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Personal leasing customers are rushing to electric vehicles (EVs) ahead of next month’s expiration of the £3,500 subsidy for plug-in vehicles.
Latest figures from Leasing.com show that pure EVs accounted for 5% of all leasing enquiries in January – almost twice that of their share of the overall new car market (2.7%).
The Nissan Leaf proved to be the most popular all-electric model in January. With a range of around 168 miles, the 110kW N-Connecta 40kWh Nissan Leaf derivative proved most popular, ahead of the Tesla Model 3.
The Plug-in Car Grant (PICG) is spread evenly across the term of the lease and can reduce the monthly cost of a 36-month contract by around 25%, or £100 a month, according to the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA).
Leasing.com and the BVRLA are calling for the grant to be extended to continue to acceleration the uptake of zero-emission vehicles
Paul Harrison, head of strategic partnerships at Leasing.com, said: “Leasing customers are responsible for the purchase of tens of thousands of electric vehicles each year and the PICG is vital in helping more consumers make the transition from petrol or diesel to electric vehicles.”
“Now that hybrid vehicles appear to have been added to the government’s ban, and speculation it could happen as early as 2032, more urgently needs to be done to continue to incentivise the uptake of electric vehicles by consumers.”
The Government recently announced plans to ban the sale of new petrol, diesel and hybrid cars and vans to 2035, or earlier if a faster transition is feasible.
The date could be earlier if proven feasible and the plans are subject to consultation. The new date is five years earlier than previously planned and hybrids are included for the first time.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “This government’s £1.5bn strategy to make owning an electric vehicle as easy as possible is working – last year alone, a fully electric car was sold every 15 minutes.
“We want to go further than ever before. That’s why we are bringing forward our already ambitious target to end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars to tackle climate change and reduce emissions.”