Pay less for electric vehicles (EVs)

You might be eligible for government financial help to ease the switch to EVs.

Financial help for EVs
Find finance and support

Financial help for EVs

Government financial help allows you to use EVs to benefit financially year over year, particularly if employees use company cars for private use, and include:

higher capital claim allowances
lower rates of benefit-in-kind tax
no tax on using a zero emission company van for private use
exemptions from vehicle road taxes
avoiding ‘low emission zone’ charges in major cities

Consider a salary sacrifice scheme

Businesses can help employees buy or lease an EV through a salary sacrifice scheme.

This involves a business purchasing/leasing an EV as a business expense and passing the cost straight onto the employee.

Employees can deduct the cost of the EV from the employee salary pre-PAYE, where tax and NI is taken. So, the employee pays less tax and the net cost of leasing the EV is reduced, at no cost to the employer.

In a salary sacrifice scheme, the employee consents to lower gross pay as they sacrifice a portion to finance the EV. As such, the employee can be taxed at a lower rate and the employer saves on salary costs and employer’s National Insurance Contributions.

Benefit from reduced purchase prices for EVs

You might be eligible for government grants to bring the purchase price of EVs closer to fuel-powered vehicles.

Find out more about eligible vehicles

Cars are no longer eligible. There is no maximum purchase price for van and truck discounts.

Buy, rent, lease or subscribe to an EV

To find prices, ranges and payload capacities for EVs, compare options on the Electric Vehicle Database for cars and vans.

You can also rent, lease or subscribe to EVs.

Renting allows you to use an electric car for a few hours to a few weeks. Typically, all costs are included.

Leasing is when you use a vehicle for a fixed period of time, having agreed an amount of money for the lease. After the primary term, often two to four years, you have to return the vehicle to the leasing company or buy it for the residual value.

Subscribing to an EV includes the cost of a car and most other services into one fixed monthly cost.

Subscribing works in a similar way to leasing, as you are essentially renting a car and you never own it. Where it differs is that most subscription services include the car, tax, maintenance and breakdown cover.