Sadiq Khan-backed Tesla supplier Breathe falls into administration after 15 months

A company set up just over a year ago to supply private hire drivers with Tesla cars has gone into administration.

Breathe was backed by a £3.2 million grant in March 2022 from the Mayor of London’s Energy Efficiency Fund (MEEF), and it is feared that money may now be written off.

Last week insolvency practitioners from Begbies Traynor were appointed as administrators for the company, which had planned to acquire a fleet of 100 Tesla vehicles to be rented out to drivers, giving them the option of taking full ownership of their car at the end of a subscription period.

The firm’s website continues to advertise its work with the Mayor of London to reduce CO2 emissions.

Breathe was also working with Transport for London to offer drivers scrapping their cars under the new scheme “an additional £500 off their subscription for a new, zero emissions EV”, according to its website.

Joint Administrators Paul Appleton and Adam Shama of lawyers Begbies Traynor were appointed on June 13, 2023. They are attempting to sell the business as a going concern.

MEEF, established in 2018, is a £500 million investment fund designed to finance low-carbon, sustainable projects and infrastructure in London.

Breathe works like a subscription service, including insurance, maintenance and replacement tyres. Drivers can choose between an ‘Everything Included Ownership’ model giving them the option to own the vehicle after four years, or an ‘Everything Included Rental’ model in which the driver subscribes for use on a weekly basis.

Last March, Jeff Davis, director of Breathe, said: “Our mission is to provide large scale electric-vehiclesas-a-service offerings and we are excited to be starting with sustainable, flexible and affordable vehicle subscription options for London’s private hire market. We are seeing huge demand for electric private hire vehicles and MEEF’s funding allows us to expand our operations and help more drivers step into their first EV.”

A spokesperson for the Mayor of London, said: “MEEF is the largest fund of its kind in the UK and has already invested in 17 projects across London mobilising over £380m of investment which is expected to save over 38,000 tonnes of CO2 and nearly 40m kwh of energy.

“MEEF’s original investment of £3.2m in Breathe represents less than 1% of the total funding mobilised by the fund to date. The Mayor is aware that Breathe has recently entered administration. The appointed administrators are working with all parties to complete a sale of the business and if needed realise assets to enable the debt to be repaid.”