Want to try the electric vehicle life, but not sure it's something you want to be locked into for years? Electric performance car brand Polestar is about to go the extra mile for you with a flexible lease deal that lets you return the car after a few months if it's not for you.
Dubbed Polestar Flexible Lease, the 24-month lease deal on the Polestar 2 sedan is available from $349 a month. The automaker announced the deal recently, saying it offers customers the possibility to either keep the lease or opt-out after the first five months and five payments. Basically, after five months, customers have month-to-month flexibility for the remainder of the lease and can give the car back anytime. (You just may not want to; especially with the updates it's getting for 2024, the Polestar 2 is one of our current favorites.)
"With the Polestar Flexible Lease program, I'm proud to say we are making it even easier for customers to experience our fully electric performance vehicles," said Gregor Hembrough, Head of Polestar North America.
"These new terms allow U.S. customers to lease a Polestar vehicle with the flexibility not normally permitted by a traditional lease, making it a great option for customers who are new to EVs or those looking to bridge the gap as they await a Polestar 2, Polestar 3 or Polestar 4 on order."
A Polestar spokesperson told InsideEVs that "there is a lease disposition fee of $450 typically found at the end of a lease, but no other cancellation fees or charges" for customers who want to opt out after the first five months.
Gallery: 2024 Polestar 2
The flexible lease is available for all available variants of the 2024 Polestar 2, which also qualifies for Polestar's $8,500 Clean Vehicle credit, in addition to available local EV incentives. To be eligible for the generous credit, customers must meet Polestar Financial Services (PFS) credit standards.
The $8,500 credit consists of the $7,500 federal tax credit that Polestar is passing on to consumers, plus $1,000 from the automaker. If you decide to buy a 2024 Polestar 2 – the EV is not eligible for U.S. federal tax credits when purchased because it is not made locally – you only get a $1,000 discount.
To sign up for the flexible lease program, you need to pick a pre-configured Polestar 2 from the automaker's website or design your own using the configuration tool, choose "Lease" as your preferred payment method, select a 24-month contract term, and place your order.
Electric vehicle leasing has picked up in the United States driven mostly by the Inflation Reduction Act loophole that provides the $7,500 tax credit for any EV that's leased, regardless of where it's made and where its battery materials are sourced from.
We've seen lease prices go down spectacularly in recent months, to the point where you can now lease a Hyundai Ioniq 6 sedan for $299 a month or a Tesla Model 3 for $329 a month.
Besides offering competitive lease prices – as low as $399 a month for the Polestar 2 sedan for the standard 36-month lease offer – electric performance car brand Polestar is going the extra mile by launching the flexible lease program through its Polestar Financial Services arm in the United States.
For now, the flexible lease program is only available for the Polestar 2 sedan, but the good news is Polestar plans to expand it to the upcoming Polestar 3 and Polestar 4 electric SUVs as well.
The Polestar 3 crossover is available to order online now and is configurable with the new flexible lease program option; deliveries are expected to start in the second quarter of 2024. The Polestar 4's U.S. launch is planned for the first half of 2024.
Update Monday, November 6, 9 a.m.: This post has been updated after Polestar told InsideEVs that customers are only charged a $450 lease disposition fee typically found at the end of a lease if they want to opt out after five months. The company also confirmed that that $8,500 Clean Vehicle credit is made up of the $7,500 federal tax credit and an additional $1,000 discount from Polestar.
