Electric vehicles have taken a record share of the new car order bank at Fleet Alliance in the first quarter of 2022, as fleets fast-track their EV adoption.  

Andy Bruce, Fleet Alliance CEO, said the significant growth in electric cars across the firm’s managed fleet was being helped by an ever-widening array of new electric models on the market

Between January and March, some 30% of new car orders have been battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and 33% have been hybrid and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, well ahead of the national market rate and a new record for the business. 

And the Glasgow-based leasing and fleet management expert expects to grow the electric element of its fleet still further this year due to the launch of its electric salary sacrifice scheme, designed to enable SMEs to offer employees low-emission electric cars at highly attractive rates, thanks to Fleet Alliance’s multi-bid funding solution. 

CEO Andy Bruce commented: “We are continuing to see significant growth in electric cars across our managed fleet, well ahead of the national rate, as more of our customers opt to go down an electric route.  

“This is being helped by an ever-widening array of new electric models coming onto the market, as more manufacturers broaden their product line-ups to include both BEVs and HEVs. The only major constraint is that of vehicle supply due to the global shortage of semiconductors but, with the increase in new models, there are always solutions available.” 

Bruce added that demand was also being driven within existing clients as part of Fleet Alliance’s commitment to the EV100 movement – it’s pledged to electrify its managed fleet of more than 30,000 vehicles by 2030. And the latest figures show that the commitment continues to be strongly met. 

“We have transitioned our own company cars to electric across the board. And we are now seeing growing numbers of our customers mirror our actions and make their own commitment to going electric,” he said. 

For the first quarter of this year, the Fleet Alliance new car order bank shows a 76% increase in BEV orders over the first quarter of 2021 and this type of vehicle now accounts for 30% of the company’s order bank.  

Hybrids and plug-in hybrids now make up 33% of first quarter orders, up 10% on the same period last year. Meanwhile, orders for new diesel and petrol cars continue to fall and are down 30% in the first quarter of 2022 compared to 2021. 

The Fleet Alliance figures compare with the latest SMMT new car market figures which show that sales of BEVs accounted for a 15.4% share of the UK new car market in the first quarter of 2022 – a new record but around half that seen in the Fleet Alliance order books. 

And HEVs and PHEVs, meanwhile, took an 18.6% market share, compared to the 33% share on the Fleet Alliance fleet.