Tusker sees EV growth in salary sacrifice

Tusker has seen a 250% increase in orders for electric vehicles since promoting them to its SalarySacrifice4Cars (SS4C) scheme customers over the last three months.

Along with a growing awareness of the benefits of electric power amongst Tusker drivers, the success has been driven by the introduction of the new BMW i3, which has claimed 56% of all Tusker’s new EV orders since November 2013.

Tusker’s directors are also firm advocates of electric power and to underline their commitment, three have ordered new BMW i3’s and one the Nissan Leaf. Two of the directors have already clocked up considerable mileage testing out various EV models in the last six months.

To encourage their staff into a wider take-up of EVs, Tusker has installed four charging points in the company car park of its new offices in Croxley Green, Hertfordshire. Electric cars are now available to Tusker’s eligible staff on its company car scheme at all grades and to non-car eligible staff on its salary sacrifice scheme.

Tusker expects the trend towards EVs to continue as awareness of the financial and environmental benefits increases and the charging network continues to grow.

CEO David Hosking said: “Electric cars are definitely coming to the fore. Clearly, the investment in infrastructure over the last 12 months and the increase in the number of charging stations available has helped.

“We expect uptake of EVs on salary sacrifice and contract hire schemes to grow this year as more models come onto the market and awareness continues to grow amongst end-users.

“With a £5,000 Government grant, low recharging costs and 0% Benefit-in-Kind taxation, rising to 5% from 2015-16, EVs’ low running costs only start to make sense against the typically higher front-end costs if they are used on a regular basis,” he said.

Hosking has been driving a Nissan Leaf for the past six months. To benefit from the full experience of driving an electric vehicle, he drove over 7,000 miles in the Leaf on a 38-mile regular commute twice a day.

He recharged the vehicle at no-cost at a special charging point close to Tusker’s head office during the day, available through Source London, the new, city-wide electric vehicle charging network.

 “There is little doubt in my mind that EVs have a use within a corporate environment. They are ideal for the daily commute of under 70 miles per journey where there is access to a charging point during the day,” he said.

“There is a belief in some quarters that EVs are only suitable for short, occasional journeys but my view is that they are more relevant and extremely cost effective for repeated journeys. In terms of wider fleet use, for a sales person working from an office in a city with only short journeys to see clients, and with ready access to recharging, an EV would be ideal,” he added.