It really just comes down to math. A lease has a “residual” which is the expected value of the car at lease end. You pay for the difference between the new value and the residual with your lease payment. It’s essentially like buying a car with an installment loan, except you’ve pre-arranged to sell the car after 3 years at a determined price. There’s also a “money factor” which is the implied interest rate you are getting in the lease. It turns out that Tesla leases have a high money factor, which makes them a bad deal.

Tesla lessors pay for depreciation the same way owners do, but the lease is effectively bundled in with a 6% APR loan, which is a lot worse than people with good credit would pay for a new car auto loan.