Buy or lease electric vehicles (BEV) for your fleet?
Please factor in the residual value risk when making your decision!
Many companies are faced with the decision of whether to purchase vehicles – particularly BEVs – via a loan or hire purchase, or to lease them.
The purchase of BEVs is currently incentivised under the latest tax regulations (effective 1 July 2025) through a special depreciation option of 75% of acquisition costs in the year of purchase. Please bear in mind that taking advantage of this "turbo" depreciation also means assuming the residual value risk – i.e. what will the vehicle be worth after your intended usage period of, say, three years?
With leasing, you return the vehicle and the leasing company assumes this residual value risk – potentially hedging it with the manufacturer (OEM).
As you can see from the shared post below, residual value assumptions from the past have been somewhat too optimistic.
According to analyses by the leasing association, approximately two-thirds of BEVs are leased – which, given the current BEV used car market, has proven to be a sound decision for customers.
As long as the BEV used car market does not yield higher residual values, the residual value risk remains a pressing concern.
As a customer, you can decide who bears this risk...
