Last February there were nine EVs that leased for an average monthly cost of under $400 before tax and license. Since then, factory incentives have become even more attractive, and now four of those nine are leasing for under $300/month. A fifth EV, one that leased for over $400/month back then, has plunged into the sub-$300 club after a $120/month cut in cost.
Under $300/month is notable because many people spend more than that on gas, and, depending on where you get your electricity from, switching to an EV could offset most or all of the cost of the lease.
Have EV leases bottomed yet? Maybe. There are signs of it in a few of these offers, but at this point only time can tell. In any case, these five electrics have some of the best lease terms we’ve seen in years, perhaps ideal for drivers yearning to start their electric transition with minimal financial commitment.
1. 2024 Hyundai Kona Electric SEL – $234/month
At $199/month for 24 months and $1029 to start, the Hyundai Kona Electric has an average monthly lease cost that’s 35% less than when the second-generation models first reached our shores earlier this year. In well-equipped SEL trim (MSRP $38,050), the redesigned front-drive five-passenger crossover carries 25.5 cubic feet behind its rear seats, travels 261 miles on a full charge and scoots from zero to 60mph in 6.7 seconds.
Curiously, the Kona Electric in SE trim (MSRP $34,050) leases for $28/month more than the SEL despite being $4000 cheaper on a purchase. So those willing to settle for the base model’s relatively mild 8.7-second 0-60 time and below-average 200-mile range in an effort to save a bit of money should consider buying rather than leasing, especially since Hyundai’s rebate on a purchase matches the $7500 incentive that contributes to the amazing lease rates.
Hyundai dealers don’t stock many of these gems. By our observation, it seems that the Kona Electric makes up less than 5% of a given dealership’s EV inventory, so huge discounts, like the car itself, are a bit rare. Let us help you find a Hyundai Kona Electric in your area.
I thought about striking this one off the list since the 2023 Solterra seems to be completely sold out. It remains on the list since there are some incredible dealer discounts on 2024 models that could drive the average monthly lease cost of a 2024 to well below $300/month. Most notably, Heritage Subaru Catonsville in Maryland, Diehl Subaru in Ohio, and Diablo Subaru of Walnut Creek in California are discounting in-stock 2024 Solterras in Premium trim by $6500 or more, which should translate into a $70/month reduction from the factory lease terms, resulting in an effective monthly lease cost of $250 to $260 per month. Judging by the market reaction to a no-down, $241/month factory lease offer that quickly cleaned out 2023 models from dealer inventories in April, $260/month is a pretty good deal for a current-year all-wheel-drive five-passenger crossover that goes 227 miles on a charge, hustles from zero to 60mph in 6.5 seconds, and carries 29 cubic feet of cargo behind its rear seats.
By our count, Solterra availability has at least tripled in the last two months as an influx of 2024 models arrived at dealerships, which might be part of the reason for some of the enticing discounts we found. Find a great deal on a Subaru Solterra near you.
3. 2024 Hyundai Ioniq 6 SE RWD – $264/month
Maybe it’s not the cheapest lease on this list, but its incredible 361-mile range arguably makes the Hyundai Ioniq 6 SE in rear-wheel-drive configuration the best value of the bunch. Capable of sprinting to 60mph in just 6.2 seconds, the five-passenger sedan clearly manages to achieve its range without sacrificing performance. A slippery albeit somewhat polarizing exterior design likely factors into its efficiency, leaving a smaller than average 11.2 cubic foot trunk as perhaps the only evidence of compromise.
The factory lease terms of $189/month for a short 24 months with $1999 due at signing before tax and license is quite attractive for an EV with best-in-class range that’s only on its second year in the US. In fact, Hyundai’s Ioniq 6 factory incentives over the past couple of months seem to have been working so well that advertised dealer-advertised discounts currently range from modest to nonexistent, even on higher trim levels. That being said, popular car shopping websites indicate that discounts of about $1500 can be achieved in some areas. Look for a Hyundai Ioniq 6 deal near you.
4. 2024 Toyota bZ4X XLE – $266/month (AWD in NY), $267/month (FWD in CA)
Unfortunately you’ll probably have to wait If you want a Toyota bZ4X because last month’s factory lease offers on the were spectacular, with average monthly lease costs starting from $191/month for a 2023 and $227/month for a 2024. In-stock inventory was depleted in less than two weeks, so now dealers are just taking reservations for in-transit and allocated vehicles that barely entered the build phase.
