Building a business case for EVs

Right now, EVs are more expensive to buy or lease than petrol or diesel vehicles.  

However, forecasts suggest that the price of some EVs could be the same as petrol or diesel vehicles before 2035. This is when new petrol and diesel vehicles will stop being sold.  

If you did want to make the switch to EVs, you could get a discount on the cost of certain electric vans, trucks, motorbikes, mopeds and taxis through the government’s plug-in vehicle grant.  

Charging an electric car is usually cheaper than refuelling with petrol or diesel.  

Some charging options are cheaper than others, so you could save even more when you’re charging your EVs. These options include charging at work or at a depot using commercial electricity, or charging at drivers’ homes during off-peak hours.  

Another way to save on fuel costs is to cut down on the amount of energy your vehicles use by training your staff to drive efficiently.  

You could also buy smaller and lighter vehicles such as zero emission powered light vehicles (zePLVs).   

See how much you could save by calculating your cost savings using our tool.  

Download EV cost and carbon savings calculator

By switching to electric, you’ll pay less for servicing and maintaining your vehicles. The maintenance bills for EVs are up to 43% lower than those for alternatively fuelled vehicles.  

You can also keep costs down by making sure your drivers know how to check the tyres and battery to make sure they’re still working well. 

Switching to EVs also gives you significant tax benefits, particularly if they’re company cars.   

If you’re travelling through a clean air or ultra-low emission zones, you won’t have to pay any charges. For example, if you drive into London’s ultra-low emission zone (ULEZ) twice a week, you’ll save £1,300 over the year by switching to an EV.  

The residual value of a vehicle is an estimate of how much it’ll be worth when the lease term for it is over. This is different to the market value, which is the current value of the vehicle if you were to sell it today.  

Right now, EVs have a higher residual value than their petrol and diesel alternatives. However, depreciation, which is the drop in a vehicle’s value per mile driven, may be higher for an EV.   

Using EVs might improve your business’s reputation and attract investors and new customers to your business.  

Research shows that 73% of companies that adopt sustainability standards experience sales and marketing benefits, while 43% see growth in production, sales or revenue.  

EVs have a much lower lifetime carbon footprint than petrol or diesel vehicles. An electric car currently emits around three times less carbon dioxide (CO2) than a petrol or diesel car.

This carbon footprint will continue to get smaller as more electricity becomes generated by renewables.

See how much carbon you could save by using our tool for reference.

Download EV cost and carbon savings calculator