Fleets require £500 fuel saving to switch to EVs and hybrids, survey finds

Fleet managers are not prepared to switch their entire fleet to eco-friendly models unless there is an average annual fuel saving of £483 per car, according to a new Fleet Market Attitudes report by Kia.

Currently, fleet managers believe 23% of their fleet is ‘eco-friendly’ (defined as hybrid and  electric vehicles and eco-friendly technology). However, they suggest that this proportion could rise to 42% in the next five years, helped along by improvement in infrastructure and increased familiarity with the vehicles.

The survey revealed that while cost of ownership is traditionally the main deciding factor when choosing fleet vehicles, appearance and environmentally-friendly features score highly (43% and 42%, respectively).

When looking at challenges that fleet managers face, around half (49%) report lack of time to handle all queries about their employees’ current company cars, with 24% admitting there is a lack of resource to identify the best vehicles for the fleet.

Nearly a fifth (17%) have budget worries when it comes to servicing their fleet.

Economic confidence

Nearly all (97%) of the fleet managers that took part in the survey are confident in the country’s economic growth, with 71% agreeing that this affects their business.

Figures show that the UK’s current economic climate has had a positive effect on the fleet market, with the average company’s fleet size increasing by 4% in the last five years, and demand for fleet services increasing by 3% since last year.

With the UK economy experiencing a steady rate of growth, the UK car market is reporting similar prosperity. The majority of the market’s growth has come from the fleet sector, which is up by 11% to date, with fleet accounting for 53% of the total volume, according to SMMT data.

Paul Philpott, president and CEO of Kia Motors, said: “We have been growing strongly as a brand for the past 10 years and our sales are currently up in 2015 which reflects the findings in our report. Our fleet growth has outstripped the market, and we remain in a healthy position.

“Increasing pressures on businesses being green is driving motoring innovation in this area. With Soul EV and the soon to be released Optima Hybrid we are well placed to respond to the gradual build up in demand for full and part electric vehicles.”