As we have reported previously in The Car Expert, more new car customers are turning to EV salary sacrifice schemes to take advantage of considerable tax benefits compared to other forms of financing.
This trend is accelerating rapidly, with a large percentage of EVs now financed via salary sacrifice. If you are eligible for a salary sacrifice plan through your employer and you want a new EV, it’s almost a no-brainer to go down this path.
Since the introduction of valuable Benefit in Kind tax savings for low emission cars, the demand for electric vehicles has rocketed and, for many users, an EV salary sacrifice scheme can offer big savings on income tax and National Insurance. While you can take a petrol or diesel car on salary sacrifice as well, there are comparatively few financial advantages to doing so these days.
Salary sacrifice, known as ‘sal-sac’, allows employees to reduce their cash earnings in return for a non-cash benefit, which can include a car. And because the deduction is made before income tax is applied, the scheme can represent a significant saving, especially when that’s set alongside the lower car tax (VED) which zero-emission EVs attract.
One of the biggest problems with EV salary sacrifice is that it is quite difficult to understand compared to traditional PCP car finance or PCH car leasing. Your employer needs to be signed up to a salary sacrifice programme, and the monthly cost of a car will depend on how much you earn and how you earn it (unlike a PCP or lease, where the monthly payment is going to be the same no matter what your salary is).
However, a number of new start-up companies have made great headway in helping potential customers understand the costs involved, as well as making it easier for small businesses to sign up to salary sacrifice programmes. Combined with the tax savings in salary sacrifice for electric cars, and it’s proving to be a very favourbale way for customers to make the switch from petrol power to electricity.
So where should you go for more information and a chance to sign up for a new car under an EV salary sacrifice scheme? Here, The Car Expert sets out the websites of some of the best providers currently available, to give a broad overview of the service currently being provided to companies and their employees.
Some of the companies below are marked with an asterisk* – these companies are commercial partners of The Car Expert, so we may receive a small commission if you click through to their websites to find out more. This does not affect the price you pay, but helps us to keep the site running. The rest of the sites are listed alphabetically.
SalSac*
URL: salsac.co.uk
The first and most obvious point is that SalSac does exactly what its name suggests, providing ‘sal-sac’ vehicles for both small and large employers. The website concentrates on electric vehicles, but it can offer salary sacrifice on any type of vehicle if you’d prefer a petrol, diesel or hybrid car.
The site is full of clearly explained information about how salary sacrifice works, even including an example payslip that shows how your net pay will look if you take up a vehicle. This really helps people considering salary sacrifice for the first time to understand exactly how it would work and whether it would be right for them.
A range of electric vehicles is shown, with indications of how much you’d save on petrol costs and how much your electricity is likely to cost for each car over a three-year period. Even allowing for these numbers being a general guide that will depend on your circumstances, it’s helpful for your budget calculations when making your decision. There’s also an indication of total savings over a three-year period.
Pricing includes the vehicle plus comprehensive insurance, servicing and road tax for the entire duration of the agreement. SalSac will also deliver the car to your door.
Fleet Alliance*
URL: fleetalliance.co.uk
Fleet Alliance is a Glasgow-based fleet management and funding specialist, and has now brought its expertise into the EV salary sacrifice market. The company is concentrating on electric vehicles only for its salary sacrifice offering, as that’s where the best saving are available for employees.
The site has loads of helpful information for both employees and employers, with both an FAQ section and explainer videos. There are some good example calculations of how much different cars cost with salary sacrifice compared to traditional leasing. However, you’ll need to be registered to be able to log in and see all the latest offers on the full range of electric cars.
Fleet Alliance also promises plenty of back-up service and support for employers, which is reassuring for companies that are taking their first steps into salary sacrifice.
Octopus*
URL: octopusev.com
Octopus says it realised how good EV salary sacrifice was and decided to design a scheme that makes it easy and cost-neutral for companies to set up and run. That’s the group’s vision and the website goes on to explain more about that goal. You can click on ‘employer’ or ‘employee’ from the landing page for more detailed information but the general ‘Salary Sacrifice’ drop down menu offers information on how sal-sac works and what you get with an Octopus scheme.
That includes the new car, insurance, servicing, maintenance, breakdown cover plus 4,000 miles of free charging and a home charger installed. There are useful sections explaining how businesses can sign up with Octopus, how the scheme will affect net income and what affect it will have on your tax returns.
The ‘employer’ section provides plenty of information about how the scheme can work for your company, while the ‘employee’ route even has a tab entitled ‘convince your company’ with a call to ‘join the electric revolution’ and help get more businesses to switch over to EVs.
