Cheap electric cars to lease than petrol cars

Leasing an electric car can be a great way to avoid premium purchase costs.Leasing an EV can be even cheaper than leasing a petrol car. However, buying an electric car is more expensive considered to the petrol and diesel because batteries are currently expensive and the cobalt is scarce.

All are short-medium range vehicles, with batteries under 50 kWh capacity or less. They include the Smart EQ ForFour 17 kWh, Skoda CITIGOe IV SE 37 kWh, Renault Zoe GT Line 50 kWh, Volkswagen e-Golf 35 kWh, and Peugeot E-2008 50 kWh electric cars.

The leasing costs are based on a 4-year personal leasing contract that covers 10,000 miles or 16,000 km a year, and include VAT. While the fuel savings are based on 14 pence per kilowatt hour electricity costs compared to fuel cost of an equivalent petrol or diesel vehicle.

Here is a list of the EVs

1) Smart EQ ForFour 17 kWh Passion Advanced 5 dr Auto
Electric driving range (official WLTP combined): 81 miles
Estimated real-world electric driving range: 55 miles
Monthly lease cost: £176.88
Estimated fuel savings per month: £85

Cost per month after fuel savings deducted: £91.88

2) Skoda CITIGOe IV SE 37 kWh 5 dr Auto                                                
Electric driving range (official WLTP combined): 170 miles
Estimated real-world electric driving range: 130 miles
Monthly lease cost: £231.55
Estimated fuel savings per month: £85

Cost per month after fuel savings deducted: £146.55

3) Renault Zoe GT Line 50 kWh 5 dr Auto                                                
Electric driving range (official WLTP combined): 245 miles
Estimated real-world electric driving range: 195 miles
Monthly lease cost: £279.59
Estimated fuel savings per month: £85

Cost per month after fuel savings deducted: £194.59

4) Volkswagen e-Golf 35 kWh 5 dr Auto                                          
Electric driving range (official WLTP combined): 144 miles
Estimated real-world electric driving range: 125 miles
Monthly lease cost: £331.32
Estimated fuel savings per month: £100

Cost per month after fuel savings deducted: £231.32

5) Peugeot E-2008 50 kWh Active 5 dr Auto                                              
Electric driving range (official WLTP combined): 206 miles
Estimated real-world electric driving range: 170 miles
Monthly lease cost: £338.30
Estimated fuel savings per month: £120

Cost per month after fuel savings deducted: £218.30

The estimated fuel savings are based on 14p per kW electricity costs and monthly mileages covered as part of a 10,000 miles per year PCH. Lower maintenance costs are also factored in.

"There’s much talk about EVs reaching price parity with petrol cars over the coming years, but zero emission electric cars can be more affordable than people think today," said Mike Potter, managing director of DriveElectric. "Fuel costs of EVs are around 20% of the fuel costs of petrol cars, and spreading the cost of the initial purchase price over monthly leasing payments means that EVs are now typically cheaper than petrol cars from a whole-life cost point of view. This could enable large numbers of motorists to make the switch to EVs to help improve local air quality and achieve Net Zero.

He added , the driving ranges of the latest EVs are sufficient for many people’s regular driving patterns, and for those such as business users who regularly need to cover lots of motorway miles, there’s an ever-increasing variety of vehicle options available with electric driving ranges over 300 miles.

DriveElectric is an electric vehicle leasing company that has been helping organisations and individuals to adopt EVs to save money, lower emissions and transition to low carbon energy since 2008. DriveElectric aims to make the switch to electric cars and vans simple for business fleets.

DriveElectric also offers a FlexiHire service which enables businesses to hire an electric car or van for a period of a few months rather than being committed to a lease over a number of years. As there’s also no upfront payment, the FlexiHire service provides a cost-effective way to drive an electric vehicle.