Salary sacrifice car schemes can play a role in supporting workers make a safe return to the office, according to Fleet Evolution.

Fleet Evolution founder and managing director Andrew Leech

With the UK and devolved governments now advocating an end to Covid work from home guidance, the EV leasing and fleet management specialist said that cheaper-to-run EVs, provided through salary sacrifice, can help workers deterred from making a return to full-time office working due to higher transport costs and the continued risk of infection.

Work from home guidance will scrapped from Thursday 27 January in England, Friday 28 January in Wales and from Monday January 31 in Scotland, allowing people to return to workplaces again.

Big banks, advertising firms and insurers are amongst those that have announced full-scale plans to return to the office, although there are clear misgivings amongst some workers regarding the safety aspects of commuting to the office, with train and bus passenger numbers down significantly on pre-pandemic levels.

Fleet Evolution founder and managing director Andrew Leech argued: “This is where we think an electric car can play a role. Non-polluting and very cost and tax friendly when provided through a salary sacrifice car scheme, they are ideal for returning office workers who don’t want to risk a daily commute on a crowded bus or train.”

Leech said that an EV, provided under salary sacrifice, could cut fuel bills by up to 80% at a time when pump prices were at record levels across the country. RAC Fuel Watch data for this week puts the average price of a gallon of unleaded at a 10-year high of 145.82p while diesel is an average 149.18p.

In comparison, Fleet Evolution data shows that an electric car which travels 10,000 miles a year has transport costs of under £20 per month.

“And there is none of the fuel supply anxiety that we saw last year with an EV, while the range on most, if not all, modern EVs is more than adequate for the daily commute on a single charge,” explained Leech.

Workplace chargers can also enable employees to recharge at no cost to them while at the office. To help support implementation, Fleet Evolution is currently offering free installation of two-port chargers at the office car park of any customer with more than five of its cars on their fleet.

Leech also said that EVs could deliver financial cost savings in the region of 35-40% over conventional ICE models, helping employees cut costs with the return to work.

“An EV acquired under a corporate salary sacrifice scheme is extremely cost and tax-efficient given the current Benefit-in-Kind tax regime of 1% this tax year and 2% next, which is highly advantageous for electric cars.

“Typically, all maintenance, road tax, business insurance and breakdown cover costs are included within the monthly cost, which is deducted from the employee’s gross salary. This creates savings in income tax and National Insurance Contributions which can be significant.

“And not only are EV salary sacrifice schemes extremely beneficial for the employee, they bring multiple benefits to the employer, including national insurance savings, reduced grey fleet risk and a marked reduction in carbon footprint,” he added.