Increase in EV Salary Sacrifice Take-up by British Businesses Reported
The Electric Car Scheme experiences 34% jump in businesses signing up post-Budget
Orders for second hand EVs also rise as employees gain access to cheaper options
The Electric Car Scheme, one of the UK’s leading EV salary sacrifice scheme providers, has seen a significant rise in interest in its EV salary sacrifice product from businesses since the Government’s Autumn budget announcement.
Thom Groot, CEO and co-founder of The Electric Car Scheme, believes that this increase is due to businesses taking advantage of the scheme to provide new and second hand EVs to their staff while also decreasing their employer national insurance contribution.
Groot commented, “The UK’s salary sacrifice scheme has been specifically designed to benefit both employees to make new and second hand EVs more affordable, and to benefit the businesses that roll out the scheme by reducing their national insurance contribution. Now in its sixth year, the uptake has grown steadily year on year, however we are seeing even stronger growth as businesses realise the total benefits for both their staff and their bottom line.”
The UK’s salary sacrifice EV scheme, which allows employees to pay for EV leases from their pre-tax salaries, with low Benefit-in-Kind (BiK) rates, brings down the cost of leasing an EV by 20-50%. Businesses also benefit by reducing their overall employer National Insurance contributions.
Interest in the scheme has grown 160% year on year – driven by the increase in popularity of EVs, combined with the cost-of-living crisis making household budget tighter. Since the end of October 2024 and the announcement of the increase to employer National Insurance contributions, inquiries from businesses looking to implement the scheme have increased 21%. Also, the number of companies actually signing up has increased 34% before the April NI changes.
Employees are also taking up the scheme, with car orders up 22% since the Autumn Budget announcement. This has coincided with the growing availability and popularity of second hand EVs, which make electric vehicles more financially accessible. Currently nearly half of all car orders from The Electric Car Scheme are for second-hand EVs.
Employees are increasingly expecting this kind of benefit from their employers, with research from The Electric Car Scheme showing that 30% of employees now expect help from their employers to commute sustainably, up from 10% in 2023.
Key statistics
21% increase in inquiries in the two months after the budget
34% increase in the number of businesses signing up to the scheme
Car orders increased 22% in the same period
55% of Brits say they are now less likely to make sustainable decisions due to the higher cost of living (up from 37% in 2023).
Over half (52%) put off sustainable purchases due to the high up-front cost (up from 31%).
54% say price is the biggest barrier to switching to an electric car.
30% of employees now expect help from their employers to commute sustainably
Almost 50% of car orders through The Electric Car Scheme are now second hand EVs
Groot continued, “It’s good to see that this has translated into an increase in car orders, as employees take advantage of the considerable savings available through the scheme. We started The Electric Car Scheme to make EVs more affordable and help increase uptake ahead of the phase-out of traditional cars. It is also the reason that our second hand EV proposition has been so popular, and it now makes up nearly half of our sales.”
Media contacts:
Jamie Lester at Brazil (PR agency for The Electric Car Scheme)
email: theelectriccarscheme@agencybrazil.com
phone: 020 7785 7383
About The Electric Car Scheme
The Electric Car Scheme is a salary sacrifice employee benefit that allows employees to access electric cars at a 30-60% lower cost. The Electric Car Scheme is the first available offering from parent company, Net Zero Choices. The company was set up in June 2020 after Co-Founders Thom Groot and Tom Eilon found the government's tax incentive for employees to switch to electric and go green impossible to access
For more information visit: www.electriccarscheme.com
