If your employment is terminated, then we offer a few different options:

• Transfer the lease to your new employer if they are already signed up with us or are happy to do so.
• Transfer the lease to a colleague at your old workplace.
• Buy the ebike outright at a pre-agreed value.
• Hand the ebike back to us and pay a small penalty.

At the end of the lease, you can request an option to buy the ebike outright or to hand the ebike back to us.

The lease package contains much more than just the ebike. To make a fair comparison between leasing and buying outright, one would also need to consider all the other inclusions of the lease package like the cost of insurance, servicing labour and parts, and the cost of any emergency repairs. The online calculator takes into account all these items and calculates the money you can save by leasing compared to buying the same package outright.

Once you decide on which ebike you’d like to ride, the lease starts with a lease agreement, which is like a car novated lease agreement. It is an agreement between E-stralian as the owner of the ebike, you as the ebike rider and your employer. E-stralian then buys the ebike for you. It’ll be delivered either at the shop, at your workplace or at the E-stralian office, ready to go! With the delivery also comes free help for finding a safe and comfortable route to ride to and from work and/or a bike skills refresher course so you’ll be up to speed on the ebike, bicycle road rules and your bicycle skills before taking off. During the lease term, your employer withholds the lease payments from your salary. The lease payments cover not only the financing for the bike, but also the service and maintenance (based on the number of kilometres you expect to ride), roadside assistance (currently only in Victoria) and insurance against theft and damage if you accept our insurance offer. So you’ll know exactly what amount you’ll be paying each paycheck so you can revive your drive!

Unfortunately, we only offer leases for ebikes at this stage.

At this stage the FBT exemption is limited to ebikes. The ATO ruling makes use of existing FBT legislation which focuses on motor vehicles. Unfortunately, it does not apply to vehicles using human power only. We would love to see tax incentives for regular bicycles too in Australia. We’ve used them ourselves back in the Netherlands and they are great to get people riding (a new bike).

Yes, the lease agreement is like a car novated lease agreement. It is an agreement between Sparque as the owner of the ebike, you as the ebike rider and your employer. Ebike leases are much simpler than car novated leases. Almost all car novated leases use a budget for fuel, service and maintenance, and that budget requires reconciliation of receipts and potentially additional payments at the end of the year. Sparque offers a flat fee for service and maintenance, as long as your actual use of the ebike is similar to the expected use we agreed on in the contract. That means no receipts or reconciliations to be done, saving you and your employer time!

We will of course do everything we can to make the switch as easy and comfortable as possible for you. Nevertheless, we understand that it is a big shift in your daily routine and it’s great you’ve given it a try! The delivery of your ebike marks the start of your two-week trial period. If within those two weeks you decide it’s not for you (yet), then you can just hand back the ebike and we’ll void the contract (please check the novated lease agreement for the exact conditions).

Assuming your use of the ebike falls within the FBT exemption in the ATO ruling (CR 2020/68), you can fully salary sacrifice the lease payments, saving you several hundreds of dollars each year compared to purchasing the same full-service package directly. The exact amount depends on the ebike you choose, the distance you travel and your personal characteristics. Please refer to the calculator to see how much you could be saving!

You will no longer need to pay for fuel, maintenance, parking or tolls relating to your commute. Charging an ebike costs only about $0.10 per charge and maintenance of your ebike is included in your E-stralian novated lease package. That means savings add up pretty quickly; many of our customers save hundreds of dollars per year on their commute. Our calculator will give you some cost comparison between our ebike lease and a small car as well.

The ATO ruling (CR 2020/68) states that the ebike novated lease is FBT exempt if you use the ebike to ride to and from work, or any other business-related travel. You may also use the ebike for private travel other than commuting, as long as that travel is incidental in the course of performing employment-related duties or is non-work related as long as it is minor, infrequent and irregular. If you are still unsure, please speak to your tax accountant.

The ATO ruling (CR 2020/68) states that the ebike novated lease is FBT exempt if you use the ebike to ride to and from work, for any other business-related travel. You may also use the ebike for private travel other than commuting, if that travel is incidental while performing employment-related duties or is non-work related if it is minor, infrequent and irregular. Other use of the ebike would give rise to a residual fringe benefit and the taxable value can be calculated using either the operating cost method or the cents per kilometres method (where there is extensive business use of the ebike). Your tax accountant can tell you more about dealing with the residual fringe benefit if that applies to you.

When you take out an E-stralian ebike lease, we don’t give you a loan, but you rent an ebike from us. The ebike remains E-stralian’s property and the payments we charge you are rent payments. The rental payments are calculated based on a variety of factors, like the price of the ebike, the term of the lease and your commuting habits.

Your lease rate is based on the estimated use you supplied to us, covering both regular and unexpected servicing and maintenance. If your actual use deviates significantly from that amount, we will contact you to discuss the options. We have yet to find an E-stralian who rides their ebike less than they expected though, it’s just too much fun!