GLASGOW-based leasing broker Fleet Alliance has seen the number of Ultra Low Emission Vehicles (ULEVs) grow to record levels in the last 12 months.
Around two thirds (66%) of last year’s new car sales were ULEVs (CO2 emissions of 75g/km or less), says Fleet Alliance.
This comprised one third battery electric vehicles (BEVs), representing a year-on-year growth rate of 50% over 2021, and one third hybrid vehicles, sales of which were up by 10% in the last 12 months.
The astonishing rate of growth in market share is double that of the UK new car market as a whole. Nationally, some 16.6% of all new cars were BEVs last year, compared with 33% at Fleet Alliance, while the national market share figure for hybrids was 17.9% compared, again, to 33% at Fleet Alliance.
Company CEO, Andy Bruce (left), said that demand for ULEVs was being driven both by sales to new customers and to existing clients, and underlined the business’s commitment to its membership of the EV100 movement.
We are seeing growing numbers of our customers make their own commitment to going electric by adding either BEVs or hybrids to their fleets as they move to meet their own ESG timetables. While we have been actively encouraging them, we have largely been pushing against an open door.
Bruce added that a key driver in ULEV growth had been its salary sacrifice scheme that it launched in late 2021 and which has proved increasingly successful, not least because of the current cost-of-living crisis and the tax benefits that the scheme delivers for EV drivers.
The three most popular makes of EV on the Fleet Alliance fleet last year were Tesla, Mercedes and Kia (main picture) but, like many suppliers, Fleet Alliance had been affected by the supply constraints created by the global shortage of semiconductors, said Bruce.
We are expecting supply to begin to ease during 2023, with more electric models being introduced across the board from all manufacturers. And we are expecting to see a return to near normality towards the end of the year with lead times and prices gradually coming down as supply eases.
As an EV100 member, Fleet Alliance has plans to electrify its 30,000-strong managed fleet by 2030. The company says its latest figures show that the commitment continues to be strongly met. Fleet Alliance’s own corporate fleet went fully electric in mid-2021.
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Ralph Morton is the leading journalist in the leasing broker sector and editor of Broker News, the website which provides information and news for BVRLA-registered leasing brokers. He also writes extensively on the fleet and leasing market in both the UK and Europe.
