HURRAH!!!
PETROL, DIESEL AND HYBRID CARS BANNED BY 2035
You may have seen the news today that the UK Government is planning to ban the sale of petrol, diesel and hybrid cars by 2035 AT THE LATEST.
This is good news for the planet – are you ready to make the switch to electric transport and join the revolution?
THERE ARE 3 REASONS WHY YOU MIGHT CHOOSE TO DRIVE AN ELECTRIC VEHICLE.
- FOR THE PLANET
- FOR BETTER PERFORMANCE AND A LOT OF FUN
- TO SAVE A FORTUNE
IT HAS BEEN SAID THAT BUSINESSES SHOULD LOOK FURTHER THAN THE LIST PRICE OR HIGHER MONTHLY PAYMENT WHEN CONSIDERING THE SWITCH TO FULL ELECTRIC VEHICLES, THERE IS MORE TO IT THAN JUST THE MONTHLY PAYMENT…
I was considered a bit of a weirdo back in 2012 when I was writing articles and encouraging our customers to become more sustainable in their travel & transport AND SAVE MONEY.
NOW HOWEVER there is growing evidence that businesses who embrace the brilliant and fast moving electric vehicle technology are reaping the benefits on their bottom line and you can too.
So no more excuses!
Range has increased dramatically and many of the every day entrants to the market are capable of well over 100 miles on a single charge:
For example
Nissan Leaf 168 miles,
BMW i3 193 miles,
Hyundai Ioniq 194 miles
Renault Zoe 245 miles,
There are now, more charging stations in the UK than traditional petrol/diesel stations, and we can boast in excess of 25,000 charging points in the UK. With the average daily commute 15 miles a day even the Nissan Leaf at 168 miles only needs to be charged once a week to cope with that.
Look at the whole life costs of Electric Vehicles. Even if your monthly rental is a little higher in an Electric Vehicle (EV) the reduced running cost through electricity is much cheaper than petrol or diesel, and there is a reduced service, maintenance and repair cost (SMR) as there are fewer mechanical working parts.
A recent article in Fleet News looked at some of the elements influencing the cost of operating an EV and what they mean to businesses.
PURCHASE PRICE/LEASE RENTALS
One of the major barriers to entry according to research by Sewells has been that EV’s have been more expensive to buy and lease than their petrol or diesel counterparts. With the advances in battery technology particularly that differential is shrinking and according to KPMG price parity is predicted for 2021.
FUEL COSTS
The major cost advantage an EV has over an ICE (Internal Combustion-engine) vehicle is fuel. Electricity is a fraction of the price of petrol or diesel. The cost of the electricity to power an EV for a mile depends on the tariff used, but starts at around 3.5 pence per mile ( even less with clever charging ), and look for deals offered by energy suppliers keen to sign up new customers for charging EV’s
Car Manufacturers are applying the EV technology in different ways – for example Hyundai with a 64kWh battery pack & their efficient drivetrain will do 270 miles on a single charge whereas companies like Jaguar who have gone for performance over efficiency are using 90kWh battery packs to achieve similar range.
Maybe that’s what they think their customers want. This has an impact on the cost of fuelling the EV, but it is still a lot less than for an ICE vehicle.
ADVISORY FUEL RATES
Companies that reimburse drivers using the Government advisory fuel rates can also make savings by switching to EV’s.  HMRC have set an advisory fuel rate for EV’s of 4 pence per mile. This compares with 12-21 ppm for petrol cars and 9–14 ppm for diesels. This means that an employee driving an EV more than 10,000 business miles per year will be reimbursed £400 compared with between £900 and £2100 for a petrol or diesel vehicle.
BENEFIT IN KIND TAX/CLASS 1A NATIONAL INSURANCE
Drivers of EV’s will pay 0% Benefit in Kind Company Car Tax   in 2020/21 tax year, 1% in 2021/22 and 2% in 2022/23.That shows a saving for both the employee and employer.
For example:
From April this year a 20% taxpayer who drives a £32,000 EV will save a massive £1664 a year compared with an identically priced petrol car with emissions of 105g/km, and that doubles to £3328 for a 40% taxpayer. Not a bad pay rise.
The employer also benefits as the Class 1A National Insurance Contributions (NIC’s) is calculated using the same tax bands so businesses will pay 0% Class 1A NIC on pure electric vehicles in 2020/21.
Using the same car as in the previous example therefore the business will save £1148 a year for opting for an EV rather than the petrol equivalent used in the example. Straight onto the bottom line.
In addition – the fuel BIK charge that applies to ICE cars does not apply to any electricity supplied by an employer for charging at work say, or for using a card to charge on the public network, and the employee will not pay tax on a charging point installed by the company at home.
EV’s are exempt from Road Tax, and businesses can claim First Year Allowances against the cost of installing electric charge point equipment.
SERVICE MAINTENANCE & REPAIRS
According to analysts at KPMG the Service Maintenance & Repair costs of an EV are between 40% and 60% lower than for an ICE.
This is largely down to the reduced number of moving parts on an EV compared with an ICE vehicle – just 3 on an EV – the on board charger, inverter and motor – compared with the hundreds of components in an ICE engine & gearbox.
CLEAN AIR ZONES
Clean Air Zones are being introduced – not just in London. More than 60 towns & cities in the UK are introducing or planning to introduce clean air zones to improve local air quality.
At present many of these towns will allow the latest Euro emission standard vehicles to enter without paying the charges but this is likely to change.
Bristol for example has proposed a Clean Air Zone which bans diesel cars & vans from an area in the city centre from March 2021 and Oxford is working towards introducing a zero emission zone banning all petrol & diesel powered vehicles from entering the city at certain times from December.
Businesses can make significant savings by operating EV’s – in London for example the charge for vehicles that do not meet the emissions criteria is £12.50 per day – just 2 visits a week could add up to a hefty bill of £1200 a year.
RESIDUAL VALUES
As EV’s become more mainstream residual values are strengthening. The demand for used EV’s is predicted to grow as more Clean Air Zones are rolled out across the country which will bolster the residual values further.
GOVERNMENT GRANTS
The Government continues to support EV adoption with Grants available for cars up to £3500 and £8000 for vans and the OLEV Workplace Charging Scheme is a grant that businesses can use towards the cost of installing charge points for staff by up to £10,000 The Grant is for £500 per charge point socket – up to 20 sockets per applicant organisation, and it is available to any business, charity of public authority.
When you look at the facts & add it all up there is a small fortune here to be added to your bottom line – join the revolution – what’s not to LOVE
#EVLOVE