Honda Prologue and Hyundai’s IONIQ 5 are now among the top five most leased EVs
The Honda Prologue and Hyundai IONIQ 5 are now some of the most leased EVs in the US. After introducing hefty discounts, the electric SUVs trailed only the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y in the third quarter.
Thanks to higher incentives and new lower-priced models, leasing an electric vehicle is more affordable than ever. Including the $7,500 federal tax credit, some automakers are offering discounts of $10,000 to upwards of $20,000 on EV models.
The discounts have made EVs more retractable than many of their gas-powered equivalents. According to Experian, EVs accounted for over 10% of new vehicle financing in Q3, surging 30% from last year.
“The growth in EV financing can be attributed to two factors: the EV tax credit and more affordable models hitting the market,” Melinda Zabritski, Experian’s head of automotive financial insights, explained. Experian’s new Q3 2024 State of the Automotive Finance Market Report revealed EV leasing nearly doubled from last year.
Leasing accounted for 45% of all new EV transactions in the third quarter, up from 25% last year and 9.5% in Q3 2022.
The biggest factor in choosing a lease is the significantly lower monthly payments. The monthly payment for leasing a new EV was $198 lower than the average monthly payment for a new loan last quarter.
Honda, Hyundai electric SUVs join most leased EVs in Q3
According to the report, the top five most leased EVs included the Tesla Model 3 (13.60%), Tesla Model Y (9.30%), Hyundai IONIQ 5 (6.51%), Honda Prologue (5.11%), and Ford Mustang Mach-E (4.86%).
| Share of EV leases in Q3 2024 | |
| Tesla Model 3 | 13.60% |
| Tesla Model Y | 9.30% |
| Hyundai IONIQ 5 | 6.51% |
| Honda Prologue | 5.11% |
| Ford Mustang Mach-E | 4.86% |
Honda and Hyundai are climbing the charts with stylish, long-range EV models at an affordable price. After delivering the first models in March, Honda has already sold over 25,000 Prologues in the US, including a record over 6,800 in November alone.
The 2024 Honda Prologue starts at $47,400, but with the $7,500 EV tax credit, prices fall to potentially under $40,000. Honda’s Prologue is available to lease for as little as $259 for 36 months.
That’s even cheaper than a Honda Civic, starting at $279 per month, despite costing nearly twice as much. The 2025 Honda Civic 2WD LX starts at $24,250.
|
2024 Honda Prologue trim |
Starting Price (w/o $1,395 destination fee) |
Starting price after tax credit (w/o $1,395 destination fee) |
Starting price after tax credit (with $1,395 destination fee) |
EPA Range (miles) |
| EX (FWD) | $47,400 | $39,900 | $41,295 | 296 |
| EX (AWD) | $50,400 | $42,900 | $44,295 | 281 |
| Touring (FWD) | $51.700 | $44,200 | $45,595 | 296 |
| Touring (AWD) | $54,700 | $47,200 | $48,595 | 281 |
| Elite (AWD) | $57,900 | $50,400 | $51,795 | 273 |
Hyundai is also coming off a new US sales record in November after IONIQ 5 sales more than doubled. With another nearly 5,000 models sold last month, Hyundai has sold over 39,800 IONIQ 5’s in the US through November.
The sales surge comes after Hyundai introduced the updated 2025 IONIQ 5, which has more range and a sleek new design. It even includes an NACS port to access Tesla Superchargers.
With the updated models arriving at dealerships, Hyundai is offering clearance prices on 2024 models, with leases starting as low as $199 per month.
Ford is offering several deals on its EV models. Through an end-of-year promo, Ford is offering up to $10,500 off the 2024 Mustang Mach-E through leasing. To sweeten the deal, Ford is also giving EV buyers a free Level 2 home charger and covering the cost of standard installation through its new “Power Promise.”
