Cost-savings top of mind for 62% of drivers who next plan to drive an Electric Vehicle via their employer’s salary sacrifice scheme
Tusker, the UK’s leading salary sacrifice car provider, says its annual Driver Survey shows 62% of employees who plan to get an Electric Vehicle (EV) as their next car said a key incentive is the significant benefits available through a salary sacrifice scheme. In fact, 40% of the survey’s respondents said they plan to get an EV next time they change cars, with just 10% intending to drive a petrol car.
The Tusker EV Driver Survey 2024 was carried out in April 2024 with 5,942 UK employees taking part. The respondents were made up of 4,331 employed driving licence holders, 1,316 electric vehicle drivers with a Tusker scheme and 295 petrol vehicle drivers with a Tusker scheme.
Kit Wisdom, Managing Director, Tusker, said: “It’s undeniable that company car and salary sacrifice schemes are playing a major part in supporting EV take up. Industry data shows that recent growth in EV market share could not have been achieved without the significant benefits linked to salary sacrifice. These results underline that incentives have played a critical role in supporting the uptake of EVs to date – and it’s vital that the Government ensures that the incentives remain stable and strong enough to encourage more consumers and businesses to switch.
“The research in our report bears this out – drivers say the schemes’ tax advantages are one of the main reasons they plan to go electric or have already done so. We’ve also found that one of the biggest barriers to adoption of EVs is the perceived high purchase cost. This does not concern employees who choose an EV through a workplace salary sacrifice scheme as they aren’t required to pay for their car upfront.”
The data, published earlier this year by the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA), found that take up of salary sacrifice car schemes rose by 47% in the final three months of 2023 compared with the same period in 2022, with 84% of employees opting for an EV. However, when motorists don’t have access to the tax advantages of a salary sacrifice scheme, the picture is different. The BVRLA found that 66% of private contract hire agreements in the same period of last year were for petrol vehicles, with EVs representing only 16%.
Wisdom continued: “Beyond this, however, EV drivers are incredibly happy with their vehicle choices. This year’s survey showed the high – and rising higher – levels of satisfaction EV drivers have about their cars – just 3.5% of EV driver respondents said they’d go back to a petrol or diesel car.”
When it comes to customer views on their EV’s, 93% of Tusker drivers said they are either satisfied or very satisfied with their car, while 96% said their cars are reliable or very reliable.
The survey also found that alongside tax savings benefits, employees said that cheaper running costs are a key consideration in choosing an EV, with 60% saying this. Fifty two percent also said that environmental benefits are a key reason to switch from a petrol or diesel car.
Of the drivers who don’t have a car on the Tusker scheme and don’t currently own an EV, 69% said they plan to switch in the next four years.
Non-EV drivers still have concerns, however. The most common is the range of electric cars – how far a car can travel on a single charge – as well as the public charging infrastructure and initial vehicle cost. However, 86% of EV drivers said their cars range is sufficient for everyday use, and 78% only need to use the public charging network once a month or less. Indeed, data shows that almost 6000 new public charge points have been installed in the UK in the first three months of 2024, increasing to 60,000 across Britain to date – 12,000 of which are rapid or ultra rapid chargers. Three-hundred thousand public chargers are due to be implemented by 2030.
Tusker’s Car Benefit Scheme gives employees access to affordable, fully maintained and insured cars for a fixed monthly amount delivered through a salary sacrifice employee benefit arrangement.
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Tusker is the UK’s leader in salary sacrifice cars. Part of Lloyds Banking Group, it has more than 15 years’ experience in offering an affordable way for employees to drive a new fully insured and maintained car. Its scheme, which is offered to over 1.8m UK employees, offers a range of options, from pure electric cars to hybrids and even traditional petrol and diesel vehicles. It provides a tailored scheme for organisations’ individual needs.