SAVE UP TO 40% ON ELECTRIC CARS WITH RISK FREE SALARY SACRIFICE

Grosvenor Leasing’s Salary Sacrifice scheme for Ultra Low Emission Vehicles and Electric Vehicles can save your employees as much as 40% per month compared to a personal lease, with financial and environmental advantages for your business too.

Risk Free and Minimal Administration

It also comes with protection against employees leaving the company, or going on extended sick or maternity/paternity leave, and there is minimal input required to put it in place.

It means businesses can implement the scheme with complete peace of mind, and without being overwhelmed with lots of administration.

For more information, why not speak to one of our Ultra Low Emission and Electric Vehicle Salary Sacrifice experts

Benefits to Employees and Employers

Employees sacrifice a portion of their gross salary in return for a fully maintained, taxed and insured company vehicle, at very competitive rates.

The employer gains by making Class 1A National Insurance savings as well as offering an additional staff benefit, at no extra cost.

With many exciting electric cars available, such as the MG4 EV, Cupra Born and Polestar 2 (all shown above), now is a great time to be offering a ULEV and EV Salary Sacrifice scheme.

Telephone 01536 536 536 or email salsac@grosvenor-leasing.co.uk

 Selecting the vehicles that could easily switch to electric is a good way to kick off decarbonisation plans, says Laura. These could include company cars, salary sacrifice, non-essential services in the emergency sector, electric street sweeper, electric vans for services, and so on. Telematics is a good way of identifying which vehicles to transition.”

Another way to start the decarbonisation journey is to work with industry to build and trial zero-emission transport solutions, believes Laura. West Midlands Ambulance Service, for example, is trilling an all-electric ambulance, known as the Electric Dual Crewed Ambulance (E-DCA), in front-line services.

Careful planning

Steve Beadle, head of 0Zone at The Grosvenor Group says that the level of scrutiny the public sector is under adds another pressure to fleet decarbonisation. As such, it’s vital to have a clear strategy. Steve advises: “It’s important to map out all of the vehicles, and look at where they are driven, what kind of activity they are undertaking, what charging infrastructure is either in place now or being developed, and can they be replaced by an electric vehicle, and over what time frame.

“By doing this, an EV switch programme can be mapped out ranging from the quick wins, where the conversion to electric is relatively simple, through to the more challenging where the move to electric is far more difficult.”

And don’t be afraid of a gradual transition, Steve says: “A wholesale move to electric might not be possible, and it is important to identify which vehicles can become fully electric, and which vehicles cannot.”

“Where full electric is not feasible, perhaps due to the mileages being driven, the type of vehicle required, or there being a lack of suitable electric models available, a hybrid model or low emission petrol or diesel might be the interim solution.

“Flexible leasing is far more available nowadays, and there should be no reason why a public sector body couldn’t negotiate some form of short term lease on ultra low emission vehicles while waiting for an electric alternative to become available - rather than having to commit to another three or four year lease.

“Another option, which is something Grosvenor has done in the past, is agree as part of a contract hire arrangement that if a suitable electric vehicle becomes available, the current lease arrangement can be terminated without penalty to facilitate that move to an electric vehicle more quickly.”

Ask the right questions

When switching to EVs, very careful planning is needed, and every single vehicle needs to be mapped out, advises Steve. So what questions should be asked? Steve suggests the following: What does that vehicle do? Over what geographical area does it operate? What is the charging infrastructure in that area? What is the availability of suitable electric vehicles? Is there any way the use of that vehicle can be changed to accommodate an electric vehicle or does an electric vehicle need to perfectly meet the requirements of that job role?

Other questions to ask are: What type of loads does the vehicle carry? When does the lease contract come to an end? Who is driving the vehicle and what actions need to be taken to educate them about doing their job in an electric vehicle? How resistant to change will they be? If it is a shared vehicle, how will that be managed in terms of usage and charging? To what extent can charging be carried out at work, using public charges or at employees’ homes? If drivers are using their own vehicles for business use, what can be put in place to encourage the conversion of that fleet to electric?

