Three-quarters (74%) of businesses will actively seek EV charging payment solutions to manage their electric company cars and vans in the next 12 months.

Mina’s research with 360 Media revealed that 74% of fleet decision-makers will actively seek a payment solution for EV charging over the next 12 months

That’s according to a major new survey of 200 fleet decision-makers by Mina and 360 Media Group that reveals rising fleet concerns over short-changing drivers on business mileage reimbursement.

Last week saw HMRC increase the Advisory Electricity (AER) – used by well over half (55%) of companies to reimburse drivers tax-free for business mileage – up to 5 pence per mile (ppm).

But this new rate still massively underestimates the true cost of recharging electric vehicles (EVs), according to Mina, a specialist in EV charging payment solutions.

“Relying on the AER means many employers are underpaying their drivers without even realising,” said Ashley Tate, CEO and co-founder of Mina.

Analysis published by TMC last week reveals that the average pence per mile electricity cost for an electric van is actually 7.8ppm, and rises to as much as 15.7ppm for the largest vans. This means that a van driver covering the average 13,000 miles per year would be short-changed by at least £346 per year, with the figure likely to be much higher as energy prices continue to soar.

The new rate still leaves company car drivers out of pocket too, with well below half of electric cars capable of operating at 5ppm when energy tariffs were as low as 16p/kWh – and tariffs are now closer to 20p/kWh.

To further complicate the issue, there is also a huge range in home energy tariffs – Mina has tracked over 370 tariff increases during the past three months due to the energy crisis.

The firm also warns of an extreme variance between home and public charging costs. A driver might pay as little as 5 pence per kwh at home and 70 pence on the motorway. Yet some 35-40% of drivers (and up to 70% of van drivers) do not have off-street parking and so are reliant to using more expensive public charge points.

And while a third (35%) of fleet decision-makers attempt to calculate their own EV mileage reimbursement rates, this is a complex and potentially risky process that could erode the savings from running EVs and risk an HMRC investigation, according to Mina.

Its research has found that accuracy was the number one criterion for fleets when assessing EV payment solutions, and that 78% of fleet decision-makers said they would be very interested in an accurate solution that removes the administrative burden for both drivers and the business.

The Mina Homecharge fleet payment solution for EV charging consolidates home and public charging into a single monthly business invoice and accurately pays for drivers’ business mileage direct to their home energy supplier.

“Drivers on the Mina platform won’t ever suffer from ‘bill shock’ and are never out of pocket while waiting to be reimbursed by their employer for their business mileage,” said Ashley Tate.

“Our mission is to make paying for EV charging radically simple, and the Mina solution does just that!”