CAR Study: Price Decline for Electric Cars Causes Leasing Rates to Rise

The decline in prices for electric cars will increasingly become a problem for leasing customers, according to an expert. While new electric cars are currently available with high discounts, leasing rates are higher compared to similar combustion engine cars, writes Ferdinand Dudenhöffer in a study by the Bochum Center Automotive Research. The reason is the uncertain residual values of returned vehicles in a few years, which companies are already factoring in. On average, buyers of new electric cars can expect almost 16 percent discount, according to the study results. Prices for 53 models from various manufacturers were analyzed.

The highest discount currently is for the fully electric Dacia Spring with 44 percent. Chinese manufacturers, who are pushing into the European market, are luring customers with discounts of 20 to 30 percent, while VW offers up to 19 percent discount for ID models. The reason for this is the declining interest in electric cars after the removal of the state purchase premium, according to Dudenhöffer.

“Automakers have no choice but to join this discount competition or mothball the electric cars.”