Rev Up Your Green Credentials: Electric Vehicles and Salary Sacrifice Schemes for UK Businesses

bmw ix ezoo electric car subscription

The electric vehicle (EV) revolution is upon us, and businesses are increasingly looking for ways to embrace sustainability while offering attractive benefits to their employees.

Salary sacrifice schemes for electric vehicles present a win-win solution, allowing companies to contribute to a greener future and attract top talent with significant tax savings.

What is a Salary Sacrifice Scheme?

In a salary sacrifice scheme, employees agree to give up a portion of their pre-tax salary in exchange for a benefit. This reduces the employee’s taxable income, and therefore income tax and National Insurance (NI) contributions.

How Does it Work for Businesses?

As an employer, you partner with a salary sacrifice provider, like EZOO, who manages the entire process – from selecting cars to handling paperwork and maintenance. Here’s a breakdown of the benefits for businesses:

  • Cost-Effective: There are no extra costs to the company to run the scheme and it is a cost neutral benefit. The employer incurs no additional outgoings, and the employee gets the best value for money. It’s a win-win situation.
  • Attracts & Retains Talent: Employees are increasingly environmentally conscious. Offering an EV scheme demonstrates a commitment to sustainability and provides a valuable benefit that can attract and retain top talent.
  • Added Value: With more and more businesses supporting the EV market, additional perks, apps and services can be added to amplify the original employee benefit.
  • Boosts Employee Morale: When employees save money and contribute to a greener future, it can significantly boost morale and productivity.
  • Reduces Company Carbon Footprint: By encouraging employees to switch to EVs, your business will be adding a significant element to your internal ESG strategy as well as contributing to wider cleaner air and reduced carbon footprint goals.

Tax Advantages for Employees:

The biggest perk for employees lies in the tax savings. Here’s how it works:

  • Reduced Taxable Income: The sacrificed salary amount covering the cost of the car, is deducted from the employee’s gross salary before tax is calculated. This in effect reduces the salary on which the employee pays income tax and NI so these contributions are also reduced.
  • Lower Benefit-in-Kind (BiK) Tax: Electric vehicles currently have a very low BiK tax rate (2% from 2022 to 2025), compared to petrol or diesel cars (which can be as high as 37%). This further reduces the employee’s overall cost of driving the car.

Additional Employee Benefits:

Beyond tax savings, employees enjoy several other benefits:

Considerations for Businesses:

While salary sacrifice schemes offer numerous benefits, there are a few things to consider:

  • Scheme Provider Selection: Choose a reputable provider with a good track record and a wide range of EV options.
  • Employee Eligibility: Clearly define employee eligibility criteria based on salary level or job role.
  • Contract Length: Consider the length of the lease term (typically 2-4 years) to ensure it aligns with employee needs.
  • Early Termination: Establish a clear policy for early termination of the lease to manage potential costs.

Considerations for Employees:

Employees should also be aware of the following:

  • Reduced Take-Home Pay: The sacrificed salary portion will reduce the employee’s net monthly pay.
  • Mileage Restrictions: Some schemes may have mileage restrictions, so ensure it fits your driving needs.
  • Charging Infrastructure: Consider your access to home or workplace charging points before opting for an EV.

Salary Sacrifice From EZOO: Helping to accelerate sustainable driving.

We believe that salary sacrifice schemes for electric vehicles are a powerful tool for businesses to promote sustainability and attract top talent. With significant tax advantages for both employers and employees, and as the EV market continues to evolve, salary sacrifice schemes are poised to play a key role in accelerating the transition to electric vehicles in the UK, which is what we at EZOO fully support.

Our scheme therefore aims to make the adoption of salary sacrifice for businesses as simple and smooth as possible, helping you to deliver the best scheme for your employees.

Firstly, we manage the entire programme on your behalf; initially helping you through any initial administration and ensuring HMRC compliance and thereafter allowing you to focus on other employee business.

There are also no long-term contracts, in fact we are the only in house UK company to offer 12-month subscriptions through salary sacrifice. We also reduce your risk of being left with cars if your employee leaves.

Our market leading protection means that we will simply take the car back after just 2 months after delivery.

If you are providing a car scheme then you will likely want to provide adequate charging facilities onsite. We work with reputable partners who will guide you through the best options for maximising space and charging points.

Finally, we will help you launch the scheme to your workforce. As part of the experience of being in the EZOO family, launch days help employees find out more about the scheme, the tax benefits and savings and provide them with test drive opportunities in some of the best EV’s on the market.

For more information and FAQs on our salary sacrifice scheme get in touch with our team today to find out more.

