Electric car lease deals are better than ever

This may be the beginning of a golden age of affordable electric cars: There are now or will soon be three electric cars available in California leasing at $199 a month, one for $249 and one for $259 a month. They are all perfectly wonderful subcompact four and five-seaters, any one of which could fit nicely into your urban or suburban lifestyle. Where else are you going to find a car for $199 a month?

We are fully expecting the EV revolution (rEVolution tm) to start any minute. Any minute now. Still waiting…

Oh come on, what's wrong with you people? Look, here are your choices:

The 2013 Fiat 500e can be had for $20,500 after federal and state rebates.

Sergio Marchionne already said he's loosing $10,000 on each one of these. Haven't you always wanted to take advantage of a carmaker, instead of the other way around? Just put your $999 down at signing and silently hum away from your local Chrysler Fiat dealer in the cutest car Italy has ever made, emitting no tailpipe pollutants as you go. If you buy this stylish little Italian the sticker is $32,500, but once you pile on all the Federal, state (in California) and manufacturer rebates the sticker comes out at $20,500.

Nissan has sold more than 25,000 copies of its all-electric Leaf.

The Leaf EV is the granddaddy of modern, mass-market electric cars sold in the U.S., having arrived in showrooms more than two years ago. Monthly lease price is $199 but you have to put down $1999 for the 36-month deal. It has plenty of room, plenty of features and with 24 kWh battery it'll go between 80 and 94 miles per charge, the figures we got when we had one for a three-month loan. It looks a little goofy, though, which some buyers want.

The Spark EV goes on sale in California and Oregon next week.

Another $199 a month lease with a low $999 due at lease signing. The Spark EV will be available in California and Oregon in about a week. Its 21-kWh battery is good for an EPA range of 82 miles. Instead of leasing, you could buy one for $24,495 before all those rebates. Figure you can knock $10k off in California, and that's a darn cheap car!

A Honda Fit EV has been in Autoweek's West Coast garage for almost a week, and so far we love it.

While the Honda Fit EV lease is $259 instead of $199, Honda leasees don't have to make a down payment and they get unlimited mileage, routine maintenance, collision insurance and a 240-volt home charger thrown in free. The leases used to cost $389 a month but Honda knocked it down to $259 to move all 1100 Fit EVs out the doors. At the higher price Honda had leased only 174. Sales are limited to 36 dealers in eight states but will expand to 200 dealers within weeks. As we write this, a Fit EV has been in the West Coast Autoweek garage for almost a week and we love the little thing. It has room, storage cubbies everywhere and nice touches like cruise control, which is not on our own, personal Mitsubishi i MiEV.

The Mitsubishi i MiEV is known as a value option among EVs.

Mitsubishi was ahead of the curve with an affordable lease when it announced a $249-a-month deal a year ago on its roomy four-seater i, sometimes called the i MiEV, depending on where you look. The latest info on an i lease is $221 per month/36 months/$3,445 due at lease signing. You can just buy an i for $30,675 before government rebates, a little over $20k after, if you buy in California.

There are other EVs on the market, but these are the most affordable. Now is the time; pull the trigger, people. These prices aren't going to last!

By Mark Vaughn