“It is questions such as these that need answering as part of an EV transition strategy,” says Steve.

Understanding your fleet

Simon West-Oliver from AssetWorks advises that to avoid decarbonisation pitfalls, it’s essential first to understand duty cycles. He explains: “Conduct a comprehensive analysis of the duty cycles and operational requirements of the fleet. This includes assessing vehicle usage patterns, mileage, payload capacity, and specific functions. Understanding these factors will help identify which vehicles are best suited for early-stage decarbonisation and prioritise efforts accordingly.

“Research and leverage available funding options to support fleet decarbonisation. Governments and organisations often offer grants, incentives, or financial programs specifically for transitioning to low-emission vehicles. Identifying and applying for these opportunities can help mitigate the financial burden of adopting cleaner technologies.”

Careful consideration of charging requirements is also vital. Simon says: “Evaluate the charging infrastructure needs for electric vehicles (EVs) in the fleet. Consider factors such as on-site charging stations, high-power charging capabilities, and the availability of public charging infrastructure. Developing a charging infrastructure plan that aligns with the fleet’s operational requirements will ensure reliable charging access without disrupting essential services.”

Other advice offered by Simon is to consider taking part in pilot projects and trials, and collaborating with industry experts, who are happy to offer support. Road maps and targets also help focus mindsets and accelerate plans.“Create a comprehensive roadmap for fleet decarbonisation that includes specific targets and milestones. This roadmap should consider the unique characteristics and challenges of the fleet, along with potential technological advancements and infrastructure developments. Setting clear targets and tracking progress will ensure a structured approach and maintain momentum towards achieving long-term decarbonisation goals,” Simon from AssetWorks adds.

Eliminating grey fleet

Many public sector employees use their own cars for business travel, which is known as ‘grey fleet’. Grey fleet vehicles tend to be older, more polluting, and may not be serviced as regularly. It can be difficult to supervise them too. With recent travel disruption, such as train strikes, more drivers may be drawn to using their own car for work.

So how can the public sector reduce this reliance on ‘grey fleet’? Laura Lancaster from Fleetcor / Allstar, says: “Grey fleet may be one of the hardest areas for the public sector to decarbonise. Grey fleets have always accounted for a large portion of the NHS travel with district nurses, health services using private vehicles for work travel.

“If the NHS, for example, continue to have grey fleet, they are reliant on employees to change their vehicles ahead of time to meet the decarbonisation measures. Salary sacrifice schemes are widely encouraged in the NHS, but is the incentive enough for the health professionals to switch, especially when pence per mile schemes are well paid in ICE vehicles.

“A change to company car fleet would be the most effective way to do this, but this does come with budgeting consequences for Trusts. The solutions for company car drivers has been tried and test by the private sector, with a solution like what Allstar offers for businesses to pay for their electric charging on-the-road via a single card and their home charging directly through the drivers energy supplier so staff are never out of pocket. E

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 “Sustainability reporting may bring the change from grey fleet to company cars into fruition in future years - with the inclusion of grey fleet in those numbers and as the targets and commitments dates’ drawer closer.”

Laura also points out that much of the NHS is encouraging other mobility solutions and active travel for their staff, such as pool e-bikes, walking, cycling, and public transport.

Greener business travel

Adding to this advice, Steve Beadle from The Grosvenor Group says: “The implementation of an electric vehicle salary sacrifice scheme is something public sector bodies should be looking at. This is by far the cheapest way for a driver to fund an electric vehicle as it is up to 40 per cent cheaper than a personal lease. That should not only just be put in place, but also promoted and communicated widely across the public sector body to maximise the uptake with employees.

“Car sharing schemes are also a good way of reducing the use of grey fleet vehicles. This can either be an in house operated scheme, whereby an ultra low emission or electric pool fleet is used by employees for occasional travel. Alternatively public sector bodies could sign up to a managed scheme of car sharing.

