The fastest electric cars to salary sacrifice

When electric cars (EVs) first came onto the market years ago, people thought of them mainly as cars suitable for the city or short distances, and not capable of matching the speeds of petrol or diesel cars. However, the market has changed a lot since then, and in 2024, we anticipate the arrival of some exciting new electric cars that offer both impressive range and performance, eliminating the need to compromise between the two.

Our Head of Growth, Gaurav, has compiled a list of the fastest electric cars available for salary sacrifice now and those that are expected to be available in the near future.

Tesla Model 3 Performance

It's also really cost-effective for everyday use. In the past six months, I've driven my Tesla Model 3 Performance almost 14,000 miles. During this time, I used 4,393 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity, costing me £806. I mainly charged my car at home using a smart electric vehicle (EV) tariff, but I also used some superchargers. According to my Tesla app, I saved £1,440 in fuel costs because I didn't need to buy petrol. The app calculates these savings based on average monthly petrol prices, and it's pretty accurate. One great thing about driving an electric car is that I never had to worry about going to a petrol station or dealing with the cost of fuel.

At the moment, the Tesla Model 3 Performance is not available for order, as the Model 3 range undergoes a refresh by Tesla. But there are rumours that a new version of the car will be released next year. You can read more about it on our Tesla Model 3 Highland blog post here.

If you’re in the market for a Performance Tesla right now and want to save money using The Electric Car Scheme, I’d recommend going for a Tesla Model Y Performance, which has just as impressive performance, and you can save 30-60% on the cost. Let's say you earn a gross salary of £75,000 annually and decide to lease the Tesla Model Y Performance through The Electric Car Scheme. This lease includes service, maintenance, tyres, MOT, and breakdown cover, and you plan to drive 10,000 miles per year over a three-year lease period. With The Electric Car Scheme, your monthly payment would be only £673. If you were to source the car personally, you'd be looking at a monthly cost of £1,065.

Polestar 2 Long Range with Performance Pack

polestar 2 performance salary sacrifice — I've had the chance to drive the Polestar 2, and it's a really comfortable and high-quality car. It has a similar look and feel to its big brother, the Volvo XC40, because the Polestar brand is actually part of Volvo.
For the Polestar 2 Long Range Dual Motor, you can opt for the Performance Pack, which costs £5,000.

This pack includes adjustable Öhlins dampers, Brembo brakes, some extra power (469bhp) for a 0-62mph time of 4.0 seconds, and gold accents. It's not actual carats, just a golden finish on the callipers and seatbelts. But trust us, it looks really good. The 20-inch forged wheels, in particular, add to its handsome appearance.

This specific model of the Polestar 2 offers a range of around 350 miles per charge, thanks to it being an all-wheel-drive (AWD) and more powerful model.

Suppose your annual gross salary is £75,000, and you opt to lease the Polestar 2 Plus Performance through The Electric Car Scheme. This lease package includes service, maintenance, tyres, MOT, and breakdown cover, and you plan to drive 10,000 miles per year over a three-year lease period. With The Electric Car Scheme, your monthly payment would be only £673. In contrast, if you were to obtain the car independently, your monthly cost would be £1,062.

Porsche Taycan GTS Sport Turismo

The Porsche Taycan Sport Turismo is a high-performance electric vehicle that combines family practicality with driving excitement. Essentially, it's similar to the Taycan saloon but with an extra bit added, like putting a conservatory on your already lovely house.

In contrast to the more estate-like Taycan, the Cross Turismo, the Sport Turismo sits lower to the road and looks very cool with some stylish alloy wheel choices.

Inside, you'll find a luxurious interior with everything you might need while driving. There are two large displays – one for the instrument binnacle and the other for the central infotainment system. You can also opt for an additional screen for your front passenger, but that's an optional extra.

Overall interior space is good, but taller individuals might find the back seats cramped due to the roofline, similar to the regular Taycan. You can choose to have five seats, but making the middle seat available costs extra and isn't the most comfortable spot in the car.

Opting for the estate-car style gives you extra practicality in terms of luggage capacity. You get 39 additional litres over the regular Taycan, with the boot measuring 446 litres. Instead of a smaller saloon-style tailgate, you get a proper hatchback boot opening, making it easier to load and unload heavy, bulky items. Up front, you'll find the same 84-litre 'froot', an ideal place to store your charge cables.

Porsche is renowned for performance, and the Taycan Sport Turismo offers five power options ranging from 408hp to 762hp, providing a good spectrum to choose from. The GTS, with 598hp, is considered the sweet spot, enabling a 0-60mph time of 3.7 seconds and a top speed of 155mph. While it's intense in its sportiest mode, day-to-day acceleration is handy for more comfortable driving.

