Nissan supplies 500 Leafs to NHS salary sacrifice scheme

NHS Fleet Solutions has ordered 500 Nissan Leafs for its salary sacrifice scheme, which will be available to health workers and other public sector staff.

The latest influx of Leafs follows a previous order for 350 last year.

Peter McDonald, Nissan fleet director, said: ‘‘We supply large volumes of cars and vans to all sorts of businesses and organisations across the UK but this agreement with NHS Fleet Solutions makes us feel particularly proud.

‘‘We are delighted that hundreds of NHS staff and other key workers will be experiencing the thrill of electric motoring, many for the first time.

‘‘And we’d like to express our thanks to the team at NHS Fleet Solutions for their continued support for Nissan and their promotion of the myriad benefits of electric motoring.’’

NHS Fleet Solutions is operated by Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and has facilitated the ordering of more than 75,000 vehicles for the NHS and other public sector organisations in the last 15 years.

The salary sacrifice scheme involves participating employees giving up part of their pay packet, under the terms and conditions of their employment, while their employer gives them a car in return. Because the employee’s overall pay is reduced, they pay less tax and National Insurance.   

The Government still charges benefit-in-kind tax on salary sacrifice cars, but the current rate for electric vehicles is just 1%.

An NHS Fleet Solutions spokesperson added: ‘‘We are delighted to take delivery of this sizeable consignment of all-electric Leafs. It is a popular car – we receive lots of positive feedback about it – and it helps to support our environmental sustainability efforts in encouraging more use of electric vehicles.’’