What does a Model Y cost — and does it pay to borrow?
Enter the price, the interest rate and the term. You get the monthly cost, the residual and the total price — and you see at what rate of return it pays to borrow and invest the difference instead.
This is a calculator, not financial advice. The figures are based on what you enter yourself.
About to order? The referral has to be on the order before you submit it — here is how the referral works.
With your figures
5 171 kr/month
monthly cost of the loan
AssumptionSource: my own calculation
Residual at the end of the term
267 886 kr
Total for the loan
702 732 kr
Total in cash
622 990 kr
The deposit plus every monthly payment plus the residual. No fuel savings have been deducted — this is what leaves your account. Tesla’s own figures can therefore look lower; how that deduction works.
Both start with 622 990 krafter the deposit: 498 392 kr left to invest
At roughly 4,2 % return the two routes come out even.
Both buyers own the same car when the term ends, so the value of the car cancels out of the comparison and what separates them is the money. The cash buyer has nothing left from day one — it all went into the car. The borrower keeps the difference between the price and the deposit, but pays it down every month.
Every monthly payment comes out of the investment when it falls due, and so does the residual at the end. So a krona you pay in month 3 counts as a krona that did not get to stay invested for another 57 months. Returns are before tax, and none of these figures is a forecast.
The suggested figures are for the Model Y Premium bakhjulsdrift (rear-wheel drive) and are taken from Tesla’s own page. The calculator works just as well for a Model 3 — just enter your own price. Tesla changes prices and rates continually, so keep your own configuration open and type your figures over these. An empty field means I have no figure — not that the fee is zero.
Made up your mind? The referral has to be on the order before you submit it — here is how the referral works.
What you are actually committing to
Prices change. Terms rarely do — and it is the terms that decide what you are left holding when the agreement ends.
| Term | Cash | Restvärdeslån (residual loan) | Private leasing | Full Service Leasing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ownership | ||||
| Do you own the car? | Yes, outright | Yes, with a loan on it | No, DNB Finans AS owns it | No, the lessor owns it |
| When the agreement ends | The car is yours | You settle the residual, refinance, or sell the car | You hand the car back | You hand the car back |
| Who carries the risk on the car’s value? | You | You — the residual is paid whatever the car turns out to be worth | The lessor | The lessor |
| Can you sell the car? | Yes | Yes, but the loan must be settled | No | No |
| What is included | ||||
| Insurance | No, you take out your own | No, you take out your own | No, charged on top | Included |
| Servicing | No, you pay it yourself | No, you pay it yourself | No, charged on top | Included |
| Tyres, storage and changeover | No, you pay it yourself | No, you pay it yourself | Not confirmed | Summer and winter tyres included |
| Roadside assistance | — | — | Not confirmed | Included |
| Vehicle tax | You pay | You pay | Not confirmed | Included |
| Vagnskadegaranti (damage warranty), 3 years | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2 weeks of insurance on delivery | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| What you are committing to | ||||
| Mileage | No limit | No limit, but the residual assumes a certain mileage | Max 10 000 km/year | Max 10 000 km/year |
| Excess mileage charged | — | — | Yes | Not confirmed |
| Abnormal wear charged | — | — | Yes | Not confirmed |
| Upfront fee refunded | — | — | No | Not confirmed |
| The monthly payment can change during the term | — | Yes, the rate is variable | No, fixed payment | No, fixed payment at a fixed rate |
| Credit check | No | Yes | Yes | Yes, plus a kundkännedomsanalys (know-your-customer check) |
Every cell is a term, not a price — which is why they still stand when Tesla changes a fee. No answer is coloured good or bad: “No” on insurance is not a failing grade, and “Yes” on excess mileage is a yes you would rather not have. The only thing marked is what I have not been able to confirm.
What the curve does not know
The return in the curve is before tax, and how much tax depends on the kind of account the money sits in: ISK, share and fund account, savings account. Working out the tax on an ISK needs the government borrowing rate — the statslåneränta — and I state no figure for that.
The curve assumes you actually invest the difference and then leave it alone. If you spend it instead, there is no return for the curve to count.
The rate on a residual loan — Tesla’s restvärdeslån — is variable. If it rises during the term, the monthly cost rises with it, and the figures above use the rate you entered.
The car’s resale value is not in the curve, and does not need to be: in both cases you own the same car when the term ends, so the value cancels out of the comparison. That is also why leasing cannot be in the curve — there you own no car to count.
Fees are not included. A loan carries an arrangement fee and a fee per invoice, Tesla publishes neither, and I will not assume they are zero.
The referral goes on before the order
Residual
A residual is a decision you are pushing to the end of the term.
Footnotes
Fuel savings are not a discount
Tesla’s configurator can deduct an amount from the cash price and a monthly amount from every financing option as “estimated fuel savings”. That is an assumed saving against a petrol car — not a lower price. Switch it off before you compare with a bank’s offer. The calculator above never deducts fuel savings: the amounts you enter are the ones that leave your account.
The electric car grant (Elbilspremien)
Applied for separately from Naturvårdsverket, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, and paid out afterwards — so it does not reduce what you pay at purchase. I state no amount; check the current one with Naturvårdsverket and subtract it yourself from the total above.