With $69 a month lease, t...ectric car

The market for electric vehicles has grown past the early adopter stage into a typical pull of supply, demand and price — and with automakers building more plug-in cars than customers have demanded so far, price has only one direction to go. The clearest example to date of pure economics in action comes from an Illinois dealer who's offering a two-year lease of the Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric sedan for $69 a month before taxes.

The i-MiEV won't win either the talent or beauty portions of any pageant. While it's efficiency rating of 112 mpg-e ranks among the best for any EV car, it's only capable of 62 miles of range on a full charge. Consumer Reports called it "a glorified golf cart of limited use," and with a sticker of $32,000, the mystery of Mitsubishi selling 588 i-MiEVs last year isn't why that's so low, but who bought them.

O'Brien Mitsubishi, a dealership in Mitsubishi's U.S. base of Normal, Ill., appears all out to change that. As caught by Autoblog Green, O'Brien has advertised a $69 a month, two-year lease of an i-MiEV before about $2,100 in fees, or a $169-a-month deal with the fees rolled in. As with all electric car leases, the dealership keeps the $7,500 federal tax credit that goes to the vehicle's buyer.

While the i-MiEV's deal applies at just one dealership, price breaks and discounts have come to other EVs as well. Nissan announced earlier this month it was lowering the sticker price on the base-level 2013 Nissan Leaf EV by $6,000, making the out-the-door price $21,300 including the federal incentive -- a discount of 18 percent from last year's model. Given that automakers have to sell more EVs in the coming years to meet state pollution regulations, expect better deals to get plugged in.

As long as it's safe, sure, why not?

JustErin said:

As long as it's safe, sure, why not?

That's what I'm thinking.

I mean, I don't see myself ever BUYING a car like this...but if I were to be able to lease one for that amount (figuring that I have the deposit amount readily available)...I can see myself getting it just to commute back-&-forth daily, and save the SUV for the weekends/kids.

Not a chance. My daily commute is 80 miles, round trip, on the highway. A "glorified golf cart" ain't gonna cut it.

Genesia said:

Not a chance. My daily commute is 80 miles, round trip, on the highway. A "glorified golf cart" ain't gonna cut it.

My daily commute is a whopping 8 miles roundtrip (via sidestreets). I just google-mapped it.

It's more wear-&-tear than it is mileage for me.

yes, we already got lots of them in Amsterdam, it's great for a city

[Edited 1/24/13 8:22am]

In Atlanta.....that car will get u killed with a quickness.

In Chicago, the potholes would kill u in that car.

Graycap23 said:

In Atlanta.....that car will get u killed with a quickness.

In Chicago, the potholes would kill u in that car.

Why do you say that?

PurpleJedi said:

Graycap23 said:

In Atlanta.....that car will get u killed with a quickness.

In Chicago, the potholes would kill u in that car.

Why do you say that?

These fools down here have accidents every 10 seconds. One of the worse commute cities in the U.S. That lil car would get CRUSHED like a bug.

No. My next car is, as we all know, this one:

[img:$uid]http://cdn0.sbnation.com/entry_photo_images/7291049/batmobile_large_verge_medium_landscape.jpg[/img:$uid]

sadly, no i wouldn't drive it. too unsafe. 85% of MV accidents are rear enders. that tiny little vehicle is so lightweight it would be pushed right into ongoing traffic or just smushed

robertlove said:

yes, we already got lots of them in Amsterdam, it's great for a city

[Edited 1/24/13 8:22am]

Yet anohter reason the move there...

Genesia said:

Not a chance. My daily commute is 80 miles, round trip, on the highway. A "glorified golf cart" ain't gonna cut it.

golf cart, I'm going to steal that.

That thing isn't meant for American highways. If you plan to drive it around town on side streets maybe, but I'm not sure I'd trust driving that thing alongside SUV's.

RodeoSchro said:

No. My next car is, as we all know, this one:

[img:$uid]http://cdn0.sbnation.com/entry_photo_images/7291049/batmobile_large_verge_medium_landscape.jpg[/img:$uid]

Shotgun!

Graycap23 said:

PurpleJedi said:

Why do you say that?

These fools down here have accidents every 10 seconds. One of the worse commute cities in the U.S. That lil car would get CRUSHED like a bug.

I understand.

Trust me...if I had any highway commuting to do, I would never consider a golf cart like this.

i wonder if it's big enough to have sex in? anyone ever try that? just curious

TD3 said:

Genesia said:

Not a chance. My daily commute is 80 miles, round trip, on the highway. A "glorified golf cart" ain't gonna cut it.

golf cart, I'm going to steal that.

That thing isn't meant for American highways. If you plan to drive it around town on side streets maybe, but I'm not sure I'd trust driving that thing alongside SUV's.

I actually quoted that from the article.

