Forget About High Gas Prices With These 4 Cheap EV Lease Deals In May

Hello, dear reader, how are you doing? Bad? Yeah, it's rough out there. But hey, at least gas prices are approaching record highs! Oh no wait, that's bad too. Well, in a rare moment of good news, though EV lease deals are still not quite as enticing as they were in the good old days, when we still had a federal tax incentive, there are still some pretty good deals to be had.

Our friends over at Cars Direct analyzed lease deals on electric vehicles from regions across the United States and found four of the best, for the 2025 Ford F-150 Lightning, 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 6, 2026 Hyundai Ioniq 5, and the 2026 Tesla Model 3. As you may have noticed, most of these deals are on 2025 model-year cars, so it's clear that carmakers are eager to get these older, and in two cases discontinued models, off of their respective lots.

As with all leases, there is a lot of fine print involved, including regional deals that may not be available in your area. Check out Cars Direct for more information, but these are the four cheapest EV lease deals in the country for the month of May.

Ford announced the death of its electric full-sized pickup truck for the 2026 model year, but some dealers are still trying to move the last of the remaining units on lots. This is a regional deal that ends on July 6, but some 2025 F-150 Lightning XLTs can be leased for $196 per month for 24 months, with $6,790 due at signing, with an annual mileage allowance of 10,500 miles. That monthly payment price looks awfully enticing, but the sizable down payment required is concerning. Spreading that down payment evenly across the entire lease term, that equates to an effective cost of $479 per month before taxes and fees.

There are lots of restrictions with this one, unfortunately. In order to take advantage of this lease deal. For example, Ford requires lessees to opt out of Ford's Power Promise home charger offer, which could be a dealbreaker for some buyers. Longer 36-month leases yield slightly lower prices, but still require a fat down payment.

We were sad to learn that Hyundai is axing its lovely Ioniq 6 electric sedan for the 2026 model year, but the low demand that caused its demise means there should be a fair amount of 2025 cars on dealer lots to choose from. This deal is in California, where the 2025 Ioniq 6 SE Standard Range can be leased for $189 per month for 24 months, with $3,999 due at signing, with an annual mileage allowance of 12,000 miles. With the down payment figured into the math, it equates to an effective cost of about $356 per month.

Cars Direct reckons the SE Long Range might be a better deal despite being $10 more per month, since its maximum estimated range of 342 miles is 102 miles longer than the Standard Range model. The Ioniq 6 is a fantastic alternative to another car on this list, which puts some of your money into the pockets of a cringey man-child who also happens to be absurdly rich, Tesla CEO Elon Musk. We definitely prefer the Ioniq 6 over a Tesla Model 3.

The excellent Hyundai Ioniq 5 is next on the list, and it happens to be a fantastic electric compact crossover that also doesn't put any more money into Elon's pockets when you buy it, which makes it even better. These lease examples are available in the state of California and are advertised to run through June 1. You can lease a 2026 Ioniq 5 SE Standard Range for $259 for 24 months with $3,999 due at signing. That equates to an effective cost of $426 per month before taxes and fees, which makes it just $10 more expensive than a Sonata Hybrid.

Cars Direct points out that the base Ioniq 5 SE Standard Range isn't the best version of the Ioniq 5, so it recommends stepping up to at least the SE Extended Range, which costs $10 more per month than the Standard Range car, but it can travel 73 miles more, with a max estimated range of 318 miles.

The stripped-out base model Tesla Model 3 Rear-Wheel-Drive that is saddled with downgraded performance, downgraded charging capabilities, and a significantly downgraded interior that somehow doesn't even have a radio, but at least it's reasonably priced. This is a national offer, too, so it should be available to everyone in the United States. 

Leases start at $299 per month for 36 months with $3,994 due at signing, with an annual mileage allowance of 10,000 miles, and Tesla is offering 2,000 free Supercharging miles when the lessee trades in a gas or hybrid vehicle. That equates to an effective cost of about $410 per month, not including the free charging incentive.

Stepping up to the Model 3 Premium or Performance also gets a year of free charging that doesn't come on the base trim, and this offer can be stacked with the gas or hybrid car incentive, too. We still recommend the much more interesting and potentially cheaper Hyundai Ioniq 6 over the Tesla Model 3, though.