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salary sacrifice
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Transitioning to EVs The shift to electric vehicles is something all fleets will be embracing sooner or later. Some might be sceptical or hesitant, but many still might not realise about the salary sacrifice option, which has been designed to make the move easier for all parties. By John Challen
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he salary sacrifice initiative is not new, however the past few years have thrust it into the limelight as drivers look to switch over to electric vehicles before the 2030 deadline. Add in rising fuel costs and more and more people are investigating the possibilities. Right now, there are numerous routes to go down – with a number of products offered by a wide range of industry specialists. The evidence is clear: the big switch to electric vehicles is snowballing. With that in mind, here are a selection of what the different players are offering drivers.
IMPROVEMENTS ALL OVER “We’re seeing a demand landslide for EVs in the UK,” says Fiona Howarth, CEO, Octopus Electric Vehicles. “In 2021, 12% of new cars sold were EVs, almost double the rate in the previous year. Drivers are waking up to the benefits of switching to electric - many of the old myths and barriers for adoption have gone.” Howarth isn’t surprised by the trend. “Drivers can now choose from over 50 different EVs that travel over 150 miles on a single charge, which is plenty when we do just 20 miles a day on average. “Public chargers have rolled out at pace. Their numbers have doubled in
INDUSTRY INSIGHT W
ith a current fleet of over 20,000 cars, 95% of which are on salary sacrifice, Tusker has been providing this employee benefit to a growing customer base for more than 14 years. During that time, we’ve put over 60,000 vehicles on the road. We have over 900 salary sacrifice customers including NHS Trusts, councils, and many large and small corporate businesses including British Airways, EDF and AstraZeneca. Salary sacrifice supports the recruitment and retention of staff, which in the current market is so important for businesses. With increased competition in the workplace for employees, companies providing a salary sacrifice scheme can retain staff but also attract new talent because of the power of the salary sacrifice offering. Our research shows that the majority of our drivers would not have opted for a new car without the scheme, and with the average age of the car our drivers’ move from being over eight years’ old, we are helping drivers access newer, safer, more economical and more environmentally friendly vehicles. This also helps companies address grey fleet issues as it reduces the number of drivers driving their own car on company business. The strategy for Salary Sacrifice, which includes the
the UK in the last two years and there are now twice as many locations as petrol stations. It’s also more affordable – the average driver can save £1,000 a year on fuel costs if they use an off-peak electricity tariff such as ‘Octopus Go’ to charge at home.” The Octopus CEO also cites platforms such as the Electric Juice Network as helping to make public charging hasslefree for both drivers and fleet managers. “One card allows access to over 189,000 charge points across Europe, with more being added daily, consolidating all fees onto a single bill,” she explains.
Paul Gilshan, CEO, Tusker
reduced BiK rates currently available for electric vehicles, means those on lower salaries can access EVs for the first time. It also allows Tusker to provide this benefit to those not offered a traditional company car where a higher salary or job role is a pre-requisite to a vehicle. As a result of the way the scheme is set up, well over 70% of Tusker’s fleet are 20% taxpayers ensuring that this audience who haven’t been catered for with company car benefits previously, now have access to affordable electric vehicles. We have seen more ‘cash for car’ drivers taking advantage of salary sacrifice, because it offers them a fixed price, allinclusive car, enabling them to get into a new Electric Vehicle more cost effectively than if they were to buy or lease the vehicle as a retail driver. Vetting your salary sacrifice supplier before appointing them is vital. Providers like Tusker, with over 22 years’ experience, have large numbers of customers and specific processes in place to support drivers and organisations offering salary sacrifice. Choosing a provider who has experience and salary sacrifice as a core focus is going to make the difference compared to those offering salary sacrifice as an additional product, or for those new to the market.
fleetworld.co.uk
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