Why Leasing an EV Is Becoming Smarter Than Buying: Lifespan, Tech Gains, and Real-World Costs

[G. David Felt]

Many folks have chosen buying, over leasing an auto over the last few decades. Be it for company write off or due to wanting to just be in the latest technology every three years, leasing was for a smaller select group of people as most folks buying an internal combustion or hybrid auto looked to maximize the purchase by owning the auto long-term.

Let's first take a look at the average life of an auto in the U.S., depending on your resource the average life of an auto in the U.S. is 16.58 years for the average auto, but some are done after only 12 years and some last 20 years. The full list of the 75 longest lasting models in the USA is here.

• Acura MDX on average last 19.1 years and 177,000 plus miles
• Buick Century on average last 23.9 years and 118,000 plus miles, but has one of the oldest age drivers
• Chrysler 300 on average last 17 years and 153,000 plus miles
• Ford F-150 on average last 20.9 years and 178,000 plus miles

As pointed out in the Popular Auto List, some of these models have lasted over a half-million miles and 20 plus years when well maintained. 

Yet with road conditions being very harsh in states that have hard winters, road salt takes its toll on an auto and can shorten an auto life, so this then brings up the life expectancy by state as another consideration. When you look at states that have the longest average auto life you find the following:

• Idaho - 19.7 years and 153,807 miles on average
• Montana - 19.5 years and 150,742 miles on average
• Wyoming - 19.5 years and 168,440 miles on average
• Oregon - 19.4 years and 172,925 miles on average
• Washington - 19.3 years and 167,855 miles on average

Key national averages from state, brand, model can be found here: 2024 list of long-life autos

So, at this point you might say why would I care about an EV lease when ICE lasts so long and it meets my needs?

Service and maintenance are two of the key factors in going EV over ICE. Lifetime maintenance costs of an electric vehicle are significantly lower as long as you aren't constantly burning the tires with all of that electric power.

The focus here is buying versus leasing an EV and with reputations at stake, most auto companies are building their EVs to last. So this brings up the next point, why lease? This would boil down to technology and the rapid change that is happening in the EV auto world. 

Software is one area that can incorporate upgrades and changes fast since an EV is a rolling computer in many cases, but there is still the speed of the computer network in the EV, braking, regenerating of power, performance, handling, etc. plenty of areas to show improvements in and in this regards, yearly we are seeing changes that could easily justify for many to lease an EV rather than buy an EV.

An example of this is the just released press release from BMW for their 2026 i4 line of EV Sedans.

BMW is rapidly upgrading their EV technology year to year and in their own press release they even point out the benefits of a 2026 over a 2025 I4 sedan by pointing out that the base i4 sedan now has over 300 miles of range no matter the rim size of wheels where range was penalized if you went with larger rims, now no more. The M60 which replaces the M50 for 2026 gains power. All this is thanks to new superior SIC inverters that have also been pushed out to all the other 2026 BMW EV models.

Then cost is another issue where many will say ICE costs less than EV. Here JD Powers and Associates posted the latest info on comparison pricing by brand and models and had this to say about the BMW 4 and i4 sedans.

The 2025 BMW 4 Series is priced between $63,925 and $84,622, while the 2025 BMW i4 is priced between $60,078 and $76,975. The BMW 4 Series has a higher resale value, losing 51.5% of its value over 5 years, compared to the i4, which loses 68.1% of its value. The i4 offers more interior volume and base engine power, making it a better choice for those prioritizing space and performance. Full details here

The 2026 i4 sedan in M60 trim produces 510 hp, up 41 hp over the M50 2025 model and in Sport mode produces 593 hp, up 57 hp over the M50 model. Also, for 2026, the base model now starts at $57,900 versus $60,078 for the 2025 model. If your are wondering what all the weight of an EV does to 0-60mph times, base i4 RWD is 5.5 seconds, move to AWD or xDrive and you're at 4.9 seconds and if you go with the M60 model your up to 60 in 3.6 seconds.

Currently the i4 sedan has leases starting at $399 a month for 10,000 miles a year at the time of this writing.

At this time, if you're a person into technology, wanting the best for the type of auto you wish to drive and you do not want to deal with all the maintenance that comes with an ICE auto, EVs offer many wonderful benefits and with improvements yearly, leasing is a solid way to go to stay in the current bleeding edge of automotive technology. With 95% of charging done at home based on having an L2 charger installed at home, one can also save considerably on the cost of fueling your auto.

Read our article about our experience with home charger installation.

 

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[smk4565]

For sure lease these EV's.  Depreciation is usually steep and can be unpredictable.  Take the lease deals and if it doesn't depreciate at ton, buy at at out the end, and if it does tank in value, walk away.