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Tax too soon
ACFO director and IBM fleet manager Phil Redman hit out at the Government for its decision to remove the tax benefits for electric vehicles in 2015 and appealed to members and to the wider industry to lobby the Government for a U-turn.
"We need, and ACFO has, to talk to our MPs. This tax, in my opinion, is coming too soon. This really shouldn't be coming in until 2020, so put your pressure on to make it change."
Beware mileage rates
HMRC's current decision not to recognise electricity as a vehicle fuel means drivers claiming mileage expenses stand to benefit enormously from existing rates, which could encourage them to rack up more miles, according to Karl Anders, fleet consultant at the EST.
He said: "There is a commitment from Government to make sure there is a big difference between internal combustion engines and electric vehicles [in terms of tax]. According to HMRC, electricity is not a fuel - they don't tax it.
"If it's an employee's own car, they can still reclaim at 45ppm, which is a good deal for them. The problem you have there is that they might start trying to do more miles and make money out of it. You've just got to take a sensible approach. Talk to your local tax office and clear it with them."
Springboard for EVs
Discounts on electric vehicle list prices are expected to continue for the foreseeable future after the current bout of funding ends in 2015, according to the head of consumer initiatives at OLEV, Anna West.
She said: "All of our current funding ends in 2015. We've secured an additional £5m from the Treasury from the period 2015 to 2020. We think it's highly likely there will be some sort of discount to be continued because prices are still high and a barrier for some people. We will be announcing what this will constitute later this spring."
She added that the Government would also announce further details about its plans to incentivise EV take-up in public sector fleets in spring.
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