The UK Government announced that it will spend more than £600m between 2015 and 2020 to “support the uptake and manufacturing of ultra-low-emission vehicles”, including £38m to be spent on public charging points. There are also plans to create an ultra-low-emissions zone in London. So how does this affect you as a fleet manager?

Benefits
Electric vehicles have several benefits such as  tax breaks and possible savings of around £100 per 1,000 miles driven (versus a petrol or diesel car) meaning that electric vehicles are fast becoming attractive because of cost-effectiveness alone compared to their ICE counterparts

Not only does an EV potentially save companies money, the image of a company’s brand can be greatly improved if people can see that the company is working towards creating an environmentally friendly fleet.

There are several companies that have already benefited from this such as lettings agent Chase and Evans and West Middlesex Hospitals. Both companies have roughly saved £25,000 by introducing Electric Cars into their fleet.

Fuel & Running Costs
Companies are able to make a huge saving by introducing EVs onto their fleets on running costs alone. Fuel costs of an EV are very low due to the competitive price of electricity as costs can be as low as 2p per mile (depending on tariff). For an annual mileage of around 10,000 miles per year, switching from a conventional car to an electric vehicle could save you around £800 in fuel costs alone.

For drivers in and around London, the other major running cost to consider is the Congestion Charge and T Charges. All electric cars currently receive the full Greener Vehicle Discount on the London Congestion Charges and as such do not have to pay up to £25 daily in fees. This could provide a potential annual saving of over £2,000.

Costing
The costs associated with owning an Electric Vehicle are very different to that of a petrol or diesel vehicles. Typically the upfront purchase price of an electric car tends to be significantly higher than for petrol and diesel models. However, the running costs of the vehicle are incredibly lower than that of its ICE counterparts in many areas such as fuel, maintenance, car tax.

As electric cars tend to have a high purchase price but low running costs, leasing is often a better proposition for many companies. Leasing removes the uncertainty about resale value and any servicing costs associated with electric cars.

Businesses looking to add electric vehicles to their fleet can benefit from our account self-drive hire, a commitment-free way to try before you buy. For more information on this please send us an email at [email protected] and we will be able to advise you on this further.

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