EZOO’s New Subscription Model: Removing Cost Barriers to Electric Driving

We are excited to share that EZOO is now driving a new wave of changes in the UK’s electric vehicle subscription market. We are removing utilising refundable deposits (equivalent to one month payment terms) and reducing administration costs, whilst enhancing our onboarding experience and continuing to invest in our service and support.

We remain passionate about the positive impact electric cars have on our environment, and we believe this will help to remove some of the financial and operational concerns that can often be a barrier to driving away in an electric car from your favourite automotive brand.

For those who aren’t familiar with electric car subscriptions, instead of leasing your car over a long period, subscriptions offer more flexible, short and longer-term contracts, and a monthly payment that covers comprehensive insurance, maintenance and servicing, tax and 24/7 roadside recovery service as standard.

This is pay-as-you-go motoring which means you don’t have to worry about budgeting and scheduling payments for these different services separately.

Streamlined Onboarding

In addition, we have updated our onboarding process and reduced our onboarding fee by £200 to just £99, for all EZOO subscriptions. We care about quality and undertake extensive vehicle checks and due diligence to ensure all our cars are delivered in top condition.

Some of the EV driving technology can appear quite daunting, so our technicians will spend time taking you through how to optimise your driving experience and ensure that you are confident about EV charging.

All paperwork and registration processes are taken care of too – including activating the insurance and breakdown cover and ensuring you are able to drive freely in the ULEZ and congestion charge zones, which can be a complicated process for diesel and petrol vehicles.

Convenient Delivery Options

For our customers in England and Wales we now bring the showroom experience right to your door, offering personal delivery for just £199.

Customers in Scotland can also enjoy a tailored solution, with convenient collection from the Glasgow Hub and options for onward delivery too.

Ongoing Support

Even when you have taken delivery of your new EV and are enjoying all its benefits, EZOO’s operations team is available to answer any questions about your car, help you extend your contract or swap to another model and guide you through what to do if you are involved in an accident or breakdown.

EZOOs New Model Simplifies Everything

For those who are ready to embrace electric driving but are unsure where to start, EZOO offers a simple and supportive pathway.

From choosing your car, selecting your term through to delivery, our commitment is to make the process easy so more people can contribute towards a greener, more sustainable future—one subscription at a time.

Experience the convenience, flexibility, and peace of mind of electric mobility with EZOO today.

If you’re interested in learning more about our electric car range, salary sacrifice, or anything else we’ve covered in this piece, you can get in touch with us by dropping us an email at [email protected], or giving us a call on 0845 833 3200.

We’ve Been Nominated for EV Advocate of the Year

We are proud to announce that we have been nominated by Automotive Management for the EV Advocate of the Year.

We find ourselves in esteemed company, with nominations for the likes of Volkswagen UK, Nissan UK, Devonshire Motor Company, and Luscombe’s – all of whom have been absolutely instrumental in bringing awareness of EVs to the forefront.

The AM Awards ceremony takes place on Thursday 2nd May at Park Plaza, Westminster Bridge in London.

Our journey so far

Our own journey to EV advocacy started in earnest in late 2015 when we collected the very first Tesla Model X. Driving it home from Solihull, we realised that this was a car that could seat 7 people in comfort, be as quick as any Porsche 911, and yet be almost completely silent.

This was the moment that sparked our electric mission.

Upon trying to encourage people to choose an electric car, we soon found that people were not engaging in the conversation as they were content with their ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) car.

Our challenge became how to convince them to transition from fossil fuel cars to the new world of electric mobility.

Continuing EV advocacy

We realised that there were so many questions and fears that people had which were stopping them from committing to this new technology – if we could just give them the opportunity to try it out, maybe they would be convinced.

We realised that if we could let people take an electric car for just a month, and include insurance, maintenance, and breakdown cover, simply leaving them to ‘charge and drive’ for a single monthly payment, this would be a huge opportunity to increase the uptake of electric cars.

To provide this seamless service for our customers, we had to spend a lot of time getting the important pieces of the puzzle lined up, including insurance, maintenance, and technology.

Despite launching in the depths of the Covid Lockdown, we’ve grown our fleet to hundreds of electric only cars, as well as growing our team with our HQ in Coventry and a hub in Glasgow.

Our refined online process now allows consumers and businesses to choose their car, choose the term, and book a delivery to their door!

Since we have added Salary Sacrifice which allows savings of 30-60% on the price of an electric car, business has continued to grow and attract attention from all areas.

The future

We’re enormously grateful to receive this nomination and to be placed into a category with businesses that have done so much to further EV exposure.

No matter the result, we’re incredibly excited to see what the future holds for us as a business and the EV industry as a whole.

If you’re interested in learning more about our electric car range, or anything we’ve covered in this piece, you can get in touch with us by dropping us an email at [email protected], or giving us a call on 0845 833 3200.