Pink Salary Exchange*
Pink Salary Exchange offers a range of electric vehicles via salary sacrifice, working with a panel of lenders to ensure customers are getting the best deal on whichever car they choose.
There are terms available from as little as six months, if you only need a car for a short period of time, up to four years if you’re comfortable with committing that far in advance (which is the same term as the most popular PCP or leasing deals anyway).
The site shows you indicative monthly costs for every car for each tax bracket, which is quite helpful. There’s also a ‘Community’ section aimed at helping to transfer cars between employers when an employee leaves the business.
The Electric Car Scheme*
The Electric Car Scheme was set up to help drivers access government tax incentives for EV salary sacrifice that are ‘hard to access’. The company also says it will find cheaper deals and take some of the risk away from businesses, such as paying early exit fees if employees go on sick or parental leave.
The Scheme works with a selection of car leasing companies to find the best value lease deals for each model. Drop-down menus at the top of the landing page take either companies or employees through the system, explaining how it all works, what’s included with the scheme and calculations on savings.
There’s a good advice section which compares electric vs petrol cars, considers leasing against buying and so on. The site also tackles popular issues such as range anxiety, using charging points and deciding whether to go full electric or hybrid.
To look at specific cars you have to register, but that page offers lots of comparison advice in terms of price, specifications, range and extras.
Love Electric*
URL: loveelectric.cars
Started by a husband and wife partnership, Love Electric claims that its car scheme can halve the monthly cost of any new electric car and the clearly laid-out website explains how this works. The landing page runs through a selection of electric cars that are available to lease and there are helpful sections that explain the different aspects of what’s on offer.
Unusually, Love Electric also runs a used car salary sacrifice scheme, which is calls Reloved. This is a potential way for small businesses, in particular, to get the benefits of salary sacrifice at a lower monthly cost.
The website goes to great lengths to show how simple the scheme can be. Additionally, from the landing page, there are useful news sections and information on the company’s pledge to the environment, a blog section and even a community forum.
Corparison*
URL: corparison.co.uk
Corparison is part of the same group as Carparison (car leasing) and Vanparison (van leasing), so there are plenty of options for whatever you or your business need.
The Corparison site talks about fleet solutions, but it still offers salary sacrifice for companies running just one vehicle.
Being a company that specialises in fleet management, Corparison can take care of all of the admin associated with implementing the scheme and running the vehicles.
Motor Source Group*
URL: motorsourcesalarysacrifice.com
Motor Source Group is the salary sacrifice arm of a company called Forces Cars Direct, which was established to help source and lease vehicles for armed forces veterans. However, you don’t have to have served to be a customer of Motor Source Group as it’s open to everyone.
The site is quite a simple one, highlighting the benefits of salary sacrifice for both employers and employees. It’s lighter on detail than many other sites in this list, although the programme will work in much the same way.
Hippo Leasing*
URL: hippoleasing.co.uk
With more than 100 years’ experience in the UK motor industry, Hippo Leasing is probably justified in saying it can find you ‘the right car at the right price’. And one of the ways to do this is through salary sacrifice. From the landing page click on ‘Leasing’ and you’ll find it tucked away at the bottom of a list of leasing arrangements.
The site goes a long way towards explaining what sal-sac is and how it works. It outlines the benefits for employers and employees, and offers to take care of all the paperwork involved in signing up.
There’s even a good case study on how it all works using the popular Tesla Model 3 and a fictitious marketing manager as examples. This also shows how the Hippo deal includes servicing, maintenance and roadside assistance as part of the set-up.
There’s a frequently asked questions section and finally an application form to request a call from the company. The site offers plenty of help and news and outlines the car brands available.
Fleet Evolution
URL: fleetevolution.com
Fleet Evolution claims to have launched the UK’s first electric car salary sacrifice scheme in 2012 and today has a wide range of clients – its smallest customer has three employees and the largest more than 10,000. They have developed a simple approach, they say, that is based on HR department needs, not fleet department.
There’s lots of helpful information explaining how salary sacrifice schemes work and how to set one up for a business. To encourage people who don’t have access to a home charger, Fleet Evolution have schemes where they supply a two-port 22kW charger to a factory or office for employees’ use.
You need to be registered to request a quote for a car but once that’s done it’s a case of using the drop down menus to choose a manufacturer and then a model, before sending send that criteria to receive a quote.
The site also contains helpful information about fleet management, specialist vehicle control and making changes to a company’s vehicle needs so that it becomes more environmentally friendly.
