Your Co-op Energy, part of The Midcounties Co-operative, has launched an electric vehicle salary sacrifice scheme to help businesses cut CO2 and emissions.

The Electric Dreams salary sacrifice scheme can bring potential cost savings of up to 40% for drivers while slashing CO2

The business has partnered up with Octopus Electric Vehicles to offer the Electric Dreams scheme to its clients, making it the first co-operative in the UK to provide a sal sac scheme.

Launched earlier this year under a new inhouse leasing company at Octopus Electric Vehicles, the Electric Dreams scheme can bring potential cost savings of up to 40% for drivers while slashing CO2.

According to Octopus EVs, if just 10% of the UK’s employees switched to electric cars, it could decimate the CO2 emissions of cars, while collectively saving almost £4bn per year.

The sal sac scheme enables businesses to lease an EV for their employees, who then sacrifice a portion of their salary for the vehicle, with no upfront costs. The deduction covers the monthly cost of a brand-new electric car, as well as insurance, servicing, maintenance, repairs, MOT, tax, tyres and road assistance, over an agreed term and mileage. The deduction is taken from the gross salary before tax and National Insurance, also helping to offset the Government’s National Insurance increase due in April 2022. Drivers just have to pay Benefit-in-Kind company car tax on the taxable value of the car – which stands at 1% for the current tax year. Employers can also save money by not paying NI on the salary sacrificed.

Drivers using the new scheme to implement EVs can also cut their emissions further by opting for Your Co-op Energy’s Community Power tariff. Said to be the only renewable energy tariff in the UK powered entirely by electricity from local community generation projects, the scheme reinvests any profits generated back into community benefit initiatives or new renewable energy generation.

Lizzie Hieron, chief operating officer, Your Co-op Business Solutions, said: “We know that increasing the number of electric vehicles on our roads can have a huge impact in reducing emissions and helping to tackle climate change, but for many people the upfront costs of purchasing or leasing a car themselves are too high.

“That’s why we’ve introduced our electric vehicle salary sacrifice scheme, in partnership with Octopus Electric Vehicles, which will open up the opportunity for eco-conscious businesses to allow their employees to lease an EV in a far more affordable way.”