Why buy an EV when you can subscribe


Buying an EV is as simple as subscribing to Netflix. Subscription is all-pervasive in our life: From Movies to Education to Music. Electric vehicles are no exception. You can now get an Electric car on subscription, use it as much as you want & return once done.

Particularly for those who are not sure if Electric vehicles would fit in their lifestyle, subscription service offers great flexibility to try. Vehicle subscription services are picking up globally and are expected to reach a staggering $ 40 billion business by 2026


Vehicle Subscription - Deciphered:🚙🚘💸

Let us first look at what car subscription means from a consumer point of view. Vehicle subscription is a super-cool way to use a vehicle. You can subscribe for a car on flexible tenure, use it and return it at the end of it (or) retain it for a longer period.

Before we dwell deep into the subscription, lets u first look at all the different ways to buy a vehicle

  • Full Cash purchase

  • Vehicle Loan

  • Leasing

  • Subscription

Around 90% of Commercial vehicles, 80% of cars, and 50% of two-wheelers in India are bought through financing. And vehicle loan is one of the most popular ways to buy a vehicle in India. Leasing in India never picked up amongst personal car buyers, it was always a favorite for corporates who want to provide vehicle perks to their employees, as the lease rental can be deducted from the pre-taxed income of employees which saves tax and proves to be beneficial overall.

Following are some of the issues with vehicle loans

  • Downpayment to the extent of at least 15 to 25%

  • Long term commitment of around 5 years loan repayment

  • In the case of companies, the asset remains on their balance sheet

  • Customer is stuck with the same vehicle for more than 5 years

  • Repair and Maintenance is at the owner's risk

  • Roadside assistance is at the owner's cost

  • Hassle of resale

Leasing takes care of some of the above concerns but comes with its own negatives

  • No flexibility in tenure, if you enter a leasing contract for 3 years you cant change in-between

  • You cant customize the car, as you don't own it

  • Only basic repairs are covered, major repairs are still on you

Vehicle Subscription offers a great way to use it and comes with the following benefits

  • No Downpayment

  • No long term commitment

  • Simple onboarding process, usually done online

  • No hassle of resale

  • All Repairs and Maintenance covered

  • Option to foreclose the tenure

The monthly subscription fee includes all costs including Car purchase price, Registration, Road Tax, Insurance, Service, Maintenance, and Roadside assistance. In some cases, even EV charging is covered in the monthly subscription fees.

Subscription providers: 🏬🏪🏦

In India, vehicle subscriptions are being offered by: Tata Motors, Maruti, MG Motors, Zoom Car, and Eveez. Most of them offer a minimum of 12 months going up to 36 months

For example, a Tata Nexon EV can be bought thru subscription at a monthly cost of as low as Rs. 28,999 compared to a vehicle loan EMI of Rs. 48,915


Zoom Car - A Concept of Shared Subscription

Zoom car has invented a concept of Shared subscription wherein you can save up to 70% of your monthly Subscription cost by sharing your car when you are not using it.

Zoomcar shared Subscription is Flexible, affordable, convenient and you can drive a car with Zero down payment. With no commitment, flexible tenures & all maintenance covered you can enjoy hassle-free driving.

A subscriber has to just follow the below simple steps at the comfort of his/her home and the vehicle will get delivered to his/her doorstep

  1. Select a car – If you are looking for an EV, visit MGSubscribe in partnership with Zoomcar

  2. Check eligibility and reserve a car

  3. Address and document upload

  4. Pay the security deposit and activate auto-payment

  5. Car delivered at the doorstep

  6. Share and save

How shared subscription work?

Once you subscribe for the car, add your car availability details on Zoom car's partner subscription app. The car will be picked up by the professionals from your place at the time of booking and will deliver it back to your doorstep Sanitized. Earning would be transferred to your bank account


Eveez - A great way to subscribe to Electric scooters for last-mile delivery

EVeez is a 3-year-old Indian start-up, with operations in NCR and Hyderabad. Founded by Designer turned entrepreneur Abhishek Dwivedi and IIT engineer Gaurav Rathore, Eveez was started as an adventure biking company in Manali, and soon expanded to other places such as Rishikesh, Bir - Biling, Jaipur, Goa, etc.

Now, the startup is focussing on the urban commute and Business to business (B2B) sector. They currently work with big players like Flipkart, BigBasket, and several others in F&V, laundry, dairy industries and support them to go green on their last-mile delivery service. They also provide an in-campus transport solution to ESL Vedanta Limited, at their Bokaro Steel Plant.


Rajeev Agur, vice president of operations of Eveez says, "In the subscription model, one doesn't need to commit to a long-term loan or pay up capital upfront, thereby giving the flexibility to the business owners to increase or decrease their fleet size at will".

He adds, "The insurance, IoT, service, maintenance is all included in our base price. These are additional expenditures if one owns the vehicle"

Plus, since the last mile delivery service companies work with delivery personnel who come from backgrounds that have little access to institutional lending, which means they either have to depend on unsecured loans from loan sharks or pay the higher rate of interest from banks (or NBFCs) for lack of credit history.

Eveez's Roadside assistance is designed in such a way that the rider has 100% uptime, the rider need not face downtime because their vehicle is at the garage for repairs. The earnings of the riders are not affected that way.

Apart from this, Eveez team is always available on phone to answer any kind of questions the riders may have about the vehicles and help them with minor troubleshooting.




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Team "EV Quotient"

(EV Quotient is a platform to discuss and learn about electric vehicles. It’s an initiative by a team of experienced Automotive professionals with Global Exposure)


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