Tesla Novated Lease Pricing and Savings: Is it Worth it in 2024?

Yes, Teslas are FBT exempt so long as they meet the following requirements of the Electric Car Discount Bill:

• First used or purchased after 1 July 2022; and
• The price (plus the $1400 delivery fee) falls below the luxury car tax threshold of $89,332 for 2023/24.

At the time of writing, the all Tesla models available for sale are eligible for the EV FBT exemption.

Yes, a Tesla can be procured on a novated lease like any other car. A novated lease is accessed through your employer through a salary packaging arrangement with a novated lease provider.

Zecar can help you match you with the best novated lease provider for your company, make an enquiry here.

Yes, buying (or rather procuring) a Tesla through a novated lease will result in tax savings which will reduce the overall cost of owning the car. To illustrate the benefit of an FBT exempt electric car we’ll compare it to an outright purchase in the following example.

Jane works as a Sales Representative for a New South Wales (NSW) based company.

• Drives 15,000 km per annum
• Earns $100,000 gross income per annum
• Procure a Tesla Model Y RWD ($60,900 MSRP) through a novated lease and a salary packaging arrangement through her employer.

Tesla Model Y RWD Novated Lease vs Outright purchase

Over a three-year lease, the total costs of the novated lease are $89,304 - this does not include any tax savings. This is over $10,000 more expensive compared to an outright purchase.

The total cost of the novated lease after tax savings is $68,938. This makes the novated lease $9,241 cheaper than an outright purchase after-tax savings. The tax savings arise from being able to reduce your pre-tax salary by the lease payments and running costs - resulting in Jane being taxed a lower amount. We explain this in more detail here.

This analysis does not take into account additional interest paid on a home loan or foregone interest on a term deposit for the outright purchase option.

If Jane decides to sell the Tesla Model Y at the end of the lease, she'll pocket the difference between the sale price and the residual value ($30,273). This will further increase the case for the novated lease.

The table below the key numbers in the example discussed.

If we factor in the likely additional interest paid on a home loan from using cash to pay for the vehicle or the foregone interest earned on a term deposit, the savings from a novated lease are even higher, $20,805 after four years. Refer to the below table for the difference in potential savings across various scenarios.

If you want to better understand the various ways you can save money we recommend reading this step-by-step breakdown.

If you would like a quote for a novated lease, click the button below to provide your details and we'll get back to you shortly.

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Tesla Model Y RWD vs Toyota RAV4 Novated Lease

Another common question we often see is how a Tesla Model Y RWD stacks up financially compared to popular petrol equivalents such as the Toyota RAV4. In this example we'll compare a tesla Model Y RWD under a novated lease against an Toyota RAV4 Cruiser procured under a novated lease and an outright purchase.

Despite retailing nearly $10,000 more than the RAV4 Cruiser, procuring the Tesla Model Y RWD on a novated lease works out to be $5,721 cheaper than a Toyota RAV4 on a novated lease.

The cost of a Tesla on a novated lease will depend on a number of factors including; the price of the car, interest rate, term of the loan, running costs, and your level of income.

Based on our analysis, if you earn a median Australian full-time salary ($97,510) or above and drive an average distance (13,000 km) or more, there is a strong likelihood a Tesla (lower than the LCT of $84916), will be cheaper to procure on a novated lease compared to an outright purchase.