Tesla launched its first lease program for Model 3 just a few weeks ago and it’s now significantly reducing the base monthly lease payment to just $399, but is also increasing the cash down amount.

For a long time, a lease program has been seen as a significant demand driver for Model 3 since leases are especially popular in that segment, but a balance between the cost monthly payments and cash down is important.

On April 11, Tesla launched a lease program for Model 3 over a year after first making the vehicle for sale.

The least expensive listed version of the Model 3 was starting at a monthly payment of $504 per month plus $3,000 in cash down.

Today, the automaker slashed the monthly payments to just $399 per month, but it increased the required cash down to $4,500:

An interesting part of Tesla’s Model 3 lease program is that customers will not be able to buy the Model 3 at the end of the lease.

The company states that they have other plans for the vehicles:

“Please note, customers who choose leasing over owning will not have the option to purchase their car at the end of the lease, because with full autonomy coming in the future via an over-the-air software update, we plan to use those vehicles in the Tesla ride-hailing network.”

Later last month, Tesla unveils ‘Robotaxi’ plan for self-driving ride-sharing network. They plan to use vehicles coming back from leases to put them in this autonomous ride-sharing fleet.

Electrek’s Take

There’s no doubt that this updated lease pricing structure represents better overall value, but the $4,500 cash down is not insignificant either.

It is the cheapest way to get a Tesla. Customers will pay about $19,000 to drive a Tesla vehicle for 3 years.

That’s not a bad deal especially after you account for your gas savings if you are coming from a gas-powered car.

I’ve never leased a car before, but I’d like to hear from serial lessers about what they think of this deal. Let us know in the comment section below.

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