Porsche Taycan GTS Sport Turismo The Electric Car Scheme — A critical consideration for EV buyers is a car's range, and the Sport Turismo provides a decent return. Opting for the Performance Plus Battery claims up to 306 miles on one charge, but real-world driving, especially on the motorway, may result in a figure closer to 250 miles.

On back roads, it excels in driving fun within the electric car segment, though its extra weight means it's not the most fun model Porsche offers – a compromise with an EV.

Around town, the adaptive air suspension smoothens most road bumps, and optional rear-wheel steering reduces hassle on tighter turns.

If you're in the market for a high-end EV with performance credentials, the Taycan Sport Turismo is arguably the best choice – even if Tesla suggests otherwise.

With The Electric Car Scheme, you can enjoy driving a Porsche Taycan GTS Sport Turismo. For instance, if your salary is £75,000 and you decide to lease a Taycan for three years, covering 10,000 miles per year, with the lease including service, maintenance, tyres, MOT, and breakdown cover, your monthly payment would be only £1,270. If you were to source the car independently, you'd pay £1,987. However, by using The Electric Car Scheme, you save £795 through employee income tax savings and £40 through employee national insurance savings, bringing your total monthly cost down. Feel free to get a quote on our EV salary sacrifice calculator here.

Lotus Eletre Salary Sacrifice The Electric Car Scheme — **Lotus Eletre available on salary sacrifice**

This car is now up for grabs through The Electric Car Scheme, and we're the first salary sacrifice provider to allow customers to lease the new Lotus Eletre.

The Lotus Eletre packs a punch with up to 905 horsepower, thanks to its twin electric motors delivering high torque power to all four wheels. This setup ensures unmatched acceleration and control in all conditions. The Eletre boasts an impressive range of 373 miles per charge, a top speed of 165 mph, and can go from 0 to 62 mph in just 2.9 seconds.

What sets it apart? Well, this all-electric Eletre marks a significant shift for Lotus as it's the company's first-ever SUV in its 75-year history. It's also the largest and heaviest car Lotus has ever produced. Forget about the traditional Lotus focus on lightweight vehicles; the Eletre weighs in at around 2.5 tonnes. That's what you'd expect for a luxurious electric SUV, but it's quite a departure for Lotus.

Despite the weight, early reviews of a pre-production model at a Lotus test track suggest that the Eletre maintains the essence of a true driver's car. It exhibits incredible grip when cornering, although it might take some time to get used to the rear-wheel steering, which comes standard on the range-topping 'R' model.

If you would like to discuss leasing a Lotus Eletre through salary sacrifice, please a book a call with one of our Product Specialists here.

MG4 XPOWER

The giveaway features include orange brake callipers, new 18-inch wheels, and a few polished trim pieces. While the bodywork remains mostly unchanged, the stealthy vibe may appeal to some. However, there's a argument to be made that MG could have done more to highlight the car's performance.

Inside, there's very little deviation from the standard MG 4, except for some Alcantara seat and door inserts, along with a touch of red stitching. While material quality continues to impress for the price, the dull choice of colours and basic design does little to amplify the excitement promised by the car's power.

The MG 4 XPower retains the 10.25-inch infotainment system, featuring sat nav and support for Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. The software has seen some quality-of-life improvements, and there's a basic 'Track Mode' app providing real-time access to G-force and acceleration data.

Like the base MG 4, rear passenger space is impressive with ample head and legroom, even for taller adults. The boot space remains unchanged at 363 litres, slightly less than the Volkswagen ID3's 385 litres.

This results in a mind-boggling 0-60mph time of 3.8 seconds (quicker than a Porsche 911 Carrera 4) and an increased top speed of 124mph. The impressive performance isn't limited to off-the-line acceleration, with a powerful kick from 30-70mph as well.

To handle the extra power, MG has made mechanical tweaks, adding an electronic locking differential and a torque vectoring system to manage power distribution through corners. The suspension remains the same as the base MG 4 but has been tuned differently for the springs and dampers. However, the MG 4 XPower may feel a bit harsh over bumps compared to the regular model, although it remains comfortable around town. At motorway speeds, wind noise and a slight whine from the new front motor become noticeable.

The official range for the 64kWh battery drops from 270 miles in the Long Range car to 239 miles for the sporty XPower model. During a mixed driving test, the car returned 2.9 miles/kWh, translating to around 185 miles of real-world range. Get a quote for the MG 4 XPower on our quote tool here.

Audi RS e-Tron GT

audi etron gt salary sacrifice — The Audi e-tron GT is an electric four-door coupe equipped with powerful motors and seating for five people.