Today, shopping for a bZ4X almost feels like we’ve traveled back in time, circa 2021, when dealer markups and mandatory accessories were the norm rather than the exception. One dealership in the Los Angeles area that was peddling their inventory of 2024 models for nearly $3000 under MSRP in April is now listing a $1990 upcharge for dealer-installed accessories on each bZ4X that is in transit or still being built. And guess what? Six out of seven are reserved. This could indicate that Toyota’s factory lease terms on the bZ4X may have bottomed last month, given that dealers can secure deposits despite a $37/month hike in lease cost. It won’t be a complete surprise if bZ4X leases gradually ratchet up in cost from here until equilibrium is achieved between supply and demand.
As it stands, Toyota’s California lease offer of $189/month for 36 months with $2999 due at signing before tax and license is a true bargain for a front-drive five-passenger crossover that hauls 27.7 cubic feet of cargo behind its rear seats, travels 252 miles on a full charge, and does zero to sixty in a tick over seven seconds. New Yorkers get an even better offer – $159/month for 36 months, $3999 due at signing – for an all-wheel-drive with a 228-mile range and 0-60 time of 6.5 seconds. Great deals, assuming minimal dealer markups and add-ons.
Shoppers who don’t enjoy negotiating with dealers that have the upper hand should seriously consider the Subaru Solterra, which is pretty much a carbon copy of an all-wheel-drive bZ4x but with immediate availability and attractive retailer discounts. For die-hard Toyota loyalists and those that just can’t live without the additional 24 miles of range of a front-drive bZ4X, we can help find a fair deal on a Toyota bZ4X in your area.
5. 2024 Nissan LEAF S – $294/month (Northeast, DE, VA, MD), $315/mo (elsewhere)
At $189/month for 36 months with $3,959 to start, the average monthly lease cost for the Nissan LEAF S is dipping to just under $300/month for the first time in over two years. However, that still seems a bit expensive for the aging front-drive, five-passenger hatchback with 24 cubic feet of cargo space behind its rear seats since it only travels 149 miles on a full charge and takes 7.4 seconds to achieve 60mph from standstill.
Some dealers seem to be compensating for these shortcomings by substantially undercutting the factory lease terms, particularly on the West Coast. Nissan of Portland in Oregon and Concord Nissan in the San Francisco area are advertising 36-month leases with effective monthly costs of $193 and $228, respectively for a LEAF S. Southern California dealers Nissan of Van Nuys, Nissan of Tustin, Nissan of Costa Mesa, and Nissan of Mission Hills have 18-month leases that with effective monthly costs between $237 and $246, which is incredibly attractive considering the short commitment. Look for Nissan LEAF deals near you.
The all-electric Cadillac LYRIQ was an Electrek favorite when it first made its debut two years ago. Now, LYRIQ buyers who have been waiting for a deal can score more than $10,500 in discounts on the Ultium-based Caddy.
Our own Seth Weintraub said that GM had come in, “a year early and dollar long at $60K” when he first drove the Ultium-based Cadillac LYRIQ back in 2022. He called the SUV “a stunner,” too, heaping praise on the LYRIQ’s styling inside and out before adding that the EV’s ride quality really impressed on long journeys.
Well, if the first mainstream electric Cadillac was a winner at its original, $57,195 starting price (rounded up to $60K for easy math), what could we call it at $10,500 less?
That’s a question that’s suddenly worth asking, thanks to huge GM discounts on the LYRIQ that prompted the automotive pricing analysts at CarsDirect to name the 2024 LYRIQ one of the industry’s “Best New Car Deals” this month:
A slew of incentives can enable you to save big on a 2024 Cadillac LYRIQ. First, EVs eligible for the federal tax credit qualify for $7,500 in Ultium Promise Bonus Cash from GM. Additionally, competing EV owners can score $3,000 in conquest cash.
With more than 100 kWh of battery capacity and 300-plus miles of real-world driving range (plus available 190 kW charging capability) the Cadillac LYRIQ ticks all the boxes – but you don’t have to take just my word for that.
A global shortage of qualified operators is impacting job sites everywhere, precisely at a time when demand for housing, mineral mining, and renewable energy construction is going from peak to peak. That’s why companies from Caterpillar to Tesla to Einride are pushing to advance autonomy the way they are.
