Cash-takers ‘interested’ in company car return

Employees who currently opt out of a company car are interested in re-joining schemes to benefit from proposed new rates for electric vehicles (EVs).

Eight out of ten cash-takers said they are ‘likely’ or ‘very likely’ to move back to company cars - and these cars will be electric - the survey from DriveElectric suggests.

The EV leasing company says the return to company cars rather than employees taking car allowances is being driven by a number of issues; one of the main factors is the proposed change to Benefit in Kind (BIK) company car tax.

A new zero percentage BIK rate for pure electric company cars, announced last summer, is expected to be announced in the March Budget.

Fleet News reported how in the wake of the new rates being announced in July 2019, leasing companies saw a surge in plug-in company car orders.

There are a number of other factors, including EVs having lower wholelife costs, the growing number of proposed clean air zones, and motorists preferring the driving experience of EVs, says DriveElectric.

The Government has also announced that it is planning to bring forward the ban on sales of new petrol and diesel vehicles - including plug-in hybrids - from 2040 to 2035 - or possibly even as soon as 2032.

Lex Autolease plans to achieve zero net emissions across its customer fleet of 350,000 vehicles by 2030, and Lex Autolease's parent company Lloyds Banking Group will also convert its own 4,000 vehicle strong commercial fleet to electric.

DriveElectric is the appointed partner to Lloyds Banking Group and Lex Autolease for SME (small and medium enterprise) fleets of less than 20 vehicles. 

Mike Potter, managing director of DriveElectric, said: “Our survey shows that eight out of ten business employees are ‘likely’ or ‘very likely’ to move back to company cars - and these will these will be pure electric.

“This suggests that, as long as incentives remain, the Government’s target of all new car sales to be electric by 2035 - or 2032 - is achievable, and in addition private buyers will benefit from an increased supply of 2-4 year old used electric cars, spreading the benefit of this investment.

“DriveElectric’s orders are already composed of 95% battery electric vehicles and our average fleet CO2 is 28g/km, although based on our order book, this will very soon drop to 10g/km.

“With a wide range of new EVs currently coming to market, supported by financial incentives, 2020 is the ideal year for business users to convert to electric - and today’s company cars become vehicles for private motorists in a few years’ time.” 

DriveElectric is an EV leasing company that has been helping organisations and individuals to adopt EVs to save money, lower emissions and transition to low carbon energy since 2008.