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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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Hackers turn Nissan LEAF into full-scale RC car, record drivers’ conversations [video]

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Hackers turn Nissan LEAF into full-scale RC car, record drivers' conversations [video]

A team of white hat European hackers using their brains, keyboards, and a couple of bits and baubles from eBay managed to take control of a 2020 Nissan LEAF and violate just about every privacy and safety regulation in the process.

The best part: they recorded the whole thing.

Budapest-based cybersecurity experts PCAutomotive were able to exploit a number of vulnerabilities in a 2020 Nissan LEAF that enabled the white hat team to geolocate and track the car, record the texts and conversations happening inside the car, playing media back through the car’s speakers, and even (this is the genuinely terrifying dangerous part) turning the steering wheel while the car was moving. (!?)

Maybe the scariest part of this hack, however, is how seemingly easy it was to pull off by starting with a “test bench simulator” built using parts from eBay and exploiting a vulnerability in the LEAF’s DNS C2 channel and Bluetooth protocol.

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The PCAutomotive team gave a hugely detailed 118-page presentation of their exploit at black hat Asia 2025, which we’ve included at the bottom of this post, in case the original link goes dead. If you’re into that sort of thing, the fun stuff starts around page 27. And, if you’re not, just know that all the vulnerabilities were disclosed to Nissan and its suppliers between 02AUG2023 and 12SEP2024 (p. 116/118), and the “attack” itself can be seen in the video below that. Enjoy!

Summary of vulnerabilities

  • CVE-2025-32056 – Anti-Theft bypass
  • CVE-2025-32057 – app_redbend: MiTM attack
  • CVE-2025-32058 – v850: Stack Overflow in CBR processing
  • CVE-2025-32059 – Stack buffer overflow leading to RCE [0]
  • CVE-2025-32060 – Absence of a kernel module signature verification
  • CVE-2025-32061 – Stack buffer overflow leading to RCE [1]
  • CVE-2025-32062 – Stack buffer overflow leading to RCE [2]
  • PCA_NISSAN_009 – Improper traffic filtration between CAN buses
  • CVE-2025-32063 – Persistence for Wi-Fi network
  • PCA_NISSAN_012 – Persistence through CVE-2017-7932 in HAB of i.MX 6

Remote exploitation of Nissan LEAF



Electrek’s Take


Nissan-Bolt-EV-LEAF
2024 Nissan LEAF; via Nissan.

This is one of those posts that, on the bright side, does a great job explaining how a remote operator can “log in” to a vehicle and steer it out of trouble when a weird or edge-case-type situation pops up.

Unfortunately, this is also one of those posts that some of the more clueless anti-EV hysterics will point to and say, “See!? EVs can get hacked!” But the reality is that virtually any car with electric power steering (EPS), electronic throttle controls, brake-by-wire, etc. can be hacked in a similar way. But, while steering a target’s car into an oncoming semi might be a great way to pull off a covert CIA assassination, the more worrying issue here is the breach of privacy and recording – unless you want to spend some time in El Salvadoran prison, I guess.

Remember, kids: Big Brother is watching you.

SOURCE | IMAGES: black hat.


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A vast new UK battery plant just secured £1B to power 100k EVs

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A vast new UK battery plant just secured £1B to power 100k EVs

A major new EV battery factory is being built in Sunderland, bringing 1,000 new jobs with it. AESC, Nissan’s battery partner, is behind the £1 billion ($1.33 billion) plant, which will boost the UK’s EV battery production by six times, enough to power 100,000 electric cars annually.

The 12 GWh capacity plant, AESC’s second battery plant in Sunderland, will be powered by 100% net-zero carbon energy. That big jump in capacity helps position Britain as a global player in EV manufacturing while pushing forward the country’s net-zero goals.

The investment is getting a serious financial lift from the British government. Through a combination of support from the National Wealth Fund and UK Export Finance, the project is unlocking £680 million in financing from major banks, including HSBC, Standard Chartered, SMBC Group, Societe Generale, and BBVA, that covers the construction and operation of the battery factory. Another £320 million is coming from private investment and fresh equity from AESC. On top of all that, the government’s Automotive Transformation Fund is pitching in with £150 million in grant funding.

This deal follows closely on the heels of the new UK-US trade agreement announced a day earlier, which cuts car export tariffs from 27.5% down to 10% for up to 100,000 UK-made vehicles – nearly the total number exported last year. That move could save car companies hundreds of millions of pounds and help protect good-paying jobs in manufacturing hubs like Sunderland.

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Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves visited AESC in Sunderland, where she met with staff and local leaders to discuss what this means for the Northeast and the British car industry.

“This investment follows hot on the heels of yesterday’s landmark economic deal with the US, which will save thousands of jobs in the industry,” Reeves said.

Read more: UK unveils largest curbside EV charger installation of 6,000 ports


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Ford is facing a worker strike at its EV plant in Germany: Here’s why

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Ford is facing a worker strike at its EV plant in Germany: Here's why

It’s about the future of their jobs. Ford workers at two plants in western Germany are set to go on strike on Wednesday, their works council chief said on Monday.

Ford is facing a worker strike in Germany

In November, Ford announced it would cut around 4,000 jobs in Europe by 2027 as part of a restructuring, primarily in Germany and the UK. That’s still about 14% of its European workforce.

The American automaker said the move comes after it has incurred “significant losses” in recent years and a “highly disruptive market” with new EVs quickly gaining market share.

Ford blamed slower-than-expected demand for electric vehicles and a weak economic situation. It also plans to slow production at its Cologne EV plant, where the electric Explorer and Capri are built.

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Last week, IG Metall members voted in favor of “industrial action” with 93.5% of votes in favor of a strike. “Ford must act now—otherwise, we will go through with it,” said Kerstin D. Klein, Chief Representative of IG Metall Cologne-Leverkusen.

Ford-worker-strike
Ford Explorer EV production in Cologne (Source: Ford)

Ford is facing an influx of new competition, including Chinese EV makers like BYD. BYD’s overseas sales are surging with a fifth straight month of growth in April.

BYD even outsold Tesla in Germany last month, with 1,566 vehicles registered. In comparison, Tesla had just 855, and Ford saw 9,534 registrations.

Ford-worker-strike
Ford’s electric vehicles in Europe from left to right: Puma Gen-E, Explorer, Capri, and Mustang Mach-E (Source: Ford)

On top of this, Ford, like most of the industry, is preparing for more disruption with Trump’s auto tariffs. After releasing Q1 earnings last week, Ford warned that the tariffs could cost up to $2.5 billion this year.

During Ford’s earnings call, CFO Sherry House said that recent EV launches in Europe, including the Explorer, Capri, and Puma Gen-E, helped more than double Model e’s wholesale volume in Q1.

After early success in the US, Ford also launched its “Power Promise” promotion in Europe, offering EV buyers a free home charger and several other perks.

Source: Reuters

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