Go Green
URL: gogreenleasing.co.uk
Like its name, which pretty much sums them up, Go Green’s website is simple to navigate. From the landing page you are instantly given the opportunity to search for a make, model, fuel type (electric or hybrid), range or you can just browse through special offers or price bands.
Go Green is part of the Bridle Group, a large vehicle finance broker. They are dedicated to offering only electric or hybrid vehicles, which (probably not coincidentally) are the vehicles that benefit most from salary sacrifice tax advantages.
There is the same amount of space given to electric cars as there is to hybrids. And they say it’s not all about the environment – Go Green says there are real savings to be made and they want to help you find them.
The drop-down menu will assist in finding what you’re looking for, but if you’re still not sure what you want you can request a call back from one of their experts. There are special offers, blogs and a handy section of guides for the most common questions about electric vehicles and leasing including, of course, EV salary sacrifice.
LeasePlan
URL: leaseplan.com/en-gb
There’s plenty of bright ticks and pound sign images when you land on the LeasePlan page giving a positive feel. Scrolling down you’ll quickly find ‘Greener and Easier’ a section all about salary sacrifice with positive messages about saving money, the environment and reducing our carbon footprint.
This section comes second only to ‘Rentals’, LeasePlan’s core business, so you can see how much importance the company now gives sal-sac. You can go straight to a group of interesting topics, such as ‘how much to pay’, ‘what are the rules’ and ‘is it worth it’ and there’s even a downloadable guide available with more information.
Finally, there’s a section for next steps which asks employees to speak to their employer and ask them to get in touch or, if you’re the business owner, HR or fleet manager, there’s an email address to click on and start negotiations.
Novuna
URL: novunavehiclesolutions.co.uk
Award-winning Novuna offer all sorts of car leasing and fleet service deals and are committed to cleaner, more efficient motoring. There’s lots of offer from the start but, among the wealth of information on EVs and their use, is a section on salary sacrifice.
It takes a few clicks to get there, but eventually there’s plenty of information for businesses and employees looking to change over to an EV in this way. It explains fully what sal-sac is and how it works and goes on to show the benefits to employees, businesses and the environment when changing over.
Among the plus points offered by a Novuna scheme are a choice of car, a home charger fitted by British Gas, maintenance, road tax and insurance. There’s an ‘EV Hub’ that answers many of the questions and concerns an employee might have, while showing available vehicles within various parameters such as price, range, charging speed and even boot space.
WeVee
URL: wevee.uk
WeVee’s claims its mission is to make the process of getting a new electric car as simple as possible by bringing EVs together and setting up salary sacrifice programmes with employers.
To find your ideal EV click on the drop down menu and search by body style, make or group such as sports cars, SUVs or even vans. The website is geared towards employers and explains how a sal-sac scheme can help bosses attract and retain workers while halving their motoring costs.
For employees there are explanations of how the scheme works – including an entire section on ‘Driving an EV’ – but for more detailed advice WeVee offers special employee advisers to talk rookies through the initial minefield.
There’s a section in EVs currently in stock and ready for delivery and, slightly tongue in cheek, there’s an offer to ‘drive like the boss’ with a range of tempting higher-end models normally seen in the executive car park but which, being electric cars, are available at tempting monthly rates.
Zenith
URL: zenith.co.uk
A leading independent vehicle management business, Zenith specialises in all sorts of leasing and outsourcing programmes, including EV salary sacrifice.
It’s not instantly obvious where sal-sac is from Zenith’s landing page and indeed you have to go via the ‘Business’ drop down menu and then scroll down through ‘Funding’ to find it, such is the breadth and depth of Zenith’s offerings.
Once there, everything is explained: how the scheme works, the tax benefits, the choice of cars, and what’s offered in a Zenith scheme, which includes: insurance, road tax, servicing, maintenance, breakdown cover, replacement tyres, windscreen cover and accident management.
For employers, Zenith’s online management system, called Pulse, gives access to information regarding employees’ cars such as emissions or accidents. And its scheme offers levels of risk mitigation to protect against financial penalties if an employee has to go on a longer-term absence.
Looking for a new electric car? Our Expert Ratings give you the definitive verdict on every new EV on sale in the UK:
Additional reporting by Stuart Masson. Originally published in 2022, last updated October 2024.
*The Car Expert has commercial partnerships with Corparison, Fleet Alliance, Hippo Leasing, Love Electric, Motor Source Group, Octopus Electric Vehicles, Pink Salary Exchange and SalSac. If you click through to their websites, we may receive a small commission.
