If you’re a frequent reader of the blog, you’ll likely have seen my article on leasing an electric car. While I’m typically against leasing a car (it’s expensive and you’re basically renting with nothing to show for at the end of the lease), a certain $5,000 tax credit here in Georgia changed my mind. I’d received several questions from my readers on if that made sense or not, and I looked into it. Although it’s not a ‘free’ car by my calculations, it certainly is a cheap car; cheap enough for this financial blogger to go out and lease one! I wanted to take a post and talk about my experience so far.

When I got to the dealership, I had 3 options to choose from: the base model, an upgraded base model and the upgraded supercharger base model. The base model was around $350/month, the upgraded model was like $370 per month and the super charger was $477 per month. The upgraded base model has the ability to charge a little faster, and has fancier electronics. The supercharger has the capability of getting a full charge in like 30 minutes. I knew that I wouldn’t be taking that long of road trips in my Leaf and that even if I was, there likely weren’t that many super-charging stations on the roads. I must confess that I gave into the sales pitch a little and went with the upgraded model. Getting the fancier electronics seemed worth an extra $20/month to me.

How the numbers work out

Going with the upgraded base model (the SV), my lease is $377/month. I didn’t have to put anything down and this included Georgia’s value-added tax. Once I get it registered (hopefully next week), I’ll apply for my $5,000 tax credit. I went with a 2 year lease, as there wasn’t a whole lot of extra benefit of keeping it one more year. Here’s how I’m calculating the numbers working out:

$377/month * 24 months = $9,048 total due

$9,048 – $5,000 tax break = $4,048 total

$4,048 / 24 months = $169 per month.

I’ll easily be saving $100 in gas each month. Plus, no oil changes and no emission test to worry about paying for. Taking out the gas expenditure, I’m basically getting a car for $70 per month. I’m not depreciating a vehicle (which could easily be $120 each month) and I got a brand new car. Win-win-win!

What it’s like to drive

It sort-of feels like a big golf cart. It sounds the same (aka very quiet) and has the same quick acceleration you feel with a golf cart. Once you start driving it though, it definitely feels like a real car. It’s plenty big, with seating for 5. It’s got a hatchback with some trunk space. It’s fun to take it in and out of eco mode; it’s like going from your grandmother’s car to a race car. It’s so quiet, and the drive is quite enjoyable.

What the charging is like

I’ve got the ability to plug into a charging station (240 volts) which will give me about 20 charging miles per hour. The mode I most frequently use is the normal, ‘trickle charge’, which is just plugging into a regular outlet. This gives me about 4 charging miles per hour. My commute is about 12 miles round trip, and with all the sitting in traffic and stop and go at red lights (gotta love Atlanta), it takes about 20 charging miles off my battery. I’ve been plugging it in about every other day or so, just to have the ability to drive further. I’ve gotten over ‘range anxiety’ that most Leaf owners have. The Leaf has an awesome regenerative capability, which recharges the battery when I break or go down hills. I’m finding that the Leaf is quite capable, and worst come to worst, I can always bring the charger to plug into any outlet.

Overall impressions

I’ve essentially fallen in love with my car. It’s awesome to drive by gas stations and not even think about having to stop to fill up. It’s cool to think that I’m helping the environment and that I’m saving so much money. It’s fun to literally plug my car into the wall and to then be driving it later. The generous tax credit makes it a really good deal. It’s a fun car to drive and fun car to lease!

Finally, if you’re in the Atlanta area looking to lease a Leaf, I’d recommend heading to Regal Nissan. They’re the largest dealer in terms of Leaf volume and so they’ll have more colors and styles to choose from. If you don’t mind, mention that Ben Pack, aka YoungMoneyFinance sent you!