“Mobility as a solution (MaaS) is another strong option, offering an app that will enable employees to get from A to B using public transport in the most efficient way possible, and offering a straightforward and simple booking process. Of course this will not be suitable for everybody, particularly for employees who need to carry essential equipment etc, however it is certainly an option to reduce the number of grey fleet journeys for meetings etc.

“Finally, the need to travel to meetings and appointments has been significantly reduced due to the advent of online meetings, and anyone travelling to an appointment using their own vehicle should really need to justify why they need to go in the first place and why that meeting cannot be conducted over Teams or Zoom.”

Summarising the problem, Steve says that ultimately, policies need to be put in place so grey fleet isn’t a common option. He says: “Ultimately, reducing the use of a grey fleet vehicles becomes a carrot and stick type of operation. The carrot being incentives to move to electric vehicles or not use your own vehicle for business use as much. The stick being methods of discouraging the use of higher emission grey fleet vehicles, such as giving priority parking to those who car share or drive zero emission cars, as well as challenging the amount of use of grey fleet vehicles generally. Because at the end of the day many drivers like to use their own vehicle for business use as much as possible because of the strong mileage reimbursement. This can lead to higher grey fleet use than is necessary and policies need to be put in place to ensure that only essential travel is made in drivers own vehicles, and that all travel must be in ultra low emission or electric vehicles (through car sharing / the use of pool vehicles) or using public transport, unless it cannot be avoided.”

Incentivising other ways to travel

Reducing reliance on “grey fleet” vehicles, where public sector employees use their own cars for business travel, requires implementing various strategies and promoting alternative transportation options, says Simon West-Oliver from AssetWorks. Simon agrees that establishing electric vehicle (EV) salary sacrifice schemes is a very successful way to address the problem. “EV salary sacrifice schemes incentivise employees to switch to electric cars by providing them with affordable access to clean and low-emission vehicles for both business and personal use,” says Simon.

Other ways to reduce staff use of own vehicles is to establish a pool car system or introduce car clubs. Simon says: “Pool cars can be strategically located at convenient points, making them easily accessible for employees. By using pool cars instead of personal vehicles, the organisation can better manage and control vehicle emissions while reducing the wear and tear on employees’ private cars.

“Likewise, working with car-sharing or car club providers can offer employees an alternative to using their own cars for business travel. Car club schemes allow employees to book and use shared vehicles on an as-needed basis. This reduces the need for employees to rely on their personal vehicles, promotes efficient use of vehicles, and encourages a shift towards shared and sustainable transportation options.”

Promoting active travel, public transport and having flexible working arrangements in place can also help curb grey fleet usage, adds Simon.

Rolling out infrastructure

A report last year by Liberty Charge showed only 14 per cent of local authorities have dedicated EV infrastructure staff, such as those working on the planning, commissioning and implementation of charging infrastructure. The report also showed that one third of local authorities have no formal EV infrastructure plan in place, and 44 per cent do not expect to complete it within the next three years. Some of the difficulties cited in the report include budgetary issues, regulatory restraints, resident reticence, logistical difficulties, lack of guidance regarding location of charge points and low density of EV ownership.

Steve Beadle from The Grosvenor Group, believes the study from Liberty Charge was concerning. He said: “The study suggested that local authority strategies are failing, with only 10 per cent (30,290) of the 300,000 charge points wanted by government so far installed.

“In fact, only 800 new chargers are being added to the public network per month, and to meet that target of 300,000 by 2023 the installation rate needs to increase to 3,130-a-month, which is a rise of 288 per cent.

“The research by Liberty Charge also found that 75 per cent of local authorities interviewed quoted budgetary issues as a barrier to infrastructure adoption. And a further 59 per cent pointed to a lack of guidance from central government as to where charge points should be located as the key reasons the installation rate is falling behind.

“It goes without saying that this is a real problem, because if the infrastructure falls short, then this will hamper the ability to effectively operate electric vehicles in the public sector, the private sector, and for private motorists.” E