Tesla recently introduced new incentives to close out the year, including 3 months of free Full Self-Driving (Supervised) and Supercharging if you take delivery of a new inventory vehicle by December 31.
With Trump’s transition team reportedly planning to end the EV tax credit, these savings could largely disappear next year.
Are you ready for your next EV? Now may be the time to start shopping with some of the biggest discounts to date. You can use our links below to find the best offers on popular electric models in your area.
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British oil and gasoline company BP (British Petroleum) signage is being pictured in Warsaw, Poland, on July 29, 2024.
Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images
British oil giant BP on Tuesday posted slightly weaker-than-expected first-quarter net profit, following a recent strategic reset and a slump in crude prices.
The beleaguered oil and gas major posted underlying replacement cost profit, used as a proxy for net profit, of $1.38 billion for the first three months of the year. That missed analyst expectations of $1.6 billion, according to an LSEG-compiled consensus.
BP’s net profit had hit $2.7 billion a year earlier and $1.2 billion in the final three months of 2024.
The results come as the energy major faces fresh pressure from activist investors less than two months after announcing a strategic reset.
Seeking to rebuild investor confidence, BP in February pledged to slash renewable spending and boost annual expenditure on its core business of oil and gas.
BP CEO Murray Auchincloss told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Tuesday that the firm was “off to a great start” in delivering on its strategic reset.
“We had a great operational quarter. We had our highest upstream operating efficiency in history. Our refineries in the first quarter ran at the best they’ve run in 24 years. We had six exploration discoveries in a row, which is really unusual and we started out three major projects,” Auchincloss said.
For the first quarter, BP announced a dividend per ordinary share of 8 cents and a share buyback of $750 million.
Net debt rose to $26.97 billion in the January-March period, up from $22.99 billion at the end of the fourth quarter. BP had previously warned of lower reported upstream production and higher net debt in the first quarter, when compared to the final three months of last year.
Shares of BP fell 3.3% on Tuesday morning. The firm is down roughly 8% year-to-date.
Activist pressure
BP’s green strategy U-turn does not appear to have gone far enough for the likes of activist investor Elliott Management, which went public last week with a stake of more than 5% in the London-listed firm.
The disclosure makes the U.S. hedge fund BP’s second-largest shareholder after BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, according to LSEG data.
Elliott was first reported to have assumed a position in the oil and gas company back in February, driving a share price rally amid expectations that its involvement could pressure BP to shift gears back toward its oil and gas businesses.
BP’s Auchincloss declined to comment on interactions with investors when asked whether the firm was under pressure from the likes of Elliott to go beyond the plans announced in its February pivot.
Notably, BP suffered a shareholder rebellion at its annual general meeting earlier this month. Almost a quarter (24.3%) of investors voted against the re-election of outgoing Chair Helge Lund, a symbolic result that reflected a sense of deep frustration among the firm’s shareholders.
Mark van Baal, founder of Dutch activist investor Follow This, told CNBC last week that he hoped the shareholder revolt means Amanda Blanc, who is leading the process to find Lund’s successor, will look for a new chair who is “climate competent” and “will not respond to short-term activists so quickly.”
Lund is expected to step down from his role next year.
Takeover candidate
BP’s underperformance relative to industry peers such as Exxon Mobil, Chevron and Shell has thrust the energy major into the spotlight as a prime takeover candidate. Energy analysts have questioned, however, whether any of the likeliest suitors will rise to the occasion.
BP’s Auchincloss on Tuesday said that he wouldn’t speculate on whether the company is a takeover target, but confirmed the oil major had not asked for any sort of protection from the British government.
“What I will say is we’re a strong, independent company and we’ve got sector-leading growth. And if we can deliver the sector-leading growth, and the first quarter is a fantastic example of that, then I have no concerns. I think we’re going to do great,” Auchincloss said.
