Unless you hardly drive or are looking to add a second car, most EV leases have mileage limits so low it makes you wonder what the point is.

EV sales have slowed. That’s not hearsay, an opinion or being anti-EV as some like to call it; it’s a verifiable fact. In November 2024, AP reported that data showed that while EV sales had grown to make up 8 percent of the country’s auto sales, they were slowing. More data from the Institute For Energy Research from May 2025 showed U.S. EV sales had fallen 5 percent in April. So what’s really going on? The main issue is EV pricing. Data from KBB shows that the average transaction price for new EVs is $57,734. While that price is down slightly (just 1.1 percent year over year) it’s over $6,600 more than the average transaction price of gas powered cars.

Yea sure, there are tax credits, but those might not be around much longer. Automakers know that EVs are expensive though. To lessen the pain, automakers and their respective dealers have been offering some fantastic lease deals on some of their newest EV models. Many often have payments under $500 a month. But those low payments come with equally low mileage limits that almost guarantee that your shiny new EV will spend most of its time in your driveway. Don’t believe me because you’ve been wooed by that cheap monthly payment? Let’s take a look at a few examples. Also keep in mind that these lease examples are based on my zip code, but usually the same deals exist in other parts of the country.

 One of the posterchilds for cheap EV leases right now is the Dodge Charger. Dodge’s reborn electric muscle car hasn’t exactly set the sales charts on fire (just 1,947 were sold in Q1 of 2025). So Dodge has rolled out some pretty sweet lease deals to try to get butts in seats. Right now, Dodge is advertising a lease offer on 2025 Charger Daytona R/T models for $359 a month for 24 months with $3,829 down. That price also includes the $7,500 tax credit (Some dealers have a slightly worse version of the same deal such as $429 a month for 24 months with $3,909 due at signing). Sounds sweet right? That is until you get to the fine print of the lease terms and notice that this is an ultra-low mileage lease. Dodge allocates its lessees just 5,000 miles per year. That works out to just 400 miles a month. 

Over at Chevy, they’re a little more generous with the hot selling Equinox EV. Right now Chevy is offering a lease on the 2025 Equinox EV LT for just $279 a month with just $1,679 due at signing for 24 months . You get just 20,000 miles a year with the lease, meaning you’ll get to drive this Equinox EV just over 1,600 miles a month. That should work out better for most but it’s still low.

Hyundai has decent-ish deals on its all new 3-row Ioniq 9 EV. If you stick with the base Ioniq 9 S, you can drive away in one for $447 a month for 36 months with $5,007 due at signing. Don’t think about driving much as you’re only allowed 12,000 miles a year which comes out to about 1,000 miles a month.

Honda is another automaker that has really enticing lease deals that have helped drive its EV sales. Currently you can lease a 2025 Honda Prologue EX for just $209 a month for 36 months with $3,099 due at signing. But that lease comes with just 10,000 miles a year which comes out to just 833 miles a month. 

Some may see all this and say “So what’s the big deal? Not everyone drives a lot.” And that’s true to a certain extent. But for the most part, every single one of these leases is nearly unusable, especially when you factor in data that shows just how much the average American actually drives. Data from the Federal Highway Administration shows that the average American drives 1,200 miles a month, hundreds of miles more than the mileage allocation each of these EV leases comes with. This means that if you’re looking to lease an EV you can’t use it as a primary vehicle. You have to either relegate the EV to second car status, be a person that doesn’t drive much, or both. So while many of these EV leases look like great deals, they’re basically useless for anyone that actually wants to, you know, drive and enjoy the vehicle that they’re spending their money on.