Sogo launches ‘monthly’ salary sacrifice scheme

Sogo is launching a new salary sacrifice product giving employees access to a new electric vehicle (EV) on a monthly basis.

The new leasing company, which officially launched in January, says companies will benefit from a flexible monthly lease, instead of being tied into a lengthy contract during these uncertain times.

Karl Howkins, managing director of Sogo, said: “We believe that Sogo is the first to offer monthly EV leasing under the salary sacrifice model.

“Our ultra-flexible leasing will allow employees to run an EV with ease while offering companies the benefit of greater staff retention and greener fleets.”

Leasing companies have been reporting increased interest in salary sacrifice schemes, particularly for EVs, thanks to extremely low benefit-in-kind (BIK) tax rates.

In 2020, almost 60% of Zenith’s salary sacrifice orders were for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and in one scheme that launched this year, 85% of orders have been for BEVs, with the remaining 15% for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs).

Meanwhile, Octopus Electric Vehicles joined the fray last month, launching its new Electric Dreams salary sacrifice scheme. 

Howkins said: “We expect that salary sacrifice schemes will boom in popularity over the next 10 years because they allow employees to move to EVs in a very cost-effective way.”

Sogo says it has seen a large increase in enquiries from companies seeking to help employees move to EVs, as they look to make significant savings on their carbon impact as they report on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors.

Investors are also increasingly applying these non-financial factors to identify material risks and growth opportunities as part of their analysis process.

Howkins continued: “More businesses are looking to offer more flexible options to employees who may wish to choose the salary sacrifice model for both economic and environmental reasons.

“The approach proves popular with HR departments who can offer staff a benefit at little or zero cost to the business.”

Sogo, which aims to have a fleet of around 5,000 vehicles in its first year of trading, provides new and nearly new cars on flexible contracts, with a minimum term of one month.