You can now lease an EV for under $100 a month

A Mercedes EQB starts at $53,000 in the U.S., but at the moment, the swanky SUV is one of the cheapest cars in the country.

- BY KYLE STOCK

A DEALERSHIP in Boulder, Colo., is advertising a Volkswagen ID.4 for $39 a month. Above, used Mercedes-Benz EQBs in Tucson.

In July, Mercedes dealerships were leasing the EQB for $352 a month, including the down payment, making it more affordable than nearly every other car in the country, according to Edmunds.com. In fact, on a list of cheapest leases, the EQB is third, one of five EVs parked in the top 10 slots.

Affordability, or the lack thereof, has long been a major stumbling block for electric vehicle adoption. But with a wave of deeply discounted offers, EVs on average are cheaper to lease than gas-powered cars. All told, the average EV lease works out to $624 a month (including a down payment), compared with $670 for internal-combustion cars and trucks, according to Edmunds. Though for certain cars at certain dealerships, bargain hunters can find a monthly payment below $100.

"I always hate to say 'it's unprecedented' with the auto industry, but we've never really seen anything like this," said Kevin Roberts, director of industry analytics at CarGurus, an online listings platform.

Indeed, car companies are offering deep discounts on battery-powered machines in a push to lock in loyal customers before losing federal tax credits of up to $7,500 per transaction at the end of September. The low prices also are intended to move a backlog before next year's models start rolling off assembly lines en masse. Much of the current inventory is made up of machines that were made before tariffs drove up their cost, so there's more room to discount while maintaining some profit margin.

Leasing vs. buying