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Report: Toyota RAV4 EV lease gets cut in half to $299/month

Filed under: Car Buying, Crossover, Toyota, Electric

2013 Toyota RAV4 EV

If you’re in the market for a new electric vehicle, now is definitely the time to buy or lease. Following price drops on just about every other EV on the market, Toyota is looking to push a few more all-electric RAV4 crossovers out the door over the Labor Day weekend. The Detroit News is reporting that, through September 3, anyone looking to get into a RAV4 EV in Los Angeles or San Francisco, can get a deal: a $299 a month lease (no word on down payment, though) or zero-percent financing for 60 months for buyers.

The $49,800 RAV4 EV normally leases for twice as much – $599 a month – so this move could be an attempt to sell more of the 2,600 units Toyota has planned to produce. Or maybe, if you thought $599 was a fair price, you can now get two RAV4 Evs. Although temporary, the price drop comes at a time when many other EVs on the market have had their prices reduced, including the Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt, Smart Fortwo ED and Honda Fit EV, not to mention already low prices for the Fiat 500e and Chevy Spark EV.

*Note: 2012 RAV4 EV pictured here

Toyota RAV4 EV lease gets cut in half to $299/month originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 27 Aug 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Official: Smart Fortwo Electric Drive lease now $139/mo

Filed under: Car Buying, Convertible, Coupe, Budget, Smart, Electric

Electric cars seem to be getting more affordable by the day, and the latest to get a price drop is the 2013 Smart Fortwo Electric Drive. With sales currently limited to only a handful of states, the Smart Fortwo ED is preparing for its nationwide rollout by offering a 36-month lease of the Fortwo ED Coupe for as low as $139 per month – or the same price as the non-electric Fortwo. The previous Fortwo ED leases started at $199 a month.

Available until September 3, conditions of this lease include a down payment of $1,999 and signing up for the Battery Assurance Plus battery-lease program, which is a separate lease for the battery at $80 per month. This means that lessees are actually driving the Fortwo ED for just $59 each month, although a mileage cap is set at 30,000 miles. There has been no price drop for those interested in purchasing a 2013 Fortwo ED, however, as has been the case with rival EVs like the Ford Focus Electric, Nissan Leaf and, most recently, the Chevy Volt.

As an added bonus, Smart is also giving its dealers a $2,000 incentive on the Fortwo, which can be used in any way the dealer wishes – local advertising, lowering the asking price for consumers, etc. AutoblogGreen‘s Sebastian Blanco has put together quite a bit more info on the Smart Fortwo ED lease, click thru to read more.

Smart Fortwo Electric Drive lease now $139/mo originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 08 Aug 2013 18:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Volvo considering insanely high $2,100/month lease for C30 Electric

Filed under: Car Buying, Hatchback, Volvo, Electric

volvo c30 electric

Volvo C30 Electric – Click above for high-res image gallery

A trial fleet of around 400 Volvo C30 Electrics is coming, and anyone who wants one had better have an awful big piggy bank. Speaking at a media launch near Indianapolis, IN today, the president of Volvo Car Special Vehicles, Lennart Stegland, said that, while the final price for the car hasn’t been set, Volvo will not sell the EV, but instead offer the car through a three-year lease for around 1,500 Euros. Per month.

1,500 Euros comes out to about $2,129.85 at today’s exchange rates, so if you stick it out for the full 36 months, you get to spend $76,674 to not buy a car. Even worse, Stegland said that Volvo will lose money on the deal. Ouch. Developing electric vehicles for mass production (which, on Volvo’s schedule, will happen sometime around 2013 or so) is more than mildly expensive.

Sure, for the three years you drive the C30 Electric, you’ll probably be quite happy with the car. We certainly were when we drove it last fall and fell for it again in Indiana today (our full write up is coming soon). To convince EV skeptics, Volvo is pushing its traditional safety message pretty hard with the C30 Electric, and we’re sure the car is as safe as can be. We’ll see how powerful this argument is when a hundred C30 Electrics come to the U.S. in the first quarter of 2012. An official lease price hasn’t been set but, as much as we like it, it’ll be hard to justify two-large a month for four-seat hatch.

Gallery: Volvo C30 Electric

Volvo C30 Electric

Volvo considering insanely high $2,100/month lease for C30 Electric originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 24 Mar 2011 16:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mazda to lease EVs in Japan next year

Filed under: Japan, Hatchback, Mazda, Electric

2011 Mazda2

2011 Mazda2 – Click above for high-res image gallery

Mazda is preparing a fleet of electric vehicles that will be available for lease in Japan. Based on the Demio/Mazda2, these EVs will utilize the automaker’s new SKYACTIV powertrain technology. Mazda is shooting for a 200-kilometer driving range (about 124 miles) and plans to begin the leasing program in the spring of 2012.

The target audience for the vehicle will be local government groups and fleet customers. Mazda’s ultimate goal of the program is to refine its knowledge of electric vehicles by collecting data on EV requirements and powertrain technology. For the full details, follow the jump for the automaker’s brief press release.

Gallery: 2011 Mazda2: Review

2011 Mazda2

Photos copyright (C)2011 Jeff Glucker / AOL

[Source: Mazda]

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Mazda to lease EVs in Japan next year originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 24 Jan 2011 14:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ford launches naming contest for V6 Mustang, winner gets free two-year lease

Filed under: LA Auto Show, Coupe, Performance, Etc., Ford

Ford plans to rename the Performance Package for the Mustang V6, and it’s giving Facebook fans and LA Auto Show visitors the chance to decide what moniker it will carry. On the Contest page of the Ford Mustang’s Facebook profile, you can submit your choice of moniker for the package that adds go-fast items like a 3.31 rear axle, Shelby GT500 rear lower control arm and Pirelli tires to 305-horsepower coupe.

You can also stop by the Ford booth at the LA Auto Show and submit your clever-yet-corporate nomenclature. The contest is on now and runs until the middle of December. Make the jump for all the details.

[Source: Ford Mustang Facebook]

Continue reading Ford launches naming contest for V6 Mustang, winner gets free two-year lease

Ford launches naming contest for V6 Mustang, winner gets free two-year lease originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 22 Nov 2010 18:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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2011 Chevrolet Volt priced at $41,000* or $350/month for three-year lease

Filed under: Hybrid, Hatchback, Chevrolet, Electric

Chevrolet Volt – Click above for high-res image gallery

General Motors’ recently hired vice-president for sales and marketing Joel Ewanick took the stage at the Plug-In 2010 conference in San Jose, CA today and finally revealed that the 2011 Chevrolet Volt will have a base price of $41,000 (including a $720 destination charge) before federal and state tax incentives. While GM hasn’t gone as aggressive as most people had hoped on the sticker price, the real deal appears to be the $350 per month for 36 months lease. That matches the monthly payment that Nissan is charging for the Leaf EV.

The effective purchase price of the Volt will be cut to $33,500 with a $7,500 federal tax credit (hence the asterisk in the title), but buyers will have to finance the $41,000 and get the credit back on their next tax return. Lease customers will have the credit factored in to their payment. The Volt lease requires a $2,500 down payment (vs $2,000 for the Leaf), but GM is including a clause in the lease contract that allows leasers to buy the car at the end of their term so that the automaker don’t have another standoff with customers like it did with the all-electric EV1. Follow the jump to learn more about the Volt’s price and how the order process will go, but first take our informal poll below.

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Gallery: 2011 Chevy Volt

Continue reading 2011 Chevrolet Volt priced at $41,000* or $350/month for three-year lease

2011 Chevrolet Volt priced at $41,000* or $350/month for three-year lease originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 27 Jul 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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