Financing

Green-Car Buyers More Likely To Pay Cash For New Vehicles: Report
John Voelcker April 22, 2015

We're not entirely sure what it has to do with Earth Day, to be honest, but here's an odd little statistic. Turns out that buyers of green cars--whether they're hybrids or plug-in electric cars--are somewhat more likely to pay cash for their cars than are buyers of all vehicles on average. DON'T MISS: Who Buys Plug-In Electric Cars, And Why? CA Report Explains It All For You The news comes via an Earth Day release from Experian Automotive, which found that last year, 18 percent of green-car buyers paid cash--versus just 15.2 percent of buyers in the whole market. Experian's senior director of...
Battery Leasing Lands In U.S., Electric Smart Drivers Love It
Maybe there's a future for battery leasing among U.S. electric-car buyers after all. Nissan had considered leasing battery packs separately before launching its 2011 Leaf, but ended up choosing to sell or lease the entire car. So the 2013 Smart ForTwo Electric Drive is the first car in the country...
John Voelcker June 24, 2013
Electric Car: Lease Or Buy?
You're considering a plug-in electric car. Should you lease or buy? It's a question that all new-car shoppers face--but for electric cars, there are some special considerations. Each financing option has its pros and cons, so we've outlined the reasons you might opt for each alternative. LEASING...
John Voelcker June 24, 2013

Oh, Tesla: Your 'Lease' Is Smart, But That Calculator Wasn't
Well, that didn't take long. Yesterday, just before 5 pm Eastern time, Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] released details of its new "lease-like" financing product. The general consensus in the media (we read a lot of Tesla coverage here, folks) has been that it's smart for Tesla to offer financing for its...
John Voelcker April 3, 2013
Big Mystery Unveiled: You Can Now 'Lease' 2013 Tesla Model S
And now we know: Tesla's Big Mystery Story, teased via more than one tweet from CEO Elon Musk, is this: You will soon be able to "lease" a brand-new 2013 Tesla Model S. That's a good thing (though not nearly as much fun as some of the ideas proposed under the Twitter hashtag #TeslaPredictions). But...
John Voelcker April 2, 2013
Fisker Hires Investment Bank To Find Funding, Partner Companies
Fisker Automotive, often referring to in the media as "struggling," is looking for additional funding and a carmaking partner. According to a story in the Wall Street Journal (subscription required), the company has now hired an investment bank, Evercore Partners, to assist in those quests. Fisker...
John Voelcker December 7, 2012
Tesla Motors Won't Need More Money, Says CEO Musk
John Voelcker February 16, 2012

Tesla Motors released its 2011 financial results today and held a conference call this evening for financial analysts to question officials. A number of interesting items emerged, largely from CEO Elon Musk. Perhaps the most significant is Musk's claim that Tesla won't need to raise any more capital. "Tesla does not need to ever raise another funding round," he said in response to a question on the company's cash position, liquidity, and rate of cash burn. "We may want to do so, but we are in a strong cash position, and we don't need to." Musk also said the relationship between the U.S...
Electric-Car Startup Coda Gets $76 Million in Venture Funds
Last year was a rough one for electric-car startup Coda. The company replaced its CEO, along with its marketing chief, and announced a delay of up to nine months in the launch of its first car, the 2011 Coda Sedan. This year is starting off on a much better note, though, with the announcement of an...
John Voelcker January 6, 2011