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A big reason is electric car technology is evolving. That means if you own a car for several years, your trade-in value will be limited because of the availability of more efficient and advanced models. Plus, there is concern that electric car batteries will degrade over time and charge at diminished levels after several years. Leasing for three years, for example, allows you to avoid this issue altogether. It's also a good time to lease, says Jesse Toprak, senior analyst for auto pricing portal TrueCar.com. "We're sort of in the middle of a perfect storm for leasing," he says, citing low interest rates and the more aggressive lease offers by electric car manufacturers. For a $28,000 Leaf, Nissan is offering a 36-month lease for $199 a month, with a down payment of $1,800. Chevrolet is advertising a $299 a month lease for 36 months on a 2014 Volt priced at $34,995. Those terms require $2,499 upfront. There are often some fine-print restrictions on such offers, but like any lease transaction, customers can try to negotiate better terms. 4. REVIEW POTENTIAL TAX INCENTIVES The federal government and some states offer tax incentives to electric car buyers. If you lease, the benefit is generally used to lower the lease cost.
At the federal level, there's a tax credit of up to $7,500 for cars sold after Dec. 31, 2008. The amount depends on the size of the battery. The credit is applied against your tax bill, or as a refund, provided you have at least the equivalent amount in tax liabilities. Here's a list of all the tax incentives, by state: Pluginamerica.org/incentives. 5. CONSIDER TIMING Traditionally, the best time to buy or lease a car is between August and October, says Toprak. That's when dealerships typically still have a big enough selection of cars to choose from, but also have become aggressive about making deals to make room for newer models. "This month is still a good mixture of great deals and good inventory," Toprak says. 6. AVOID BUYING USED This summer, the National Automobile Dealers Association issued a report saying it expected prices of used plug-in electric cars to tumble 30 percent this year
-- the highest depreciation of all vehicle types. The association cited the cars' limited range and array of incentives that lower the price of new cars, but don't apply at resale. NADA estimates that a plug-in electric vehicle worth $20,000 in 2012 will lose $9,792 of its value by the end of 2014. Similarly priced gasoline and hybrid vehicles over the same period are expected to lose $5,573 and $6,455, respectively.
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