Just as a counterpoint, I'm currently in the market for an electric car (fuel is >$8/gal here).
Due to the way taxes work here, you can get effectively more than 40% off a company car EV lease through salary sacrifice. All in, I could get a 4 year lease for more than 60% less than a 4 year car loan - with the caveat that I won't have the option of paying a balloon payment to take ownership at the end, but it still works out far better financially to do the lease. The lease also includes insurance, servicing and various other things. I also have heard pretty sketchy things about second hand EVs so would rather wait for that market to develop more.
The problem with leases is I can't pick my trim. If every car was manufactured with the same trim but used software unlock for features, I could just lease the standard model then pay for extra performance, better autopilot, keyless unlock, etc. month to month. It would also be great for hired cars where I could get in the car and pay £5 to unlock the upgraded model for 2 weeks.
Basically, what I'm saying is being able to subscribe to a car and add-on features at runtime is actually an improvement for me. I get it's absolutely not for everyone, but I personally would like it.
If you’re leasing all the time, isn’t that basically a subscription, where you get a newer model every few years (like Apple does with their phone plans)?
Due to the way taxes work here, you can get effectively more than 40% off a company car EV lease through salary sacrifice. All in, I could get a 4 year lease for more than 60% less than a 4 year car loan - with the caveat that I won't have the option of paying a balloon payment to take ownership at the end, but it still works out far better financially to do the lease. The lease also includes insurance, servicing and various other things. I also have heard pretty sketchy things about second hand EVs so would rather wait for that market to develop more.
The problem with leases is I can't pick my trim. If every car was manufactured with the same trim but used software unlock for features, I could just lease the standard model then pay for extra performance, better autopilot, keyless unlock, etc. month to month. It would also be great for hired cars where I could get in the car and pay £5 to unlock the upgraded model for 2 weeks.
Basically, what I'm saying is being able to subscribe to a car and add-on features at runtime is actually an improvement for me. I get it's absolutely not for everyone, but I personally would like it.