Any employee who has taken up the offer of a salary sacrifice car scheme will already be sold on the benefits of an electric vehicle (EV) compared to a petrol or diesel vehicle, but when it comes to choosing which EV you want to lease, the Tesla is out on its own in terms of global popularity. EV drivers will know all about the regular benefits of driving an EV; the fuel savings, instant acceleration, ease of driving and the convenience of home charging, but why has Tesla now cornered 23% of the EV market and so comprehensively outsold the Nissan Leaf, the original torchbearer of the EV market?

In 2021 Tesla reported record fourth quarter sales and record annual profits. It is a success story that is still only going one way, and that is built on an ethos of driving innovation, but doing so in a way that makes driving what it should be; fun and exciting.

Tesla has become synonymous with ground-breaking technology and taking the concept of the driving experience to another level. The original huge touchscreens mounted on the dashboard have been widely copied by other manufacturers since the first Tesla hit the market in 2009, but the function interface using a central CPU and operating system remains unique. This means Tesla vehicles have integrated software, simpler operation and, quite simply, less to go wrong.

Tesla technology driving innovation

This Silicon Valley-type approach allowed Tesla to introduce online updates to EVs, so that diagnostics and maintenance issues were fixed simply and quickly, to the extent that a driver could leap into their car in a morning and find more driving range capability and exciting new tech features added without any warning.

Technology is very much at the heart of what sets the Tesla apart from its competitors, such as Autopilot and driver-assist features which aren’t far away from CEO Elon Musk’s ultimate vision of a full self-driving mode. Superior security features and even protection for the driver from air pollution are also unique to Tesla, as are the ‘fun’ elements of different driving modes and the in-car tech of games and video and music streaming. But with the fun comes convenience, and as well as enjoying home charging whenever you want to, Tesla have built a network of over 600 exclusive Supercharger Tesla fast-charging stations around the UK.

Tesla models started with the Roadster in 2009, followed by the Model S in 2012. In the last ten years Tesla has barely caught a breath with a succession of new EVs hitting the roads in the shape of the Model X, Model 3 and in 2020 the crossover Model Y. For now, however, Tesla are pressing pause on new models, with none planned for 2022, as they concentrate on ‘scaling-up’ production of existing models and riding the wave of increasing sales.

Choose a Tesla in your salary sacrifice car scheme

Despite the global supply issue caused by the computer chip shortage in 2021 – which Tesla foresaw and overcame by starting to produce their chips in-house in 2019 – Tesla sales reached a cumulative total of 2.3 million at the end of 2021. This includes record fourth quarter sales of 308,600 and global sales of 936,222 for the whole of 2021. This led to record profits of $5.5 billion.

With Tesla moving headquarters from California to Texas in 2021 and expecting new production facilities in Shanghai, Berlin and Texas to swiftly double global production capacity, there should be plenty of new EVs available to snap up in the vehicle leasing market. And this is the beauty of the Pink Salary Exchange salary sacrifice car scheme. In an affordable way, you can have access to brand new EVs and a higher spec of car than if you were financing the purchase of a new car.

So sign-up with Pink Salary Exchange today and you can find out why Tesla is changing the world of motoring and making driving fun again, and how you can be driving your dream car quicker than you ever imagined.