Tesla Leases in Australia
Looking to get a Tesla Lease in Australia? The process can often be quite confusing, and expensive if you don’t know what you’re doing.
With the shift towards more sustainable transportation across Australia, EV’s and Tesla’s in particular have grown in popularity in Australia over the past few years. Unfortunately, due to import costs, luxury vehicle fees and many other reasons, a Tesla is a significant upfront investment if choosing to pay in cash.
Even though an upfront cash purchase is still a viable option, leasing has grown in popularity for both individuals and businesses.
The benefits of Leasing a Tesla in Australia
There are many benefits of leasing your Tesla in Australia, especially taking advantage of a novated lease. These range from tax benefits from a novated lease, to available and upgrades, and consistent costs and savings.
Getting a novated lease for a Tesla
Put simply, a novated lease allows you to finance either a new or used car and make the repayments from your pre tax salary. This can be tax efficient as it reduces your taxable income, and bundles all your vehicle expenses into a single payment.
If you’re already considering a car loan or lease, and your employer offers it, a novated lease might be a good option worth considering.
How does a novated lease work?
- You enter into a lease agreement with either a bank or a finance provider.
- You enter into a separate salary sacrificing arrangement with your employer, which pays the repayments from the lease agreement from your pre tax salary.
- Your employer will then make the repayments to the finance provider on your behalf, out of your pre tax income.
- If you leave or change jobs, you can keep the vehicle and continue to make the payments yourself or enter into a new agreement with a new employer.
- Once the lease agreement is up, depending on the provider, you can either buy out the vehicle, renew an agreement, or upgrade to a new model with a new agreement.
Upgrading your Tesla when your lease expires
Thanks to the unique way Tesla upgrades their vehicles in an iterative, almost random matter, it may happen that you miss out on an impressive or essential upgrade that is released weeks, months or even years after you buy.
When leasing a Tesla, you can simply choose to upgrade to a brand new model, and renew into a new agreement. Or, in now common Tesla fashion, something is removed, you can renew your lease at a lower price with the same vehicle.
Costs and Savings
Leasing, especially Teslas, reduces the upfront cost dramatically. This means you wont have to dip into your savings or take out a substantial loan to buy your Model 3 or Model Y (Or hopefully in the future, a Model S or X again).
These payments will be fixed and predictable, which can make it easier for some to plan their budget or sort out their finances. Additionally, leasing means no sudden massive maintenance costs.
Depending on your leasing agreement, supercharging costs may also be included. So if you don’t want to or can’t install a home charger, and live nearby a supercharger, you could take advantage of that to save even more.
Should you lease a Tesla in Australia?
Ultimately, this is a question that might be better off for your accountant or financial planner. There are plenty of benefits, and using novated leasing can be tax effective, however depending on your situation you might be better off purchasing outright with a loan.
There are many banks, financial institutions and even websites that offer novated leasing for Teslas. These may be more expensive than outright car loans, so request some free quotes from various providers and sit down and see if it’s worth it for the tax benefit.
Have you got experience leasing a Tesla or any other electric vehicle in Australia? Feel free to comment below and add your input.
