Leasing vs. buying an EV — what do you actually pay?

Leasing and buying are not the same product

Before we look at the numbers, it's important to understand that leasing and buying solve two different jobs — and that's why the figures can't be lined up side by side without care.

- Private leasing: You pay a down payment and then a fixed monthly rate for an agreed period, typically 36 or 48 months. The car is insured and serviced per the agreement, and when the period ends you hand the car back. You own nothing afterwards — but you've never had a large sum tied up in the car, and you don't carry the risk of what it's worth in three years. - Buying: You pay the car's cash price, either in one go or via a car loan with a down payment and a monthly instalment. You own the car from day one. Once the loan is paid off, the car is fully yours and you can sell it again. In return, you carry the depreciation risk yourself.

The decisive difference is the horizon. A lease runs 36 or 48 months and ends with no car. A car loan, as in the examples below, runs 120 months to full ownership. Pay cash and you own from day one. So you can't simply compare the final totals and crown a winner — you're comparing two different outcomes. That's exactly what the resale-value section further down tries to bridge: with buying you end up holding a car that's worth something; with leasing you don't.

The two Danish car taxes — keep them apart

When you calculate the cost of an EV, you run into two taxes that are constantly confused. They're fundamentally different, and that matters for comparing leasing and buying:

- Registration tax (registreringsafgift): A one-time tax paid when the car is first registered — that is, on purchase. It's already built into the cash price you see advertised. It is not an add-on on top of the price. For most cheap and mid-range EVs in 2026 it's DKK 0, because the car sits below the tax-free threshold of around DKK 413,000. Above the threshold the tax starts to bite — as it does for premium EVs. Read more in our guide to EV registration tax 2026. - Green ownership tax (grøn ejerafgift): An annual tax of about DKK 920 per year for a typical EV in 2026, billed twice a year by Motorstyrelsen. You pay it whether you own or lease — for as long as the car is registered. Read more in our guide to the green ownership tax.

The difference in one picture: registration tax you pay once, when the car came into the register, and with leasing you never see it as a separate line — it's amortised invisibly into the rate. Green ownership tax you pay every year, whether you own or lease. In all three examples below, the green ownership tax adds about DKK 920 per year on top of either path.

Example 1 — small and tax-free: Citroën ë-C3 Aircross 54 kWh

We start at the affordable end with a small, tax-free EV. The Citroën ë-C3 Aircross 54 kWh (2025) has a cash price of DKK 229,990. The registration tax is DKK 0, because the car sits well below the tax-free threshold of around DKK 413,000 — it's effectively tax-free.

Private leasing (current offer on EVL):

- Down payment: DKK 14,995 - Term: 36 months, 15,000 km/year - Monthly rate: DKK 3,195/month - Total over 36 months: 14,995 + (36 × 3,195) = DKK 130,015 - At the end: you hand the car back and own nothing

Car loan (illustrative calculation — NOT the dealer's own figures):

The dealer does not publish fixed financing for this specific car, so the following is an illustrative calculation using a typical car-loan rate — it is not a published offer.

- Down payment: DKK 22,999 (10% of the cash price) - Loan: DKK 206,991 over 60 months at roughly 5% APR - Monthly instalment: around DKK 3,906/month - Total: around DKK 257,359, of which roughly DKK 27,400 is interest - At the end: you own the car

Note that the two totals — DKK 130,015 and around DKK 257,359 — cannot be compared directly. The lease figure covers 36 months of use and ends with no car. The loan figure covers 60 months of instalments and ends with you owning a paid-off car. On top of both comes about DKK 920 per year in green ownership tax.

Example 2 — mid-range, tax-free: Volkswagen ID.4 79 kWh RWD

The next step up is a classic family EV. The Volkswagen ID.4 79 kWh RWD (2026) has a cash price of DKK 339,995. The registration tax is DKK 0 — the car still sits below the tax-free threshold.

Private leasing (current offer on EVL):

- Down payment: DKK 30,000 - Term: 48 months, 15,000 km/year - Monthly rate: DKK 4,095/month - Total over 48 months: 30,000 + (48 × 4,095) = DKK 226,560 - At the end: you hand the car back and own nothing

Car loan (the dealer's own published figures):

Here the financing is the dealer's own figures — not an illustrative calculation.

- Down payment: DKK 68,338 - Term: 120 months - Monthly instalment: DKK 2,854/month - Total: 68,338 + (120 × 2,854) = DKK 410,818 - At the end: you own the car

This is a 10-year loan, and the interest is included in the DKK 410,818. Note the horizon again: the lease runs 48 months and ends with no car; the loan runs 120 months and ends with full ownership. The low monthly loan instalment of DKK 2,854/month is precisely because of the long term — you pay for twice as long as the lease period. On top of both comes about DKK 920 per year in green ownership tax.