As the future flagship of Audi's RS models, the e-tron GT outshines cars like the RS6 and RS7, making them seem like outdated machines compared to a NASA space launch.

Similar to its counterpart, the Porsche Taycan, the new RS e-tron GT features two electric motors—one driving the front wheels and the other powering the rear.

This combination yields 598hp as standard, with a two-second overboost function elevating it to 646hp during acceleration. Consequently, the car can go from 0-62mph in just 3.0 seconds, and the 30-70mph acceleration for overtaking or slip road acceleration is an impressive 2.7 seconds.

The RS e-tron GT's 93kWh battery, slightly smaller than the Taycan's 95kWh unit, still delivers an official range of 283 miles. While adequate for most, it falls short of the 400-mile range offered by a Tesla Model S.

Despite large wheels and thin tyres, the RS e-tron GT is comfortable in Comfort mode and remains fine even in Dynamic mode. Weighing a substantial 2.3 tonnes, it handles twisty roads well, aided by four-wheel steering, four-wheel drive, rear limited-slip differential, and a low centre of gravity due to floor-stored batteries. The car grips strongly, but the brakes may initially feel somewhat artificial.

As is common with electric cars, the RS e-tron GT is remarkably quiet. However, Audi offers an optional 'whoom' noise when accelerating, which can be added at an extra cost.

Charging can be done using rapid 270kW public fast chargers, achieving an 80% battery charge in just 30 minutes. The e-tron GT also introduces an 11kW wireless charging feature, allowing charging by parking above a large charging pad.

Co-designed with Porsche and sharing the same underpinnings as the Taycan, the e-tron GT looks wide and purposeful with a sleek roofline, despite being a four-door electric car.

audi etron gt interior the electric car scheme — The interior features a substantial touchscreen for the infotainment system, supplemented by conventional buttons for heating controls. There's also a large digital display replacing traditional analogue dials behind the steering wheel.

While the e-tron GT's long body provides ample legroom, headroom may be tight for taller rear passengers, and a central rear passenger might feel a bit cramped. The boot has a 366-litre capacity, accessed through a somewhat small opening, and can be expanded by folding down the rear seats. Additionally, there's an 81-litre storage area under the bonnet, mainly occupied by the charging cables' large bag.

The Audi e-tron GT starts at £83,285 for a basic white model, with the faster RS e-tron GT starting from £114,285. These figures can rise quickly with the addition of essential options, such as metallic paint. Fear not though, you can save 30-60% on the cost of the Audi e-tron GT with The Electric Car Scheme.

gaurav ahluwalia the electric car scheme — **Q&A with our Head of Growth, Gaurav, about the fastest electric cars in 2023-24**

Gaurav, what is the fastest 0–60 mph electric car?

The current speed champion is the McMurtry Spéirling, managing to sprint from 0–60mph in just under 1.5 seconds. However, it's crucial to note that this is a track-only race car. For road-legal electric supercars, I'd highlight the Aspark Owl, which accelerates from 0–60mph in an impressive 1.69 seconds.

What is the fastest electric car 0–100mph?

There are two strong contenders in this category. The Aspark Owl can reach 0–124mph in 4.76 seconds, while the Rimac Nevera achieves 100 mph in 4.3 seconds. If pitted against each other, I anticipate these two cars would offer a very close match.

What electric car goes 200 mph?

There's a variety to choose from, including the Lotus Evija, Pininfarina Battista, and Deus Vayanne. Some electric supercars go beyond that mark. The Aspark Owl boasts a top speed of 249 mph, while the Rimac Nevera and Tesla Roadster can exceed 250 mph.

Why are EVs so fast?

Electric cars have a distinct advantage over petrol cars. Their powertrains don't need to climb through high rev ranges to deliver peak torque. All the power, and it's typically substantial, is instantly available from a standstill. Even everyday models like the Kia EV6, one of our top electric SUVs, can accelerate from 0–62mph in approximately five seconds. This level of performance used to be associated with hot hatchbacks a few years ago and supercars a couple of decades ago.

Upcoming electric cars in 2024 and beyond

Rimac Nevera The Electric Car Scheme — **Rimac Nevera**

Even within the first 30 seconds of being in the £1.7 million Rimac Nevera, boasting 1888bhp and a top speed of 258mph, you can sense its uniqueness. It distinguishes itself from any other ultra-fast car, whether conventionally or electrically powered.

Here we have a new hypercar emerging from a relatively unknown car manufacturer, not hailing from Germany, Italy, or England, but from Croatia. The initial impressions it imparts in the first few hundred yards are mind-boggling, and what unfolds when you truly unleash its power is even more astonishing. Trust me, the Nevera achieves feats that no other road car on this planet can even approach, not just in straight-line speed but also around corners and under brakes. More on that shortly.