Murray Auchincloss, chief executive officer of BP, during the “CERAWeek by S&P Global” conference in Houston, Texas, on March 11, 2025.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Oil prices have fallen in recent months on demand fears. International benchmark Brent crude futures with June delivery traded at $65.19 per barrel on Tuesday morning, down more than 1% for the session. That’s lower from around $84 per barrel a year ago.
Asked whether weaker crude prices could put the some of the firm’s reset plans in jeopardy, Auchincloss said, “Not really. We have a balance of products that we think about that generate revenue for us. So, oil, natural gas and refined products as well.”
— CNBC’s Ruxandra Iordache contributed to this report.
Germany’s largest offshore wind farm under construction, EnBW’s He Dreiht, just hit a big milestone: The first enormous turbine is now up in the North Sea.
He Dreiht – which means “it spins” in Low German – is using Vestas’s massive 15 megawatt (MW) turbines, the first project in the world to install them. Just one spin of one of the rotors can generate enough electricity to power four households for an entire day.
When it’s finished, He Dreiht will have 64 mega turbines cranking out 960 megawatts (MW) of clean power – enough to supply around 1.1 million homes. And it’s being built without any government subsidies.
EnBW, one of Germany’s major energy companies, has been working in offshore wind for more than 15 years, but He Dreiht is their biggest project yet. “It will play a key role in helping us to significantly grow our renewable energy output from 6.6 GW to over 10 GW by 2030,” said Michael Class, who heads up EnBW’s generation portfolio development.
The project is a win for Vestas, too. “With the installation of the first V236-15.0 MW, we have reached an important milestone for both the He Dreiht project and our offshore ramp-up, which helps Germany build a more secure, affordable, and sustainable energy system,” said Nils de Baar, president of Vestas Northern & Central Europe.
He Dreiht is located about 85 kilometers (53 miles) northwest of Borkum and 110 kilometers (68 miles) west of Helgoland. At peak times, more than 500 workers will be out at sea building the farm, using a fleet of more than 60 ships. EnBW’s offshore team in Hamburg is running the show.
The installation process is a major operation. The 64 foundations were already set in the seabed last year. Parts for the turbines are loaded onto the installation vessel Wind Orca in Esbjerg, Denmark, and shipped out in a 12-hour journey to the construction site. From there, the turbines are lifted into place. Meanwhile, crews are also working on internal wind farm cabling.
A partner consortium made up of Allianz Capital Partners, AIP, and Norges Bank Investment Management owns 49.9% of the shares in He Dreiht.
Read more: Trump admin halts $5 billion NY offshore wind project mid-build
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Tesla has released a quick update about its Tesla Semi factory in Nevada. It says that it is on track for volume production of the electric semi truck in 2026.
The Tesla Semi was first scheduled to go into production in 2019, but it has faced numerous delays.
Now, it appears that there is finally some momentum to bring it to volume production.
For the last two years, Tesla has been working to build a new factory next to Gigafactory Nevada, where it builds the battery packs and drive units for most of its electric vehicles built in North America.
Today, Tesla released a “progress update on the factory, confirming that it finished building and it’s now working on deploying the production lines:
Tesla had previously mentioned aiming for volume production by 2025, but it is now only talking about starting production toward the end of the year and ramping up next year.
The automaker reiterated its planned production capacity of 50,000 units.
We recently reported that an early Tesla Semi customer, Ryder, stated that the electric truck program is experiencing more delays and a price increase described as “dramatic.”
They now expect to take deliveries of their first trucks later in 2026 and said that the price has increased “dramatically,” leading them to scale back their pilot program from 42 to 18 Tesla Semi trucks.
When originally unveiling the Tesla Semi in 2017, the automaker mentioned prices of $150,000 for a 300-mile range truck and $180,000 for the 500-mile version. Tesla also took orders for a “Founder’s Series Semi” at $200,000.
However, Tesla didn’t update the prices when launching the “production version” of the truck in late 2022. Price increases have been speculated, but the company has never confirmed them.
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