Tesla Motors and Athlon Car Lease Announce First Model S Leasing Program

GENEVA, March 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Athlon Car Reserves 150 Model S Premium Sedans

Tesla Motors and Athlon Car Lease announced an agreement today to introduce Model S, Tesla's premium electric sedan, into corporate fleets across Europe. Athlon Car Lease has also reserved 150 Model S sedans to ensure early availability of Model S for its customers. This is the first Model S fleet reservation made worldwide by a leasing company.

The two companies first established a leasing program for the Tesla Roadster and Roadster Sport across Europe in July of last year. The Roadster leasing program is available in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands.

The Model S leasing program extends this partnership into several other countries including Sweden, Portugal and Poland.  

Both companies share a commitment to making electric vehicles more easily available and affordable. "We are excited to kick off Model S leasing with a company that shares our passion for a future of energy efficient vehicles that are incredibly fun to drive," said George Blankenship, Tesla's Vice President of Sales and Ownership Experience. "Athlon Car Lease is a valuable partner and is instrumental in our efforts to show customers across Europe the benefits of driving electric."

"We are thrilled to continue our collaboration with Tesla and to increase our EV offering to our customers under our one-stop-shop policy for electric vehicles", Hans Blink, President of Athlon Car Lease, confirmed. "As a leading mobility provider, sustainability and innovation are in Athlon's DNA and at the very core of our business. We believe that bringing EV solutions closer to customers is key in increasing the adoption of electric vehicles in the market. We are thus proud to be - once more - a frontrunner in promoting change in our industry."

Richard Sikkel, Senior Vice President Commerce at Athlon Car Lease International, confirms: "Our collaboration with Tesla has been very well perceived by the market. Almost 50 % of our initial order have already been pre-reserved by several of Athlon's existing customers - an example that demonstrates the increasing need for electric vehicles in the industry."
 

Model S is the world's first premium electric sedan. It seats five adults and two children. With no internal combustion engine or transmission tunnel, the interior of the car has class-leading cargo space, including a second trunk under the hood. The centerpiece of the interior is a 17" touchscreen with wireless connectivity for streaming radio, web browsing and navigation. Model S comes with three battery pack options, 40kWh, 60kWh or 85kWh. It can be recharged using any conventional outlet and is capable of a fast charge of 45 minutes.

Equipped with Tesla's advanced electric power train, Model S provides instant torque and smooth acceleration from 0-60 in less than six seconds. The aluminum body is engineered for superior handling, safety and efficiency. With the most energy dense battery pack in the industry, and best-in-class aerodynamics, Model S has the longest range of any electric car in the world, up to 300 miles on a single charge.

Tesla has more than 8,000 reservations worldwide for its Model S sedan, which is expected to be delivered to European customers starting in late 2012.

ABOUT TESLA
Tesla's goal is to accelerate the world's transition to electric mobility with a full range of increasingly affordable electric cars. Palo Alto, California-based Tesla designs and manufactures EVs and EV powertrain components. Tesla has delivered more than 2,000 Roadsters, the world's first electric sports car, to customers worldwide. Model S, the first premium sedan to be built from the ground up as an electric vehicle, goes on the market in mid-2012.

ABOUT ATHLON CAR LEASE INTERNATIONAL
Athlon Car Lease is an international provider of operational car leasing and mobility solutions, active in nine European countries: The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxemburg, Spain, Poland, Italy and Portugal. Focusing on all business and non-profit organizations, Athlon Car Lease offers mobility solutions, both for professional and/or secondary-benefit purposes. Athlon Car Lease has a total portfolio of approximately 225,000 active contracts.

Athlon Car Lease is part of De Lage Landen, a global provider of high-quality asset-based financing products which is 100 % owned by Rabobank.

For more information visit http://www.athloncarlease.com.

Media Contact Tesla Motors

Myra Pasek
myra@teslamotors.com

Media Contact Athlon Car Lease

Catharina Pulka
Corporate Communications
Athlon Car Lease International
E    catharinapulka@athloncarlease.com
T    +31-6-1343-7269