Business fleets are driving the adoption of electric vehicles in the UK, according to a new report by Lex Autolease

44% of fleet cars are already electric, compared with just 4% of privately owned vehicles, according to the report

Its new Future of Transport report provides a quarterly analysis of the sector, including the findings for private drivers revealed last week plus newly published data that’s specific to fleets – and the findings for the latter are rather interesting.

The report surveyed 100 business fleet managers with fleets of more than 100 cars and more than 1,500 drivers in a move to better understand how travel is changing.

The report also introduces the Future of Transport Index, a new measure which uses a unique data set to track the level of confidence in different transport technologies each quarter and reveal how attitudes towards different transport technologies are evolving among fleet managers and drivers.

The stats indicate that almost half (44%) of fleet cars are already electric, compared with just 4% of privately owned vehicles.

Firms are investing an average 7% of turnover in fleet electrification as they work towards the UK’s 2030 net zero target, when the sale of new wholly petrol- and diesel-powered cars will be banned.

Meanwhile, two-thirds (66%) of businesses have grown the number of electric vehicles in their fleet in the last year, and the same proportion (67%) expect to grow the number of electric vehicles in their fleet in the year ahead, by an average 19%.

Reasons for going electric include its importance for employee engagement and recruitment (75%), to hit sustainability targets (67%), and because it supports sustainability credentials (57%).

And the current cost-of-living challenges don’t appear to be obstacles; almost half (45%) of fleet managers said they had increased their investment in adopting electric vehicles as a result, with just 2% saying it had caused them to cut back.

But despite the record uptake of electric vehicles, the new Future of Transport Index, which tracks the level of confidence in different transport technologies on a scale from -50 to +100, reveals confidence is actually highest in petrol vehicles, which have an Index score of 42.

Hybrid vehicles followed with an Index score of 32, with electric vehicles close behind at 31. Diesel vehicles were given an Index score of 13.

Calculated by analysing the latest vehicle figures from Lloyds Banking Group’s motor finance and leasing brands, Black Horse and Lex Autolease, alongside data collected from more than 1,500 private car drivers, the Index runs from -50 to +100, where -50 means confidence in that fuel type is at its lowest, while +100 indicates confidence is at its highest.

Nick Williams, transport managing director at Lex Autolease, said: “Transport is fundamental to the transition to net zero and it’s going to take a collective effort across the industry as a whole to get to where we need to be.

“Looking at the progress already being made to electrify business fleets gives me confidence that this is eminently achievable, especially as the cost of purchase continues to fall and more electric vehicles enter the second-hand market, which should help speed up their adoption by private drivers.”

Further quarterly insights from Lex’s Future of Transport index will reveal how travel is changing, and the implications for the environment, the economy and even the nation’s health and wellbeing.

Williams continued: “At Lex Autolease, we want to support the net zero transition by sharing the intelligence we are collecting with the wider transport industry as we work together towards a carbon-free future.”