"Free" electric car - which would you choose?

[freebeard]

Tires will be the biggest remaining expense, if you use regen instead of the brakes.

Personally, I like the Fiat. I like Jason Torchinsky, too; here's his review:

Fiat 500e Electric: The Jalopnik Review

That round (well, masked to be round) TFT dash display screen is very well-done, and the UI and graphical qualities of the displays are extremely high-quality. Compared to the Leaf's dash, with its VFD and monochrome matrix displays, it's like comparing an iPhone to a Game Boy. It feels like something that would have been a show-car indulgence just a few years ago.

...

It's a usable range, absolutely. Still, it means you can't just hop in the car and go to Vegas whenever you get the urge, but Fiat can sort of help by providing with the car up to 12 free days of car rental from Enterprise for your longer trips.

He concludes the car is improved over the gas version by the added weight in the back giving more neutral handling. But he misses the Abarth exhaust note.

The drivetrain is by Bosch, Ward's 10 Best Engines 2014: Fiat 500e

“Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne openly admits his company is doing the 500e (and future electrified vehicles) only to comply with those mandates, and that it will lose $14,000 on every 500e it leases or sells.”

So Fiat's eating $14K, CA is kicking in $4K; what's not to like? What will the IRS do?

Lease, and lease again in two years. Eventually the technology will stabilize.