Electric car leasing or LTO

What are the advantages of electric leasing?

There are several ways of financing an electric vehicle without paying up front: long-term leasing, a standard car loan or lease-to-own (LTO), otherwise known simply as “leasing”. 

Lease-to-own or LTO is both a lease and a credit agreement that allows you to drive a vehicle by making monthly payments.

At the end of the lease, you can then choose either to return or purchase the vehicle, hence the name “lease-to-own”. This is what differentiates it from a long-term lease, at the end of which you can’t take ownership of the vehicle.

Like long-term leasing, lease-to-own is a really flexible way to lease, regardless of your vehicle’s powertrain, and has the following main financial benefits:  

• No administration fees 

• Choice of mileage and length of contract, according to your budget and your needs 

• You can take out the contract with or without a deposit (the first lease payment is higher) 

• If you decide to purchase the car at the end of the lease, when you have made all the payments, the price will be as indicated on the original contract.

LTO also lets you spend time getting to know a vehicle. This allows drivers accustomed to combustion-powered cars to compare performance aspects when driving an electric car, such as the cost of charging a battery versus refueling or the maintenance expenses.

They then have all the information they need to choose whether they wish to purchase the vehicle at the end of the contract. 

It is also worth noting that leasing an electric car has certain specific advantages as the subscriber may be eligible for a State grant.

While the amount of the monthly payments is fixed when you lease to own, it does depend on a number of factors: 

• Length of contract 

• Chosen mileage 

• Amount of any deposit 

• Vehicle price

The purchase price of the electric car at the end of the lease is determined at the start of the contract. 

Good to know: with a leasing contract, you can trade in your previous vehicle in lieu of a deposit. This initial deposit will lower the monthly payment amount.

When you take out a leasing contract with Dacia, you enjoy customer support from Mobilize Financial Services, the financing body for Renault, Dacia and Alpine, and a dedicated customer account.

Dacia Spring is a versatile electric city car, due to its high loading capacity - the best in its category - and a comfortable, modular passenger compartment with four real adult-sized seats.

Spring is a great choice for a leasing contract as its purchase price, one of the most affordable on the electric car market, lets you drive the car for relatively low monthly payments.

Discover Dacia Spring electric city car

Key takeaways

Lease-to-own is an affordable way to lease a car, with or without a deposit, which the driver can define based on budget and their needs in terms of mileage. Because you have the choice to either purchase or return the vehicle at the end of the lease, it is a good way to test an electric powertrain and assess the advantages in your everyday life. 

Finally, anyone leasing an electric vehicle with LTO can apply for a State grant and pay less each month.

And it’s worth remembering that you can also take out a leasing contract for a second-hand electric car, which is also true for long-term leasing offers (see “LTO for used vehicles”).