Example 3 — premium, where the tax bites: Audi Q6 e-tron 75.8 kWh RWD

Finally, a premium EV where registration tax starts to come into play. The Audi Q6 e-tron 75.8 kWh RWD (2026) has a cash price of DKK 519,990. Of that, registration tax accounts for an estimated DKK 64,000 or so — roughly 12% of the price.

Important: that roughly DKK 64,000 is already built into the cash price. It is not an add-on on top of the DKK 519,990. When an EV goes above the tax-free threshold of around DKK 413,000, registration tax starts to bite, which is why it matters here when it was DKK 0 in the first two examples. (The share is an estimate — the exact figure depends on the car's precise calculation basis.)

Private leasing (current offer on EVL):

- Down payment: DKK 35,000 - Term: 48 months, 15,000 km/year - Monthly rate: DKK 6,095/month - Total over 48 months: 35,000 + (48 × 6,095) = DKK 327,560 - At the end: you hand the car back and own nothing

Car loan (the dealer's own published figures):

- Down payment: DKK 104,517 - Term: 120 months - Monthly instalment: DKK 4,256/month - Total: 104,517 + (120 × 4,256) = DKK 615,237 - At the end: you own the car

Again, the DKK 327,560 and the DKK 615,237 cannot be set directly against each other: one is 48 months of use with no car at the end, the other is 120 months of instalments to full ownership. On top of both comes about DKK 920 per year in green ownership tax.

How to read the table — three honest caveats

The examples above are calculated on real, current offers, but there are three things to hold onto before drawing a conclusion:

1. The horizons differ. Leasing runs 36 or 48 months and ends with no car. The car loans here run 120 months to full ownership. Pay cash and you own from day one. So don't just compare the final totals — compare what you're left holding at the end.

2. The financing sources aren't the same. For the VW ID.4 and Audi Q6 e-tron, the loan calculations are the dealer's own published figures. For the Citroën ë-C3 Aircross there is no published fixed financing, so we've made a clearly labelled illustrative calculation using a typical rate. Treat the Citroën loan figure as an illustration, not an offer.

3. The cash price includes VAT and registration tax. The prices you see advertised already include both VAT and registration tax. In the Audi example we show the tax as an estimated share of the price — never as an add-on on top.

What none of the figures captures is the resale value — what the car is worth once the loan is paid off. We tackle that in the next section.

Resale value — the number nobody can calculate precisely in advance

When you buy, you end up with a car that's worth something. When you lease, you don't. That's the one factor that can genuinely tip the calculation — and at the same time the one nobody can calculate precisely in advance.

In recent years EVs have depreciated more than many comparable petrol cars. This is partly due to rapid technological development, falling list prices on new models, and a used-car market that's still young. As a rough estimate, you can reckon on depreciation of around 40–55% over three years for a typical EV — but emphasise the word estimate. It's not a precise figure per model, and it can vary a lot with make, model, mileage and how the market moves.

We deliberately give a wide range rather than a falsely precise number, because we don't know your specific car's future value — nobody does. For a more qualified estimate on a particular model, look at the general used-car market and at, for example, FDM's assessments of EV depreciation, which are updated regularly.

The consequence for the comparison: when you buy, you should in principle subtract the expected resale value from the total you've paid to find your real cost of ownership. With leasing there's no resale value to subtract — but then you've never carried the depreciation risk either. If the used-car market falls more than expected, that's the leasing company's problem, not yours. If it holds up better than expected, the gain is yours, if you've bought. That trade-off is what the choice between leasing and buying ultimately comes down to.

So which should you choose?

There's no single right answer — it depends on what you value.

Leasing suits you if you want a fixed, predictable monthly cost without a large sum tied up in the car, if you like to change car every three or four years, and if you'd rather not worry about what the car is worth when you part with it. You're paying for peace of mind and predictability.

Buying suits you if you plan to keep the car for many years, if you want to own something at the end, and if you're willing to carry the depreciation risk in return for the chance to end up with a paid-off car. Over a long ownership period, buying can work out cheaper per kilometre — but only if the car holds its value reasonably, and that's precisely the uncertain part.

Whatever you choose, the most important thing is to compare like with like. When you look at private leasing offers, check whether green ownership tax, insurance and service are included in the monthly price. On our overview of private leasing offers for EVs the tax is always included, so you compare apples with apples. To dig into what the leasing itself costs line by line, we have a separate guide to the costs of EV leasing.