Can I buy electric cars and transfer the leasing contract of the battery?

The number of electric cars offered on our auction grows year on year. This is what you need to know before you start bidding on electric cars, especially with regard to the transfer of the leasing contract of the battery.

The batteries of electric vehicles are often leased. This means that when such a car is sold, the leasing contract of the battery must be transferred to the new owner. For Renault and Nissan, this transfer is done by a financial entity. This entity must exist in the country of origin of the vehicle. If not, the batteries’ leasing contract cannot be transferred to the new owner.

For Italian electric cars, the battery is included. We don’t sell Italian electric cars with the battery pack on rent. In other words: there is no more leasing on the battery. You can buy our Italian electric cars with confidence.

If your company is registered in one of the countries indicated in red in the table below, you cannot transfer the leasing contract. OPENLANE cannot sell these electric cars to you.

If your company is registered in one of the countries indicated in green, you can transfer the leasing contract. OPENLANE can sell these electric cars to you. You’ll have to contact immediately the financial entity of the car manufacturer.

For the countries that are not on the list, it is not possible to take over the battery lease. This information is the only available information from RCI, which includes all battery lease contracts for the EU. 

Buyers from these countries can therefore only purchase vehicles for which the battery is not covered by a lease contract.

Related questions:

Has the vehicle been in an accident?

If no service book available, can I get a service history?