Equipped with four electric motors and four gearboxes, each powering one of its four driven wheels, the front e-motors deliver a combined 590bhp and 412lb ft. Meanwhile, the more robust rear motors produce an impressive 1288bhp and 1326lb ft purely at the back wheels, resulting in an extraordinary total of 1888bhp and 1739lb ft.

I kept accelerating until about 180mph on a closed section of road provided by Rimac for our test, and the Nevera continued to accelerate as forcefully as it did at 50mph. Truly impressive. Having driven a contemporary Formula One car around Silverstone some years ago, I can confidently say that the Nevera feels faster than that up to 80-90mph and just as rapid beyond that. The performance figures back this up: 0 to 60mph in 1.85 seconds, 0 to 100mph in four seconds flat, and a standing quarter in just 8.6 seconds – remarkable for a road car. It takes less than 10 seconds to reach 186mph (300km/h).

Deus Vayanne

According to Deus, the Vayanne offers ample storage with both rear and front compartments—a rear trunk and a frunk (a front trunk). Additionally, the Vayanne features adjustable steering and suspension, along with an active lift system for each axle. The interior is spacious, facilitating easy entry and exit from the hypercar. It includes a panoramic sunroof, electrically adjustable seats for enhanced comfort, and practical features like a wireless charging pad, central armrest, and glovebox compartment.

The Vayanne boasts natural leather interiors, with the leather sourced sustainably and using advanced methods, although specific details haven't been disclosed. The hypercar also features a fully digital cluster gauge for controlling various functions, enhancing the in-car driving experience. While it incorporates some analog controls within arm's reach, the Deus Vayanne may not introduce revolutionary features but promises a comfortable and impressive driving experience, according to early reports.

Faraday Future FF91

The sight of this large, rather bulbous crossover with suicide doors parked alongside Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and Koenigseggs was a surprise. Nevertheless, it grabbed attention, with many visitors attempting to open the handle-less doors (there are no external door handles; passengers use an app or key fob) and several teenagers taking selfies in front of the wide-opening doors.

Faraday claims a zero-to-60 time of 2.39 seconds for the FF91. While specifics about the underlying battery remain undisclosed, Faraday mentions that the vehicle is powered by three motors—two in the rear and one in the front—totaling 1,050 horsepower. The company also states that the FF91 should achieve a range of around 350 to 400 miles.

Lucid Air

The Lucid Air saloon marks Lucid's debut model. We had a brief encounter around a year ago during a short drive when it entered production. At that time, it was an early-build car, but Lucid is now in full swing, with 7,000 Airs produced in its US factory in Arizona last year and plans for an additional 12,000 this year. One of these cars is at our disposal for a sunny early April day in New York.

These impressive figures account for the 3.0-second 0-60 mph time despite the all-aluminium Air's 2360 kg kerb weight. For those seeking even more power, Lucid offers a Performance version with 1036bhp and a 0-60mph time of 2.6 seconds.

While performance is a focus, the Air prioritises efficiency. The in-house-designed 112kWh battery provides a range of up to 516 miles on the US EPA testing cycle, depending on the model. The battery's remarkable 300kW charging speed allows for swift replenishment—using a 350kW DC charger, you can add 300 miles of range in just 21 minutes.

Like many electric cars, weight becomes a limiting factor when pushing the Air to its limits. In bends, it feels like the big, heavy car it is, but the handling remains predictable, and the steering is precise. While not particularly fun or rewarding when pushed to the extreme, if you ease off a bit, it's still an enjoyable car to navigate through a series of corners. However, a Tesla Model 3 Performance retains a more engaging driving experience.

Last reviewed: 17/11/2023
Next review scheduled: 01/03/2024

Our pricing is based on data collected from The Electric Car Scheme quote tool. All final pricing is inclusive of VAT. All prices above are based on the following lease terms; 10,000 miles pa, 36 months, and are inclusive of Maintenance and Breakdown Cover. The Electric Car Scheme’s terms and conditions apply. All deals are subject to credit approval and availability. All deals are subject to excess mileage and damage charges. Prices are calculated based on the following tax saving assumptions; England & Wales, 40% tax rate. The above prices were calculated using a flat payment profile. The Electric Car Scheme Limited provides services for the administration of your salary sacrifice employee benefits. The Electric Car Scheme Holdings Limited is a member of the BVRLA (10608), is authorised and regulated by the FCA under FRN 968270, is an Appointed Representative of Marshall Management Services Ltd under FRN 667174, and is a credit broker and not a lender or insurance provider.