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Booming demand for EVs from the company car market has been reported by the BVRLA.
The rental and leasing industry body said that 49% of new business contract hire cars during the first quarter of 2023 were EVs.
The data has been published in the BVRLA's latest Leasing Outlook Report, which also reveals particular interest in electrification from the salary sacrifice market, of which EVs now have a 91% share.
The demand for EVs from business users comes in stark contrast to the retail market, where the BVRLA said the vehicles were responsible for 16% of new car sales and 1% of used sales in the same time period.
BVRLA director of corporate affairs Toby Poston warned that this could cause problems in the years ahead.
He said: "We have had a two-tier transition to zero emission motoring for some time and this growing gap between the fleet and retail sectors' appetite for decarbonisation could put the 2030 [new petrol and diesel car] phase-out target in jeopardy.
"All these fleet EV registrations will hit the used market in three or four years' time. The last year has already shown an increasing imbalance between the fast-growing supply of used electric cars and demand that isn't keeping up.
"We are working with policymakers, members and colleagues from across the industry these used market barriers."
Overall, the BVRLA said the size of its members' car fleets had remained virtually static, growing by just 0.1% year-on-year to 1,368,799 vehicles. However, the business contract hire market has seen 3.5% growth, to a total of 789,742 cars, while personal contract hire has seen a 7% decline.
Major growth has been seen from salary sacrifice, with volumes in this sector up by 41% year-on-year. The BVRLA has attributed this to employees who had previously taken a cash allowance in lieu of a company car taking a cost-effective opportunity to access EVs, and employers welcoming a chance to offer a highly valued, no cost benefit during a period of wage inflation, and to make an early dent in their Scope 3 emissions from staff commuting to work.
The BVRLA said that rising vehicle availability had allowed leasing companies to start replacing cars for which contracts had been extended during the motor industry supply crisis seen in recent years. It added that some new fleet sales had also been channelled to other sectors, such as rental and Motability, that had also been starved of supply.
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