For new car buyers looking to save money, the choice is clear: Leasing an electric vehicle is the cheapest option today in the United States. Falling EV lease prices, new federal tax incentives for leased EVs, and rising interest rates, coupled with the lower operating and maintenance costs of EVs, make leasing a new EV the most affordable way to get into a new car. This modeling evaluates the costs of buying and leasing 14  comparable EV and internal combustion engine models, and finds that leasing an EV is far cheaper than buying or leasing a gasoline-powered vehicle – up to $500 cheaper per month and up to $6,000 cheaper per year. 

For most models we evaluated, leasing an EV offers a lower monthly cost than leasing a comparable gasoline vehicle or buying an EV or gasoline vehicle. Because leases are paid monthly with little or no down payment, new car buyers can realize savings the day they drive the car off the lot. For new car buyers not interested in leasing, many EV models in many states are still more affordable on a monthly basis to finance and own than an equivalent gasoline vehicle.