Wide-ranging environmental metrics used to ascertain eligibility for the Government’s new Electric Car Grant could provide a pointer to the future of fleet taxation, according to FleetCheck.

The fleet software specialist said it’s probably the first time such a comprehensive set of sustainability measurements has been applied to a government initiative of this type, giving a possible heads-up to developments in company car taxation.

Peter Golding, CEO at FleetCheck, elaborated: “Current taxation intended to encourage cleaner vehicle use – such as Benefit-in-Kind for company car drivers and road fund licence – is based around the CO2 output of the vehicle at the tailpipe. It’s quite a blunt instrument and what the Government is applying here appears to be much more subtle.

“It is a development that might potentially provide an insight into current government thinking. There could be some awareness and concern about the higher manufacturing impact of EVs and a determination to reward cleaner processes.”

Golding caveated that FleetCheck had no particular intuition about government strategy but said it did seem to be a significant shift.

The recently announced £650m ‘Electric Car Grant’ (ECG) offers discounts of either £3,750 or £1,500 off the cost of a new electric vehicle with an initial list price up to £37,000. To qualify, EVs must meet technical standards, but manufacturers must also hold a verified Science Based Target and the carbon emissions incurred in vehicle assembly and battery cell production locations must be below certain thresholds. Applications must also provide evidence of which country the vehicle is assembled in – all 17 models that have already been approved for the grant are either produced in the UK or mainland Europe.

Golding said any movement along this path was unlikely to occur quickly, with the Government having already provided Benefit-in-Kind taxation tables until the end of the decade based on the current banded CO2 system.

“It may be they are looking ahead to a moment in the medium term when almost all company cars are electric with zero tailpipe emissions. At that point, they may instead want to look at the wider environmental impact of each model, including not just manufacturing but transportation to market, recyclability and more.

“Certainly, this would make sense in terms of encouraging more sustainable behaviour from manufacturers and fleets as the EV revolution progresses.”