RodeoSchro said:

No. My next car is, as we all know, this one:

[img:$uid]http://cdn0.sbnation.com/entry_photo_images/7291049/batmobile_large_verge_medium_landscape.jpg[/img:$uid]

Maybe should go half on this. We can rent it out when we aren't using it and make a profit.

Genesia said:

TD3 said:

golf cart, I'm going to steal that.

That thing isn't meant for American highways. If you plan to drive it around town on side streets maybe, but I'm not sure I'd trust driving that thing alongside SUV's.

I actually quoted that from the article.

i know.

Does that bolster your confidence you should be driving that thing on a road?

Drive on the Expressway amongst the semi trucks with that thing and then pray.

Oh yeah, it's winter, pray hard!

I once saw a huge bodybuilder type of a guy sitting in that type of a really small car. Looked really comical. He was stuck in traffic lights and when I crossed the street I just bursted into laughter. He saw it too, but I couldn't help it.

Looks like those cars you can rent for short commutes they have around the city here. People pay a monthly fee, check for a car in their location (whenever they want to drive), go get it, click the timer, drive, park, click off the timer, and leave it for the next person. So my answer would be no, I can grab one if I need it and don't have to be tied to a lease, for a cheaper monthly fee.

[Edited 1/24/13 10:12am]

XxAxX said:

sadly, no i wouldn't drive it. too unsafe. 85% of MV accidents are rear enders. that tiny little vehicle is so lightweight it would be pushed right into ongoing traffic or just smushed

My thoughts exactly.

I'd actually consider getting a car for that price, sure. I'd want to see the safety specs, but yeah.

Right now I don't own one as I'd use it maybe twice a week and that's never been worth a car payment to me.

morningsong said:

Looks like those cars you can rent for short commutes they have around the city here. People pay a monthly fee, check for a car in their location (whenever they want to drive), go get it, click the timer, drive, park, click off the timer, and leave it for the next person. So my answer would be no, I can grab one if I need it and don't have to be tied to a lease, for a cheaper monthly fee.

[Edited 1/24/13 10:12am]

Yeah it's these little cars. Cars 2 Go. I've seen a lot of people in them. I have no idea what kind of car it is except that it's electric.

morningsong said:

morningsong said:

Looks like those cars you can rent for short commutes they have around the city here. People pay a monthly fee, check for a car in their location (whenever they want to drive), go get it, click the timer, drive, park, click off the timer, and leave it for the next person. So my answer would be no, I can grab one if I need it and don't have to be tied to a lease, for a cheaper monthly fee.

[Edited 1/24/13 10:12am]

Yeah it's these little cars. Cars 2 Go. I've seen a lot of people in them. I have no idea what kind of car it is except that it's electric.

That's a SmartCar.

Here in the USA, they're sold by Mercedes-Benz (as an independent unit...the way the Cooper Minis are sold by BMW).

I don't know about the electric version, but the regular ones haven't been selling well because for the price of buying one you can get a Toyota Corolla that offers TWICE the room with only a little bit more fuel consumption.

I just googled SmartCar...and it looks like they're offering a $99/month lease.

PurpleJedi said:

morningsong said:

Yeah it's these little cars. Cars 2 Go. I've seen a lot of people in them. I have no idea what kind of car it is except that it's electric.

That's a SmartCar.

Here in the USA, they're sold by Mercedes-Benz (as an independent unit...the way the Cooper Minis are sold by BMW).

I don't know about the electric version, but the regular ones haven't been selling well because for the price of buying one you can get a Toyota Corolla that offers TWICE the room with only a little bit more fuel consumption.

I just googled SmartCar...and it looks like they're offering a $99/month lease.

I guess the low sales is why this company brought 300 of them for this program as a catalyst to possible sell more. But I can see why people worry about the safety, riding in one next to an 18 wheeler would be nerve racking, heck even next to these SUVs it wouldn't stand a chance. But for short burst trips they've looked interesting.

morningsong said:

PurpleJedi said:

That's a SmartCar.

Here in the USA, they're sold by Mercedes-Benz (as an independent unit...the way the Cooper Minis are sold by BMW).

I don't know about the electric version, but the regular ones haven't been selling well because for the price of buying one you can get a Toyota Corolla that offers TWICE the room with only a little bit more fuel consumption.

I just googled SmartCar...and it looks like they're offering a $99/month lease.

I guess the low sales is why this company brought 300 of them for this program as a catalyst to possible sell more. But I can see why people worry about the safety, riding in one next to an 18 wheeler would be nerve racking, heck even next to these SUVs it wouldn't stand a chance. But for short burst trips they've looked interesting.

Cool city car...and the roll cage is supposed to be very good...but I wouldn't want to drive down I-95 in it (that's the main north-south interstate highway on the East coast here...I've been driving on it in the rain with 18-wheelers passing me as I'm doing almost 80mph )

Sure. If they are going to pay me $69 dollars a month to drive it, I will.

Smartcar or not ...NO!!! its a deathtrap....no protection even if a accident was to occur...sorry id pass