Electric vehicles claim record market share at Fleet Alliance

Electric vehicles have taken a record share of the new car order bank at Fleet Alliance in the first quarter of 2022.  Between January and March some 30% of new vehicle orders have been Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) and 33% have been Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs), well ahead of the national market rate.

And the Glasgow-based leasing and fleet management expert expects to grow the electric element of its fleet still further this year due to the launch of its innovative electric salary sacrifice scheme, which is intended to allow small and medium-sized businesses to offer their employees low emission electric cars at highly attractive rates.

The scheme provides cheap access to fully maintained, zero carbon-emitting vehicles at no extra cost to the business and delivers significant cost-reduction benefits due to Fleet Alliance’s multi-bid funding solution.

This employs competitive tendering amongst a panel of funders to ensure that maximum value is delivered to employer and employee by selecting the lowest cost – a facility not normally available to smaller businesses.

Fleet Alliance CEO Andy Bruce, commented: “We are continuing to see significant growth in electric vehicles across our managed fleet ahead of the national rate as more of our customers opt to go down an electric route.

“This is being helped by an ever-widening array of new electric models coming onto the market, as more manufacturers broaden their product line-ups to include both BEVs and PHEVs. The only major constraint is that of vehicle supply due to the global shortage of semiconductors but, with the increase in new models, there are always solutions available.

“And we fully expect to increase the electric element of our fleet still further thanks to our popular and highly cost-effective salary sacrifice scheme which focuses on the provision of electric vehicles to small and medium-sized businesses,” he said.

Bruce said that demand was also being driven within existing clients as part of Fleet Alliance’s commitment to the EV100 movement. As an EV100 member, Fleet Alliance plans to electrify its managed fleet of more than 30,000 vehicles by 2030. And the latest figures show that the commitment continues to be strongly met.

“We have transitioned our own company cars to electric across the board. And we are now seeing growing numbers of our customers mirror our actions and make their own commitment to going electric,” he said.

EV sales continue to outpace petrol and diesel

For the first quarter of this year, the latest SMMT new car market figures show that sales of BEVs accounted for a 15.4% share of the new car market – a new record but almost half that seen in the Fleet Alliance order books.

And PHEVs meanwhile took 7.1% market share, compared to the 33% share of the Fleet Alliance fleet. (See chart below).

Meanwhile, conventional combustion engine vehicles continue their steady decline in popularity. Sales of diesel cars fell 51% in the first three months of 2022 as fleets continue to shun the once popular and market-leading fuel.

Sales of petrol cars, meanwhile, fell 15% in the first quarter, and in the month of March were down 25%.

For the first three months of 2022, new car sales were down 1.9% to 417,560 new units, compared to 425,525 in the first three months of 2021, largely because of global supply problems caused by the semiconductor shortage.

The month of March, normally one of the largest months of the year for new car sales due to the new registration plate change, saw sales drop 14.3% to 243,479, compared to 283,964 in the same month last year, again because of the global supply issues.

The SMMT commented: “With the industry reporting strong order books, it is the constraints on supply that are preventing the sector from moving into full recovery. The shortage of semiconductors, itself an effect of the pandemic, is affecting the sector globally but longer-term uncertainty remains, with the invasion of Ukraine raising the risk to supply chains.

“More broadly, however, economic headwinds such as rising energy costs, fuel costs, inflation and a squeeze on household incomes could impact new vehicle demand.

“With grants for BEVs ongoing until at least next March, however, interest rates still low and electric cars benefiting from lower running costs, there are significant benefits for drivers who can order new vehicles now.”