What a 39 month EV lease actually costs in Austin

Adverts quote a monthly payment and a due at signing figure and stop there. Neither number tells you what the car costs, because neither includes the fees at the end, the electricity, or the insurance difference. So here is the whole thing, on one car, with nothing left out.

The car is a Kestra Ridge SE at $47,600 MSRP, a $46,300 selling price, 12,000 miles a year and a 36 month term. Every figure below is a sample and your own deal will differ, but the shape of it will not.

What you pay at signing

Our worksheet for this car shows a $3,000 capitalised cost reduction, the first monthly payment of $440, the $225 doc fee and $105 of Texas title, registration and inspection. That is $3,770 out of your account on the day.

Two fees are not in that number because they are capitalised rather than paid: the $1,095 acquisition fee and $2,894 of Texas motor vehicle tax at 6.25 percent of the selling price. They are inside the payment instead, which is the honest way to show them but also the reason a Texas lease payment looks higher than an identical deal advertised in a monthly tax state.

What you pay every month

The $440 breaks into two parts. Depreciation is the adjusted cap cost of $46,789 minus the residual of $27,370, divided by 36, which is $539 a month. Rent charge is the adjusted cap plus the residual, multiplied by the money factor of 0.00142, which is $105. Those do not add to $440 because the cap reduction and the $7,500 clean vehicle credit come off the cap first; the point is that the two components are visible and checkable.

Across 36 months that is $15,840 of payments, of which $3,770 was already handed over at signing.

What you pay to run it

At 29 kWh per 100 miles and 12,000 miles a year, the Ridge SE uses about 3,480 kWh annually. On the Austin Energy EV plan at $0.1175 per kWh overnight that is $409 a year, or $1,227 across the term. Do all your charging on public DC fast at $0.44 and the same driving costs $4,594. The difference over three years is $3,367, which is more than some people's entire cap reduction.

Insurance on an electric SUV in Travis County runs a little above the petrol equivalent, typically $120 to $200 more a year. Scheduled servicing for the first two years is included in the lease, and there is no oil change, no timing belt and no exhaust to worry about. Tyres are the real consumable: heavy cars with instant torque eat them, and you need 4/32 inch of tread at turn in.

What you pay at the end

If you hand the car back and walk away, the disposition fee is $395. If you start another Current lease within 30 days it is waived. If you buy the car at the residual it does not apply at all.

Excess mileage is $0.25 a mile past 36,000. Excess wear depends on the inspection, and for 96 percent of our returns it is nothing, because Daniel inspects at month 33 and tells people what to fix while it is still cheap.

The total

Payments of $15,840, charging at home of $1,227, the disposition fee of $395 and a set of tyres at around $900 gives roughly $18,362 over three years, or about $510 a month all in. That is the number to compare against anything else, not the $440 on the card.

Run the same car on a 39 month term and the monthly drops because the residual gives up only a point and a half while the depreciation spreads three months further. The total goes up slightly because you are keeping the car longer. Which one is better depends entirely on whether you care more about the monthly line or the whole number, and there is no wrong answer as long as you can see both.

Every figure in this article is a sample for demonstration. Payments, residuals, fees, incentives and charging rates depend on the vehicle, the lessor, your credit tier and the programmes in effect on the day. Offers are samples, subject to credit approval.