Your Lease Options Explained

Electric car leasing explained

Initial rental
Contract term
Annual mileage
Maintenance
Charge point

Initial rental

Depending upon the financial product you choose, the first amount payable will be known either as the Initial Rental or the Initial Payment. For usership (non-ownership style) products, such as contract hire, e-car lease describe this as an Initial Rental. For ownership style products, like personal contract purchase and finance lease, e-car lease describe this as an Initial Payment. Please note that in both cases the amounts payable are NOT refundable deposits. Any amounts paid will form part of the funding arrangements and will not be returned to you at the end of the contract.

The prices advertised on our website are all based on contract hire and the website will generally default to an Initial Rental equivalent to six rentals on a spread basis (this is sometimes referred to as "6 Spread" Initial Rental). By way of example, if a price is advertised at £300 per month on a 24 month contract, the Initial Rental would be £1800. On this basis, the customer would pay £1800 in month 1 (usually 7-10 days AFTER delivery) and £300 in months 2 – 24.

However (subject always to credit status) e-car lease can facilitate other Initial Rental and Payment requests which may better suit the customer’s needs. Please see some of the other options set out below:

No Initial Rental/Single Initial Rental – for customers with strong credit, this is an opportunity to take a vehicle without any enhanced initial rentals or payments. Taking the example, above if a car was advertised at £300 per month on a no Initial Rental basis, you would simply pay £300 in months 1 – 24;
Spread Rental (other than 6) – upon request (and subject to the finance / leasing company) e-car lease can offer an Initial Rental or Initial Payment equivalent to 3,6,9 or 12 times the monthly rental. For example, a 12 spread Initial Rental or Payment on a £300 monthly rental would be £3600;
Enhanced Rental / Payment - upon request (and subject to the finance/leasing company) e-car lease can offer an Initial Rental or Initial Payment which is specifically catered to the customer; or
Terminal Pause – this is an alternative method for structuring the Initial Rental. For example, if a customer utilises a terminal pause on a "6 times basis" for a 24 month contract which is advertised at £300 per month, the customer would pay £1800 followed by 18 monthly rentals. In this example, the customer is actually paying for the months upfront. Traditionally, this enabled the customer to utilise a rental holiday before taking a new vehicle.

Contract term

The e-car lease website displays pricing for 24, 36 and 48 month contracts. It is important that you choose a term which is suitable to your needs. Please note that the term required can influence the monthly rental price (there is no set rule for a specific term being cheaper or more expensive). Additionally, as e-car lease work with a select number of funders/finance companies, the guidelines relating to early termination will vary. If you decide on a longer term and you subsequently terminate before the cessation of that contract, early termination charges will apply. Please also note that some funders/finance companies do not allow you keep a vehicle beyond the contract end date; please speak to our account managers if you require a specific contract to meet your needs.

If you require a short-term solution, i.e. less than the 24-month minimum, please speak to the team about a flexi-lease solution. In most circumstances we would recommend you speak to a car hire organisation who would be able to offer you with more flexible short-term solution.

If you require longer term, subject to the funder/finance company, e-car lease may be able to offer you a 60-month contract. However, for long-term contract we would suggest that you carry out a suitability assessment between contract hire and purchase-style products.

Annual mileage

The annual mileage you provide to the team at e-car lease will be used to determine your monthly rental (or payment if you require a purchase-style agreement). While our website displays 5,000 – 20,000 miles per annum only, we are able to manage some bespoke requests. Please note that because e-car lease work alongside a limited amount of funders and finance companies, the minimum and maximum mileages we can offer does vary and so there may be exceptional circumstances where we cannot provide a quotation which is suitable for you.

We also suggest that our customer’s use the “real range” tools on the e-car lease website to ensure that the vehicle is suitable. Some electric vehicles may have a range which is insufficient for the annual mileage required. A suitability assessment must be carried out before you commit to the lease. e-car lease accept no responsibility for customers who choose a vehicle which is not suitable for their mileage.

