Tusker under the Microscope – Fleet World.

Our research has shown that Electric Vehicle (EV) adoption is now well within the reach of most drivers. Whereas 10 years ago, anxieties around range and charging were both well founded for many drivers, these have all but been removed for the overwhelming majority of motorists today. The one remaining barrier to widespread EV adoption can be the initial purchase price, which is than the equivalent petrol or diesel car.

While the lower total cost of ownership for EVs can help narrow this gap with internal combustion vehicles, it is the incredible tax efficiency of EVs which has helped the widespread adoption of EVs by business drivers. Low BIK rates coupled with the wider acceptance of Salary Sacrifice schemes have allowed motorists to benefit from savings which can run into the thousands over the lifetime of a car’s contract.

Tusker is delighted that the benefits of Salary Sacrifice can be just as beneficial for lower rate taxpayers as they are for company car drivers, which is allowing more employees to access the benefits of new, safer and greener vehicles which they otherwise wouldn’t have been eligible for, nor able to afford. Via Sal Sac schemes, not only do employees get to access new vehicles, saving themselves money in the process, but employers also benefit through increased employee retention rates, and improved CSR at the same time.

With the ban on petrol and diesel cars coming into force in just eight years, Tusker is confident that the EV landscape will change dramatically within this time, particularly with all global manufactures currently engaged in the production of EVs, that the range of available vehicles will be significantly wider each year.

Tusker Insight

Tusker has been committed to providing environmentally conscientious car as a carbon neutral organisation since 2010 and became a net positive carbon contributor to the environment in 2021. Whether with its employee salary sacrifice car scheme, or more traditional company fleet offering, Tusker has been helping to get more employees into new, affordable, and more environmentally friendly vehicles for more than 14 years.

With a current fleet of more than 20,000 cars, of which 95% are on salary sacrifice, Tusker has now put more than 60,000 vehicles on the road for customers including NHS trusts, councils, and organisations including AstraZeneca, EDF and British Airways.

The strategy for Salary Sacrifice, which includes the reduced BIK rates currently available for Electric Vehicles, means those on lower salaries have been accessing EVs for the first time. It also allows Tusker to provide this benefit to those not offered a traditional company car where a higher salary or job role is a pre-requisite to a vehicle.

As a result of the unique way the scheme is set up, a huge 70% of Tusker’s fleet are 20% taxpayers ensuring that this audience who haven’t been catered for with company car benefits previously, now have access to affordable electric vehicles.

As a tireless advocate for electrified motoring, Tusker joined the EV 100 Group in 2020, adding its name to a growing list of companies committed to switching their owned and contracted fleets to electric vehicles and installing charging infrastructure for employees and customers by 2030. Tusker is on track to achieve these milestones ahead of time.

Through advocacy of EVs and ULEVs, the switch to EV is well underway for Tusker customers, and momentum is increasing. In 2019, just 13% of its salary sacrifice vehicles were EV. Two years on and this figure has climbed to 73%, and looks set to rise further in 2022, with more than 90% of Tusker’s order book for this year being electrified.

The positive benefits of this fundamental switch amongst Tusker drivers – away from petrol and diesel and into electric – is also delivering remarkable benefits to the environment.  In just three years, Tusker has lowered its average fleet emissions from 107.9g/Km, to just 36.6g/Km, and this average looks set to continue falling in 2022.

In 2021, Tusker celebrated Energy Saving Week with the announcement that it had surpassed another environmental milestone, having offset more than 250,000 tonnes of carbon emissions via Verified Carbon Standard programs.