Pledge to Net Zero Report

Pledge to Net Zero Report

At EZOO, we have been working diligently with Pledge to Net Zero, with the aim of decreasing our carbon footprint by 42%, thereby ensuring Net Zero for our business by 2030.

The Pledge to Net Zero report, which you can download here, details our carbon footprint, our commitments and the targets which have been set for the business to progress to Net Zero.

In this blog, we’ll explain what our goals are, how we intend to achieve Net Zero by 2030 and what information you can find in the latest report.

Business background

At EZOO, we understand that the way consumers own and operate their vehicles is changing rapidly towards an electric future. 

This has been exacerbated by fuel prices reaching a ten month high back in September 2023 (with more volatility expected), emissions scandals, and the increase of available choices when it comes to affordable and efficient EV vehicles.

EZOO was founded in 2012 by Lash and Charnjit Saranna, who had themselves made the important decision to switch to EV’s after spending more than three decades in the motor trade, growing Europe’s biggest independent Porsche dealership.

From the beginning, their objective was to create awareness and education around the benefits of switching to an affordable, flexible and customisable Pay as You Go electric car subscription model.

Net Zero ambitions & goals

We wholeheartedly believe in protecting the environment for future generations, and our major goal as a business is to tackle the causes of climate change and increasing local air pollution.

To do this, we must ensure that our day-to-day operations leave the smallest possible carbon footprint to do our part to protect the world around us from the catastrophic impacts of climate change.

To put our commitment into action, we signed up with the Pledge to Net-Zero back in 2019, and it is our objective to become net-zero by 2030.

In addition to regular sustainability reports, we have devised three core business goals to ensure we’re thinking sustainably in everything we do:

  • Identify and implement initiatives that reduce our carbon footprint, and increase our efficiency as an organisation.
  • Be recognised as a company that cares about the environment and is taking proactive measures to protect it.
  • Encourage other companies to follow suit.

These business goals will be used as a guide to prioritise emissions reduction initiatives in the drive to attain the newly created targets.

Our progress so far

In the 12 months from 1st April 2022 to 31st March 2023 (the reporting period), we had a total direct carbon footprint of 4,153kg CO2e. This is an 11% reduction compared to the previous 12 months.

In this reporting period we also purchased an additional 78 vehicles and our sales increased by 40%. However, we were still able to decrease emissions, which is great news.

Our carbon emissions came from two primary sources:

  • Electricity purchased for charging our electric vehicles offsite – when we charge vehicles at the office we are using renewable energy. However, offsite charging cannot always be zero carbon. We charged considerably more vehicles on the road in 2023, so these emissions have increased by 30%
  • Gas consumption for heating the office – we used 20% less gas this year compared to the previous year, therefore emissions reduced by 20%

The Net Zero by 2030 Report

This report was written by sustainability consultant Barnaby King, who has been commissioned by EZOO to support our path toward Net Zero.

This report contains details of our baseline carbon footprint and the targets which have been set out for Scope 1, 2 and 3. 

You can download the full report in PDF form right here.

If you’re interested in learning more about our electric car range, or our commitment to Net Zero, you can get in touch with us by dropping us an email at [email protected], or giving us a call on 0845 833 3200.

Our EV fleet now travels more than one million miles a year

Our fleet of over 150 electric vehicles now travels more than 1 million miles a year, supporting the transition from combustion to electric. 

As car ownership changes, fuel prices continue to rise – and with manufacturers filling the forecourts with new EV models fresh off the production line, now is the time to make the switch to electric power.

In 2012, EZOO founders Lash and Charnjit Saranna made that very same switch – bringing with them 30 years of automotive experience that included building and growing Europe’s largest independent Porsche centre.

From day one, the goal has been to bring awareness and education around the switch from combustion to electric, to create what EZOO prides itself on today – affordable, flexible, and customisable Pay As You Go electric car subscription service – built to make the shift to electric power as easy as possible. 

This piece has been written by Barnaby King, a sustainability consultant who has been commissioned by EZOO to support our overall journey to Net Zero.

Tailpipe emissions

EZOO has grown significantly in the past three years. Our fleet has grown from 18 vehicles in 2021, to 155 vehicles today. The more vehicles we have, the more we can support others to transition to electrified transport, and ultimately the more carbon emissions can be saved. 

In the financial year 2022-23, our customers travelled over 1.3 million miles in electric vehicles leased from us. Reducing tailpipe emissions* by nearly 350 tonnes of CO2e (compared to an equivalent petrol or diesel vehicle). 

To give you an idea, 350 tonnes of carbon emissions saved annually is equivalent to:

  • Carbon sequestration by 18,500 mature oak trees, covering an area of approximately 22 football fields. 
  • The energy saved by using 4,800 solar panels, covering an area of approximately 10 football pitches (in the UK in 2023).

