $1,999 due at signing, at least here in Southern California. We also saw a deal for $119/mo and $4k down in New York. This is by far the lowest monthly price we’ve seen for the bZ4X yet, and one of the lowest we’ve seen for any EV – not just now, but ever.
The lease deal in question has a limit of 12,000 miles per year, close to the average mileage for a US driver, and a little more than the ~10,000 mile limits that are common on a lot of leases. This specific offer expires April 30th, though something similar could be extended after the month ends.
The 2024 model is just $169/mo (and $2k down), still a low price though not as eye-wateringly low as the 2023 model. Toyota made relatively minor changes for the 2024 model, including a mobile L1/L2 charging cord and standard power liftgate and 8-way power driver’s seat, along with some software changes.
Both of these are extremely low lease prices for a car with suggested retail price of $44,845 (2024 model). For example, a RAV4 LE is $369/mo with $3k down, much more than the bZ4X lease price despite that car being ~$15k cheaper than the bZ4X.
Part of the reason for these lease offers is due to the Inflation Reduction Act’s EV tax credit, which is also available (and in fact, even easier to get) on a lease. In this case, the automaker files for the credit and offers lower lease payments to the customer.
But that doesn’t cover all of the discount – the lease deal accounts for a whopping $16,250 in cash from Toyota ($17,750 on the 2023 model).
If you find this deal appealing, you can use our affiliate link to contact local dealers and see if they have this lease deal near you.
Electrek’s Take
This is certainly getting down into the “insane deal” category, even with my general distaste for how Toyota has managed the EV transition.
It reminds me somewhat of the deals on the original Fiat 500e back in 2015 or so. At the time, Fiat’s CEO, Sergio Marchionne was one of the loudest voices against electrification. He famously admitted admitted that the 500e was a compliance car (by claiming that Fiat loses money on every sale – thus suggesting that Fiat only sold them because California said so), but Fiat also leased the 500e for just $69/mo at the time.
A lot of Californians, even those who already had nice cars, decided that having a cheap runaround with extremely low fueling costs would be worthwhile, and snatched one up. Given that $69/mo is less than half of what the average Californian driver would spend on gas per month, these cars were basically free.
Now we have a similar situation with Toyota, a company that is quite openly anti-EV, but which is offering one of the cheapest EV deals we’ve seen.
I can’t say I love the bZ4X – it’s pretty middling in terms of specs, and while I’ve only driven it for a short time, it didn’t really do much to thrill me right out of the gates. I liked its cousin the Lexus RZ better, but still, neither would go anywhere near my list of top EVs.
But if your goal is to get a car with Toyota quality, aren’t particularly planning on road-tripping (one thing the bZ4X does poorly at is quick-charging performance, especially on roadtrips), and are a fan of getting good deals, well, the bZ4X might be for you right now.
If you’d like, you can use our affiliate link to contact your local dealers about the 2023 or 2024 Toyota bZ4X, and see what kind of lease deals are available in your area. Deal is subject to availability and participation, so contact your local dealer if you’re interested in a cheap bZ4X.
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No matter how badly a fleet wants to electrify their operations and take advantage of reduced fuel costs and TCO, the fact remains that there are substantial up-front obstacles to commercial EV adoption … or are there? We’ve got fleet financing expert Guy O’Brien here to help walk us through it on today’s fiscally responsible episode of Quick Charge!
This conversation was motivated by the recent uncertainty surrounding EVs and EV infrastructure at the Federal level, and how that turmoil is leading some to believe they should wait to electrify. The truth? There’s never been a better time to make the switch!
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Vermont’s EV adoption has surged by an impressive 41% over the past year, with nearly 18,000 EVs now registered statewide.
According to data from Drive Electric Vermont and the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, 17,939 EVs were registered as of January 2025, increasing by 5,185 vehicles. Notably, over 12% of all new cars registered last year in Vermont had a plug. Additionally, used EVs are gaining popularity, accounting for about 15% of new EV registrations.
To put it in perspective, Vermont took six years to register its first 5,000 EVs – and the last 5,000 were added in just the previous year.
Rapid growth, expanding infrastructure
In just two years, Vermont has doubled its fleet of EVs, underscoring residents’ enthusiasm for electric driving. To support this surge, the state now boasts 459 public EV chargers, including 92 DC fast chargers.
