EVwire brief: Driva has launched a Guaranteed Future Value (GFV) financing program for Tesla buyers in Australia, in partnership with Tesla Australia. It's live now in Tesla stores and online.
The idea is to lock in a minimum resale value for a Tesla before the buyer even drives it off the lot. Buyers pick an eligible model and loan term, and Driva calculates and agrees a guaranteed minimum future value upfront, based on the model, term length, and agreed usage conditions.
Since the loan doesn't have to cover the full cost of the car over the term, monthly repayments come down too.
The Tesla Model Y has become very popular in Australia, becoming the country’s best-selling car in May.
When the term ends, owners can upgrade to a new Tesla, keep the car, sell it privately and pocket the difference if it's worth more than the guaranteed amount, or hand it back for the guaranteed value if it's worth less. Any new Tesla model sold in Australia qualifies.
The program builds on Driva's existing LeaseMyTesla product, which the company says has already made Tesla ownership more affordable and accessible.
Driva Co-Founder Scott Montarello described the program in a post on LinkedIn, stating that it is a way for owners to be less uncertain about their vehicles’ depreciation.
“We've built GFV to remove the uncertainty around vehicle depreciation and resale value, locking in a guaranteed minimum future value upfront so customers know exactly where they stand from day one.”
Context:
Tesla's recent run in Australia gives a program like this an obvious audience. The Model Y became the first EV to top Australia's overall monthly sales chart in May, beating out the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux that had long dominated the list.
Tesla broke its own record again in June with 8,670 deliveries, with the Model Y alone clearing 8,000 units for the first time. The Model Y was also Australia’s best-selling car in June.
The Model Y was Australia’s best-selling car for two months in a row.
The charging side has kept pace too. Tesla opened its 1,000th Australian Supercharger stall in June, at Byron Bay, putting 10,000 km of the country's major driving corridors within reach of the network. More than half of Australia's Superchargers are now open to non-Tesla EVs with CCS2 connectors.
With that much fresh demand behind it, a financing product built specifically to de-risk Tesla resale value is a logical next move for Driva, giving it a second angle, alongside LeaseMyTesla, to court the same wave of buyers.
Source: Driva and Scott Montarello on LinkedIn
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