Electric cars: could your employer help you save thousands?
I f you have been thinking about switching to an electric car but are worried about the cost, talk to Bill Hopkinson. Until four months ago, the sales and marketing director was driving more than 30,000 miles a year in a diesel BMW and spending about £800 a month on lease payments, fuel, insurance and maintenance.
Fast-forward to today, and he is now behind the wheel of a new, fully electric Audi Q4 e-tron. His total monthly expenditure on the car, including the use of public charging points, has fallen to £611 – meaning he is on course to save more than £2,200 a year, while, at the same time, slashing his carbon footprint.
How has he done it? By making use of “salary sacrifice”.
For years, employees have had the chance to get a new bicycle or childcare vouchers through workplace salary sacrifice schemes, saving as much as 40% of their value.
However, in recent years, enlightened employers, keen to reduce their carbon emissions or reward longstanding workers with a great perk, have woken up to the fact that there are huge benefits in offering staff electric cars in the same way.
Higher-rate taxpayers – those earning more than £50,270 – should save about £2,000-£3,000 a year on the cost of leasing a brand-new electric car. For those earning less than that, the savings are closer to 30% but still worth having.
The first thing to note is that there is no obligation to use the car for work, although it appears employers whose staff do drive as part of their roles are more likely to offer this option.
Frankly, the deal is so good that if you are in the market for an electric car, don’t even think about going ahead with a purchase until you have asked your employer whether it offers one of these schemes – and if it doesn’t, why not?
Read more on theguardian.com
