---
title: "Almost 80 Percent of EVs in the US Are Leased"
description: "By contrast, only about 30 percent of all cars in the U.S. are leased."
date: "2018-01-03"
modified: "2018-01-03"
authors:
  - name: "Eric Brandt"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/eric-brandt"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/article/17338/almost-80-percent-of-evs-in-the-us-are-leased"
categories:
  - "Car Tech"
  - "News"
tags:
  - "Buy"
  - "Data"
  - "Electric"
  - "EV"
  - "hybrid"
  - "lease"
  - "PHEV"
  - "plug-in"
---

# Almost 80 Percent of EVs in the US Are Leased

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2017/08/bolt.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

A new report from [*Bloomberg*](<https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-03/why-most-electric-cars-are-leased-not-owned>) shows some wildly disproportionate statistics about how drivers choose to get electric cars and plug-in hybrids in their driveways. Almost 80 percent of electric vehicle drivers and 55 percent of plug-in hybrid drivers lease rather than buy. For reference, the percentage of all cars in the U.S. that are leased has hovered right around 30 percent since 2014 according to *Bloomberg*’s data.

Why the gap? Why are drivers of electrified cars going with leases rather than purchases? A big reason according to *Bloomberg* is electric car buyers’ hesitation to make a long-term commitment to technology that is likely to be outdated and/or obsolete by the time their leases are up. Ranges are getting longer, [charge times are getting shorter](<https://www.thedrive.com/article/16365/honda-claims-its-electric-cars-will-charge-in-15-minutes-by-2022>), and [overall performance is improving](<https://www.thedrive.com/article/16516/electric-cars-are-about-to-get-a-lot-faster-and-go-a-lot-further-on-a-charge>) with each passing year in the EV arena. Since so many buyers are planning to keep their EVs for a few years before moving on to something more advanced, leasing makes perfect sense.

![message-editor%2F1515016307216-evlease.png](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/message-editor/1515016307216-evlease.png>)
**Bloomberg**

We’re already seeing what happens to the value of electric cars when they come [off lease](<https://www.thedrive.com/article/12233/how-manufacturers-sell-unwanted-off-lease-cars>). Six of the top 10 fastest selling used cars in the U.S. are either electric or hybrid partly due to their deep depreciation. For example, according to [iSeeCars](<https://www.thedrive.com/article/14676/electric-and-plug-in-hybrids-are-the-fastest-selling-cars-on-the-used-market>), the average price of a used [BMW i3](<https://thestore.thedrive.com/>) is only $23,603 compared to its starting MSRP of $44,450 and on average it only sits on the used lot for 23.2 days. It’s no coincidence that well over 90 percent of i3s are leased according to the *Bloomberg* chart above. Nobody wants to buy a new i3 at full price, likely in anticipation of an expansion of the i lineup. The speedy depreciation of EVs and PHEVs is just another reason leasing is an attractive option for those in the market for an electrified car.

Would you consider buying a new electric car or is leasing the way to go?

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/brandt004>)