The widening chasm between official list prices and real-world market costs for new electric vehicles is triggering widespread confusion and actively stalling business adoption, according to FleetCheck.

Peter Golding, CEO at the fleet software specialist, warned that high levels of discounting and extensive use of pre-registrations have made it nearly impossible for outright-purchase fleets to know whether the price they are being offered is a good deal.

According to Golding, the disruption is largely driven by regulatory pressures.

“Largely because of the ZEV mandate, many manufacturers are making more electric cars and vans than buyers can accommodate, and subsequently having to discount them heavily – much more than would normally be seen for petrol or hybrid equivalents.”

This meant the gaps between the traditional three-tier market – the list price, the price that a fleet can access from a manufacturer and the dealer forecourt pre-reg price – were much wider than the norm, he explained.

While the situation is bad for cars, FleetCheck said it was probably worse for light commercial vehicles, where demand for EVs is lower.

“We recently received an e-mail of available pre-reg vans from a dealer that was more than 80% electric, some at prices that made a complete fiction of list,” Golding elaborated.

Adding to the volatility is the unpredictable nature of supply-driven ‘spot deals’.

“Everyone across the fleet sector hears of ridiculously low prices on particular EVs that become available when a boatload of stock arrives that a manufacturer needs to clear,” said FleetCheck’s CEO.

This “disorderly” marketing environment is a problem for all fleets, but particularly damaging for businesses taking their first steps towards electrification, especially SMEs.

“Of course, fleets expect a discount over list but the official price remains a reference point. We regularly speak to operators – especially at the small and medium end of the fleet spectrum – who feel they don’t know whether the real-world price on offer for a particular EV is reasonable. Yes, the discount is attractive but the list price itself is meaningless.”

Golding said the situation was hampering EV adoption because fleet decision-makers are hesitant to “push the button on acquisition” when a much better deal might be available elsewhere or next week.

It’s also impacting residual values, which in turn affects rates offered by major leasing companies.

“Leasing companies are probably offered more consistent levels of pricing because of their buying power but the kind of discounts and fluctuations being seen make residual value forecasts difficult and are one of the reasons they are so poor for EVs.”

The problem would largely be resolved if manufacturers moved their list prices for EVs closer to the figures being paid, he said.

“There are examples of this starting to happen and list prices for EVs generally have fallen as the cost of making them has reduced. However, there are still far too many instances where the official figure is too far adrift to make any sense.”

The situation was highlighted by the Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP) earlier this year, which warned that figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show that the average discount applied to electric vehicles in 2025 was a massive £11,000. In comparison, non-battery vehicles average a £6,000 discount.

The AFP also warned that such a dramatic mismatch between list and real-world pricing has a direct impact on taxation, especially for fleets that outright purchase, and means businesses and their drivers will still pay tax on the car at the higher level.

The fleet trade body has said that in an ideal world, manufacturers would realign their list prices to something much closer to what they are actually charging for their cars.

AFP chair Paul Hollick continued: “As demand hopefully grows in the future, they could then be allowed to climb over time. This is desirable but unlikely – history shows a strong tendency to retain higher list prices.

“However, there is definitely a robust argument for a more transparent approach. Discounts being applied show list prices are, in many cases, simply fictions that bring many problems but serve no good purpose.”