
Recently, increasingly more motorists have decided to go down the electric route, with electric vehicle (EV) sales in the UK having seen year-on-year growth of 60% in April.
However, with even used EVs known to command a relatively hefty price of £34,197 on average, you might have been put off joining the EV revolution.
In this context, it’s easy to underestimate electric vehicle leasing benefits for those drivers hamstrung by tight budgets.
If you have rented anything before, leasing an electric vehicle won’t be difficult to grasp.
It is similar to renting a house – which, of course, involves paying a deposit and, over a pre-agreed period, paying monthly instalments before the property is eventually returned to the landlord.
You can negotiate an electric vehicle lease agreement with a car leasing company – such as LeaseCar, which offers deals for EVs nationwide.
You will agree to a number of terms for the contract before it kicks in and the vehicle is temporarily yours to drive.
If you’ve come across an EV model of interest but baulked at the purchase price, rest easy that a lease means a much lower upfront cost.
With today’s market, you can access a vast array of electric vehicle leasing benefits – potentially saving you from needing to turn to the used EV range.
When you lease a car for yourself as an individual, rather than for a business, the process is called Personal Contract Hire (PCH).
Meanwhile, the corporate equivalent is Business Contract Hire – in either case, the end of the lease will see you return the vehicle to the leasing company.
If you’re still set on buying a car outright, you might have considered a number of financing avenues – like Personal Contract Purchase (PCP), which works like a long-term rental.
However, with Personal Contract Hire (PCH), what you pay would not be determined by the car’s overall value – contrary to what would apply with PCP and Hire Purchase (HP) agreements. As a result, the costs involved are lower overall.
Let’s take a look at some other benefits of leasing.
Even right from the start of an EV lease period, you are likely to shell out much less than what would have been the case with a PCP or HP agreement.
This is no small boon, given that you could already have many regular outgoings – such as on food and energy – that leave you with little financial leeway.
As you will know exactly how much you are set to pay on the EV lease for each month of it, you will be able to plan ahead for this regular financial outlay.
It also helps that, when you lease with LeaseCar, the company will cover the cost of your road tax as part of the deal.
The term ‘depreciation’ is used when a vehicle sheds value as a result of regular use. Typically, a car loses 50-60% of its value three years after being bought – assuming that the vehicle travels about 10,000 miles annually.
Leasing a car, though, can spare you depreciation worries – as you would not own the car, and so need to sell or part-exchange it, after the contract elapses.
The ‘right’ EV lease deal for you will ultimately depend on various factors. What type of EV you want will obviously be one of them. Perhaps you are eager for a fully electric model, like a Tesla, or something eco-friendly from BMW or Nissan?
Still, there are other aspects to consider, too – like how long a lease to opt for, or the tally of miles you anticipate driving in the vehicle.
The many electric vehicle leasing benefits available to you include being able to arrange a lease deal tailored to suit your specific wants and needs.
For example, you can take your pick of various car lease periods ranging from two to four years – and agree to pay more upfront to make the rest of the lease period easier to financially manage.
When taking out an EV lease, you will be asked to decide on an annual mileage allowance; in other words, the maximum number of miles you will formally be ‘allowed’ to drive in the leased vehicle per year of the contract.
Since the allowance will affect the lease cost you agree to from the start, you will need to pay excess mileage charges if you exceed that allowance.
Good news – the EV market is booming, meaning there are plenty of EV options to choose from right now. What’s more, only about 2% of EV breakdowns are due to a depleted battery these days, meaning that ‘range anxiety’ is largely a thing of the past.
Despite this, before selecting an EV, you should consider where you will take it. You might be willing to compromise on how many miles of charge your choice of EV offers if charging points are abundant where you live, work, or play.
If you are struggling to decide what EV lease plan to go for, LeaseCar is one of the most trusted UK car leasing companies.
Simply get in touch with LeaseCar to explain your EV needs. The more specific you are about those, the better value a deal you can get.