Calculate Leasing Costs and Compare with a Car Subscription: Your Complete Guide Using an Electric City Car Example

26 June 2025

How Much Does Leasing Really Cost – and How Do You Compare It to a Car Subscription?

You're probably wondering: How much does leasing a car actually cost? Often, you’ll run into complicated leasing calculators and confusing formulas. But the easiest way to understand and compare leasing costs is a quick online search with the right parameters. Here’s how it works – and what to watch out for when comparing it to a car subscription.

To make the math more fun and relatable, let’s look at a concrete example: the popular Citroën ë-C3 Max.

Leasing vs. Car Subscription: A Quick Overview

Car Specs & Comparison Assumptions

For this comparison, we assume:

List price incl. extras: approx. CHF 32,000.–
Contract duration: 48 months
Down payment: CHF 4,800.– (same for leasing and subscription)
Mileage: approx. 10,000 km per year

Your 3 Steps to Transparent Cost Calculation

Step 1: Configure Your Desired Car Online

To calculate leasing costs, you first need to find the right car. In Switzerland, most models can be found on the importer websites (like AMAG or Emil Frey).

Important for comparison: Focus on the list price so the cars are comparable in both leasing and subscription models.

In our example:

Citroën ë-C3 Max with leasing: CHF 32,210.–
Equivalent car via subscription: CHF 32,570.–

These cars are close enough in value to compare. You might already see a first leasing offer (e.g. CHF 332.60/month), but caution – that’s just the starting point.

Emil Frey Citroën ë-C3 Max – List Price: CHF 32,210.– (If you have any questions about the image, feel free to contact us.)

Step 2: Adjust Duration, Mileage & Down Payment

To get the actual leasing cost, you’ll often need to adjust factors like duration, mileage, and down payment. There’s no “right” or “wrong” setting – but you need to know how they affect the monthly cost:

Duration: Longer contracts = lower monthly costs
Mileage: More km/year = higher monthly cost
Down payment: Higher deposit = lower monthly rate

Key to a fair comparison: Set these variables the same for leasing and subscription. On Emil Frey’s website, simply click “Get offer” to adjust these settings.

For our comparison:

Duration: 48 months
Mileage: approx. 10,000 km/year
Down payment: CHF 4,800.–

With this setup, the monthly leasing rate is CHF 369.–.

Emil Frey Leasing Offer with Configuration (If you have any questions about the image, feel free to contact us.)

For the subscription with Carvolution (canton of Zurich), the monthly cost is CHF 340.–.

You See: The Car Subscription Is Already Cheaper at First Glance! If you're just comparing monthly rates, you could stop here and confidently choose the subscription. But if you want to understand the full cost of leasing a car, there’s still step 3. Because with leasing, it’s not enough to look at the rate alone.

Step 3: Compare Carefully and Look at Total Costs

In addition to the leasing rate, you need to include operating costs – which are already included in a car subscription!

For the Citroën ë-C3 Max, here’s a breakdown of those extra leasing costs:

Full coverage insurance: CHF 87.–/month
Registration & taxes: CHF 3.–/month (very low in Zurich due to electric car)
Service & maintenance: CHF 11.–/month
Tires incl. storage: CHF 46.–/month

Total additional operating costs for leasing: CHF 147.–/month
Leasing total = CHF 369.– + CHF 147.– = CHF 516.–/month

Conclusion: Why a Car Subscription Is the Smarter Choice

The advertised “starting price” in leasing is rarely the real monthly cost.
You always need to adjust for duration, mileage, and down payment.
And when comparing leasing to a car subscription, you must consider total cost – not just the rate. That includes all operating expenses: insurance, tires, registration & taxes, service and maintenance.

With Carvolution, you benefit from a best-price guarantee compared to leasing. That means you can skip the math – we promise lower total costs than leasing. Just send us your leasing and insurance offers – we’ll do the comparison for you.

Want to learn more about the benefits of a car subscription – or find your dream car directly? Get a free, no-obligation consultation or explore all available cars on our website.