Should your vehicle incur mileage in excess of that stipulated in your contract (known as "excess mileage"), you will be charged for each mile. This is will be identified to you as "pence per mile" on your order form and/or finance documentation. Please note that some funders/finance companies operate a tiered mileage policy, which means that a higher excess mileage charge may be levied if you grossly exceed the mileage set out in your contract. e-car lease accept no responsibility for any excess mileage you may incur; it is your responsibility to manage your annual mileage during the course of the contract.

As e-car lease work alongside a limited number of funders and finance companies, the ability to vary your contract mileage within the course of the contract will depend on which funder/finance company we introduce you to. Please note that some funders/finance companies do not allow you to decrease or increase your mileage during the course of the contract. Should you require this facility, please let the e-car lease team know so that we can offer the most pragmatic solution for you. Additionally, if your vehicle is returned with lower mileage than anticipated, there will be no rebate offered.

Maintenance

The prices displayed on our website do not include a provision for maintenance. For you, or your business, this means that if you proceed with a non-maintained contract (which we refer to as a "driver-maintained" contract), all vehicle maintenance will be covered by you (and at your cost). However, a maintenance package is an additional option which can be added to your contract for an additional cost (subject to the finance/leasing company who you proceed with). We refer to this as a "funder-maintained" agreement.

As e-car lease work with a limited number of finance providers, the exact contents of the maintenance package can vary. Additionally, as vehicle maintenance will vary from vehicle manufacturer to manufacturer, it is advisable to speak with one of our account managers to discuss your exact requirements. This is now more important as electric vehicles operate differently to combustion vehicles.

Please review the information below which should assist you in making your decision on maintenance (please note that this is addition to the manufacturer’s warranty which is standard with all new vehicles in the UK and which begins from the date the vehicle is registered).

Maintenance Contract includes:

Mechanical and electrical repairs or replacements, including associated parts and labour
Tyre repair and replacement (subject to the terms of the finance/leasing company)
Breakdown assistance (subject to the terms of the finance/leasing company)
No recharges for punctures or damaged tyres (subject to the finance/leasing company)
MOT tests

What are the benefits?

Planned fixed monthly cost
No unexpected maintenance costs
Dedicated qualified technical team to deal with any problematic vehicles
VAT is 100% recoverable on the Maintenance element of your contract (for business users)

What are the exclusions?

Repairs or replacements due to driver error or driver-induced faults
Repairs due to accident damage
Missing or broken items (e.g. bent aerials, missing hub cabs, missing charging cables)
Vandalised and stolen wheels and/or tyres
Damaged windscreen and/or glass replacement
Recovery where the vehicle has run out of charge through driver error (subject to the terms of the finance/leasing company)

As Maintenance is not a compulsory option, the team at e-car lease will not pressure you to include this within your contract. However, we do recommend that customers do consider this as part of their decision-making process to ensure that they enter into a contract which best meets their needs and requirements. If maintenance is something that you wish to include please select "Yes – add to quote" and this will be sent for you to review.

Charge point

All of the vehicles we display on the e-car lease website are pure electric (also referred to as EVs or battery electric vehicles). As these vehicles operate via one power source only, the lithium-ion battery, the vehicle must be charged to operate properly. If you fail to charge the vehicle correctly, you will be unable to drive it.

Whether you operate from a domestic or business premise, there are a number of charge point products available. Some charge point manufacturers will be able to provide an approximate online quotation for consideration, but these will be subject to a surveyor's onsite inspection. For businesses looking to undertake a more complicated arrangement, we do recommend you take appropriate advice and consultation as this will be a significant investment.

e-car lease have partnered with a select number of approved installers who can consult, supply and fit one of the solutions above. While these installers will provide you with a great experience, it is not compulsory for you to use them. You may wish to organise your charge point solution separately. If you do require information, just let the e-car lease team know by selecting “Yes – info needed”.

Before your EV is delivered, please do ensure that the appropriate charging solution has been established. Arranging a long-term solution may take some time to organise, so we do ask that you have done this at the point of ordering your vehicle with us. Our team will ask you to sign the “Welcome to e-car lease” document to confirm.