First revealed as a concept in 2021, Volvo CE’s CX01 autonomous “single drum” asphalt roller concept has seen continuous development in the years since. Making its Volvo Days debut, the CX01 has shed the original single drum design for a “split drum,” with each half being controlled by an internalized, independent electric motor.
The CX01’s electric motors not only help to propel and steer the roller, they also vibrate the drums individually, using some trick software calibration to effectively “cancel each other out,” delivering all the benefits of vibrating drum rollers without the noise.
It’s so smart, you guys
It’s also worth noting that the CX01 is something of an “extended range” EV, instead of a “pure” BEV. That’s because it uses a small, 1.4L diesel engine to spin a generator that powers not batteries, but capacitors (those blue things, above right). Those capacitors can be charged on grid power (or from an accompanying TC13 trench compactor), but they’re much better than batteries at releasing energy really quickly, enabling the diesel to operate at its maximum efficiency while maintaining extremely precise, high-torque movement from the motors.
Volvo CE engineers envision a team CX01 rollers units deployed on larger job sites that could work together and communicate with other pieces of equipment on the site. The connected equipment could help survey the job site, report on the conditions of the mat (density, temperature, and passes), and leverage AI to determine when and where to compact without the need for human operators.
All of which is great, sure – but they had me at “giant OneWheel.”
Volvo TA15 autonomous electric haul truck
Volvo TA15 autonomous haul truck; photo by the author.
Part of Volvo CE’ “TARA” line of autonomous products, the “production ready” TA15 autonomous electric haul trucks are already part of a number of pilot programs on Volvo customer job sites. Being autonomous, they’re ideally suited to performing repetitive routes, dozens of times per day, without exposing human operators to fatigue or injury.
“TARA enables you to downsize and replace larger diesel-powered vehicles with a fleet of autonomous electric Volvo TA15s capable of running 24/7,” reads the official TARA release. “This not only helps you cut emissions and increase productivity, it will also help you rightsize your machinery and optimize your hauling routes.”
And that brings us to the real topic at hand: sustainability.
Electrek’s Take
Volvo SD110 single drum roller, via Volvo CE.
As we’ve often discussed on The Heavy Equipment Podcast, there are two types of sustainability, and both are important. The first is the “classic” version of sustainability, in that our choices need to sustain the planet and environment we live in. The second is sustainability of the business – the ability to keep doing business in a way that ensures the survival of the business, itself.
Looking at the conventional Volvo SD110 conventional roller, above, you can see the incredible amount of materials – of steel, rubber, plastic, glass, etc. – that simply isn’t needed to produce the CX01 roller we started this article with.
All that added mass has a massive hidden carbon cost. The cost of getting those materials out of the ground, the need for bigger, heavier roads to support the weight of the machine, and the bigger, burlier trucks and trailers needed to transport it. Heck, even the operator’s commute to and from the job site adds to the carbon cost of the SD110, over and above the harmful emissions from its diesel engine’s exhaust stack.
The CX01? It’s objectively more sustainable than the SD110 roller in every way, and does pretty much the same job.
Following successful inbound implementations in the Pacific Northwest, North Carolina, and Mexico, Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) is expanding the reach of its electric semi fleet into Arizona with long-time associate JB Hunt.
JB Hunt will add the new Freightliner eCascadia electric semi to its Arizona fleet immediately, and put it to work delivering aftermarket truck parts from DTNA’s parts distribution center (PDC) in Phoenix to multiple DTNA dealers along a dedicated route.
The electric Freightliner truck is expected to cover approximately 100 miles in a given day before heading “home” to a Detroit eFill charger installed at Daimler’s Phoenix facility.
“This solution with DTNA is a great example of our commitment to supporting customers’ efforts to reduce their carbon footprint and work towards energy transition,” explains Greer Woodruff, executive vice president of safety, sustainability and maintenance at JB Hunt. “JB Hunt owns and operates several eCascadias on behalf of customers, and our drivers have really enjoyed their in-cab experience. As customer interest continues to grow, we are here to enable their pursuit for a more sustainable supply chain in the most economic means possible.”
Daimler is analyzing future expansion opportunities throughout its internal parts distribution and logistics with an eye on electrifing additional routes and further reducing the carbon footprint of its logistics operations.