The EV mix in Vermont is leaning increasingly toward BEVs, which represent 60% of the state’s EV fleet. The remaining 40% consists of PHEVs, offering flexible fuel options for drivers.
Top EV models in Vermont
Vermont’s favorite EVs in late 2024 included the Hyundai Ioniq 5, Nissan Ariya, Toyota RAV4 Prime PHEV, Tesla Model Y, and the Ford F-150 Lightning. These vehicles have appealed to Vermont drivers looking for reliability, performance, and practical features that work well in Vermont’s climate.
Leading the US in reducing emissions
This strong adoption of EVs earned Vermont the top ranking from the Natural Resources Defense Council for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in transportation in 2023. “It’s only getting easier for Vermonters to drive electric,” noted Michele Boomhower, Vermont’s Department of Transportation director. She emphasized the growing variety of EV models, including electric trucks and SUVs with essential features like all-wheel drive, crucial for Vermont’s climate and terrain.
Local dealerships boost EV accessibility
Nucar Automall, an auto dealer in St. Albans, is a great example of local support driving this trend. With help from Efficiency Vermont’s EV dealer incentives – receiving $25,000 through the EV Readiness Incentive program – it recently installed 15 EV chargers for new buyers and existing drivers to use.
“Having these chargers on the lot makes it easier for customers to see just how simple charging an EV can be,” said Ryan Ortiz, general manager at Nucar Automall. Ortiz also pointed out the growing affordability of EVs, thanks to more models becoming available and an increase in pre-owned EVs coming off leases.
Read more: Vermont becomes the first US state to pass a law requiring Big Oil to pay for climate damage
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Elon Musk said Tesla’s self-driving will start contributing to the company’s profits… wait for it… “next year” with “millions of Tesla robotaxis in operation during the second half of the year.”
The claim has become a running joke, as he has made it for the last decade.
During Tesla’s conference call following the release of its Q1 2025 financial results, Musk updated shareholders about Tesla’s self-driving plans, which he again presented as critical to the company’s future.
He made a series of claims, mainly updating timelines about Tesla’s self-driving efforts.
Here are the main comments:
- The CEO reiterated that Tesla will launch its paid autonomous ride-sharing service in Austin in June.
- He did clarify that the fleet will consist of Model Y vehicles and not the new Cybercab.
- Musk also confirmed that Tesla is currently training a fleet specifically for Austin.
- As we previously reported, this internal ride-hailing fleet operating in a geo-fenced with teleoperation assist is a big change from Tesla’s approach.
- Musk said “10 to 20 vehicles” on day one.
- Musk said that Tesla’s self-driving will start contributing positively to the company financially in the middle of next year, and “There will be millions of Teslas operating autonomously in the second half of next year.”
- Musk has literally said something similar every year for the past decade and therefore, it’s hard to take him seriously.
- The CEO claimed that Tesla would get “a 90-something percentage market share” in the autonomous market.
- Musk again claimed that no one else is getting close to Tesla’s capacity, and he criticized Waymo for being too expensive.
- Musk is “confident” that the first Model Y will drive itself from the factory to a customer’s home later this year.
- The CEO said that he is confident that Tesla will deliver “unsupervised full self-driving” in consumer vehicles by the end of the year.
Despite Tesla missing earnings expectations by a wide margin, the company’s stock rose 4% in after-hours trading following Musk’s comments, indicating that shareholders still believe Musk’s self-driving predictions, despite his predictions having been incorrect for almost a decade.
Electrek’s Take
The first point I believe will happen. Tesla needs it to happen. It badly needs a win on the self-driving front.
However, as we previously explained, while Tesla will claim a win in June, it will be with a limited geo-fenced and teleoperation-assisted system that won’t scale to customer vehicles, which is what has been promised for years.
Tesla was even asked how it plans to launch this in Austin in June, when FSD in consumer vehicles currently requires frequent interventions from drivers, and Ashok, Tesla’s head of autonomous driving, admitted his team is currently focused on solving the intervention specifically related to driving in Austin.
With training on specific Austin routes and using teleoperations, Tesla can make that happen, but the road between that and unsupervised self-driving in consumer vehicles and “million of Tesla robotaxis” in the second of next year is a long one.
Basically, other than the first point, I believe Tesla will not achieve any of the other on anything close to the timelines announced by Musk today.
I’m willing to take bets on that.
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