Of course, not every business has space to install solar panels or land to grow trees. 

Most businesses rely on petrol or diesel vehicles for part of their operations, be it for logistics, maintenance, or staff commuting. By switching these vehicles to electric, they can significantly reduce their carbon footprint. 

*Tailpipe emissions are those emitted at the point of use. They include emissions from the combustion of petrol and diesel in combustion vehicles. The carbon emissions resulting from the electricity consumed in EVs are not tailpipe emissions. 

Figure 1: Tailpipe emissions saved by EZOO customers.

What about the electricity used to charge EVs? 

A medium petrol or diesel vehicle emits a staggering 280 grams of carbon for every mile travelled. Electricity for EVs is responsible for just 77 grams per mile, less than 30% of a petrol or diesel equivalent (assuming they are charged from UK grid electricity), according to the UK Government’s emissions factors report for 2023.

The carbon intensity of EVs can be reduced further, or even removed entirely by installing solar panels and intelligent EV charge points and/or purchasing electricity from a green energy supplier. 

What about the emissions used to manufacture EVs? 

EVs indeed require more carbon to manufacture. However, peer-reviewed Life Cycle Analysis (LCA)** overwhelmingly concludes that the carbon savings across the life of an EV offset the additional carbon required in manufacturing.

Greencap recently published the LCA for 62 petrol, diesel, hybrid and electric vehicles. The results show that EVs always have lower life cycle carbon emissions than equivalent petrol or diesel vehicles. 

**Life Cycle Analysis is an academic calculation methodology which considers the carbon emitted throughout the vehicle’s entire life. Starting with supply chains for rural materials and ending with the recycling of the vehicle.

EZOO reduces carbon emissions today, not tomorrow

We all know how critical the climate emergency is, the warning signs are everywhere. In 2023 the UN secretary general, António Guterres, said this about the latest IPCC report:

“This report is a clarion call to massively fast-track climate efforts by every country and every sector and on every timeframe. Our world needs climate action on all fronts: everything, everywhere, all at once.”

EZOO enables companies and individuals to switch to electric vehicles today, not tomorrow. Slashing carbon emissions and local air pollution while making the process as convenient and low-risk as possible, so companies can get on with running their businesses and people can get on with their lives with complete peace of mind.

Why is it so important to take action today? 

A lot of the focus on the climate emergency is placed on ‘point-in-time’ targets. I.e. The UK has committed to cut annual emissions by 78% by 2035. However, these targets do not accurately communicate what is needed.  

Carbon dioxide accumulates in the atmosphere year after year, increasing the greenhouse effect and warming our planet. 2035 is no more important than 2034 and so on. The carbon budget is a far better metric to track progress. 

The carbon budget sets a limit on the total cumulative carbon emissions that can be emitted, while keeping the global temperature below a certain level.  

According to an analysis by the Global Carbon Project, to keep global warming to below 1.5 Degrees (we now only have a 50% at doing so) we have just 9 years of 2022 global emissions left in the budget. 

That means, if global emissions remain at the highs we saw in 2022, in 9 years we will have spent all the carbon budget and the 1.5-degree threshold is likely to be exceeded. 

Acting as soon as possible is critically important when it comes to keeping within these carbon budgets. 

For example, let’s say a business has a fleet of 100 diesel vehicles which travel about one million miles a year and emit about 300 tonnes of CO2 annually. 

The company has set a target to reduce emissions by 50% by 2030. As part of their action plan, they want to replace all their vehicles with electric equivalents. If the company waits until 2030 to switch to electric vehicles, they will have technically met their target. 

However, 1,800 tonnes of CO2 will be added to the atmosphere between 2024 and 2030 and these emissions make a dent in the carbon budget. If they decide to make the switch in 2024, the majority of these emissions can be avoided.

So what are you waiting for?

Reduce your carbon footprint today and go electric with EZOO’s Pay As You Go Electric. The steps are simple:

  1. Choose your car. 
  2. Choose your term. 
  3. Delivered to your door.

Our system is built to remove long waiting times. We make the switch to EV straightforward, so we choose to deal with the insurance, maintenance and road tax ourselves, saving you the hassle.

Our system is run online – but if that’s not for you, or you’re not sure what the subscription entails, or perhaps you just want to learn more about electric cars, a member of our expert team will always be on hand to guide you.

EZOO is a family business, which means we understand the values of trust and honesty, which is why we’ve driven every car in our fleet, to ensure we know every car inside out.

To get in touch with us, drop us an email at [email protected], or don’t hesitate to pick up the phone on 0845 833 3200.