When are you going fully electric?

Some of the cars I still see people choose on company car schemes at work, i'm not even sure some of them think that far through, they just see 'company car' and pick one they like the sound of :p
Same group that shop up to their "car allowance" even though their car allowance is just pure salary in their pocket.
 
What was the BIK change? I switched off at the initial "we won't damage EV adoption" statement. Is it just on PHEVs/Hybrids?

EVs will start going up 2% per year from 28/29, so they'll be at 9% by 29/30, whilst PHEVs of all electric ranges are being brought into line at 18% from 28/29 - other ICE stuff on the typical 1% yearly increases to the already LOL rates.


Summary table there.
 
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Don’t think many care about much more than cost of ownership tbh.
Exactly. Comparing standard spec Octavia estates the difference between the PHEV and petrol is just over a grand for lower rate tax payers, just over 2 grand for a higher rate payer.

Along with that saving you get loads more power, more refinement and more kit. There literally isn't any choice to be made.
 
Don’t think many care about much more than cost of ownership tbh.
That was precisely my point, people pick the PHEV because of the lower cost even if they have no intention of charging it.

From a policy point of view is where the poor value comes in. It made sense to offer low BIKs on PHEV for a small window of time but they should have been upping the BIK rates on PHEV years ago.
 
It's the same as it's always been from my perspective, does the cost of the scheme + BIK outweigh the benefit.

The benefit for me of a company lease scheme is:
The total cost per year is less than the equivilant PCP deal because the lease scheme includes insurance, tyres and maintenance. (assuming not paying the balloon payment and just chopping in for a new car every 3 years)
I don't have the hassle of dealing with actually owning a car, having to deal with problems and issues, calling and chasing people, I just contact the lease company and they arrange everything (my polestar was collected for it's service and I didn't do anything except hand my keys to a guy from volvo and get them back at the end of the day, no calling anyone, no faffing with grumpy service desk people)

It's a cost/benefit ratio that I always think about when deciding whether or not to get a new lease or buy a car.

I will probably get a new 3-year lease next year, and then think about it again in '28.

I know that the PHEV change is a big one, but it makes sense to me because PHEVs are, and only ever will be, a bridging technology until the infrastructure for BEVs is better.
 
EVs will start going up 2% per year from 28/29, so they'll be at 9% by 29/30, whilst PHEVs of all electric ranges are being brought into line at 18% from 28/29 - other ICE stuff on the typical 1% yearly increases to the already LOL rates.


Summary table there.
Interesting thanks.
 
That was precisely my point, people pick the PHEV because of the lower cost even if they have no intention of charging it.

From a policy point of view is where the poor value comes in. It made sense to offer low BIKs on PHEV for a small window of time but they should have been upping the BIK rates on PHEV years ago.
This is the problem with incentivising something that only select demographics of the population can benefit from. If it made financial sense for people to charge their PHEV, they did. If it didn't then they didn't.

You can't discriminate and give Bob, who lives in a flat, a 1.5 TSI Octavia at £135 a month while his colleagues with off street parking get Octavia iVs at £45 a month for what is fundamentally a much better car. So Bob just didn't charge his and wasn't left over a thousand pounds out of pocket compared to his colleagues. That unfortunately isn't an option with an EV

(I don't have an Octavia obsession it's just the car I've been looking into so I have the figures in my head :p )
I know that the PHEV change is a big one, but it makes sense to me because PHEVs are, and only ever will be, a bridging technology until the infrastructure for BEVs is better.
Agreed but that won't be by the 2028 tax year for people who can't charge at home.

It's also remembering that for some (myself included) BIK comes with the territory of their employment terms. I have no choice but to have a company car.

The laughable thing is that all the talk of employees pay "cheque" not being hit with tax rises is cobblers. That's exactly what what will be happening come 2028 for anyone with a BIK effected tax code.
 
That was precisely my point, people pick the PHEV because of the lower cost even if they have no intention of charging it.
People charged them if it meant reducing costs. The problem was the antiquated handling of BIK on fuel provision. Because it was linked to the rate of the vehicle, which in term is based on the emissions assuming the thing was charged it left the daft loophole of people with fuel paid by their employer paying about £30 in tax for unlimited amounts of petrol.

Why would you charge the thing under that scenario?!

That was what needed to be stamped out as it was a completely unsuitable method for calculating BIK on a mixed fuel vehicle.
 
People charged them if it meant reducing costs. The problem was the antiquated handling of BIK on fuel provision. Because it was linked to the rate of the vehicle, which in term is based on the emissions assuming the thing was charged it left the daft loophole of people with fuel paid by their employer paying about £30 in tax for unlimited amounts of petrol.

Why would you charge the thing under that scenario?!
I think we are agreeing with each other.

Most of those who bought them never had any intention of charging them, it was just a tax fiddle like double cab pickup truck ‘vans’.

That was what needed to be stamped out as it was a completely unsuitable method for calculating BIK on a mixed fuel vehicle.

I agree which is my underlying point however it probably needed an entire redesign of the whole tax system for vehicles. The next best bodge would have been for their rates to be more closely matched (slightly under) hybrids rather than being slightly above EVs.

In theory the current system is going to be just as problematic under EVs in the long term for a slightly different reason.

Generally more expensive cars put out higher emissions (bigger more powerful engines etc) and attracted higher BiKs.

With there being a single rate for EVs, your your community nurse with their Fiat 500e is going to get charged the same rate of BIKs as your investment banker with a Hummer EV.

Yes the above is an extreme strawman but the point is that we will need to move past emissions at some point in the near future.

Vehicles will still have differential impacts (size, energy consumption etc.) which could be a factor, the objective could simply be just to make the system more progressive based on how much money you spend.
 
Been a while since I looked at this, but is it not the case that BIK cannot be changed during your current arrangement (i.e if you take a car in 2027 say on a 3 year arrangement you are protected from mid contract change)? If so then it's a fair amount of notice and difficult not to expect "realignment" at some point.
 
Been a while since I looked at this, but is it not the case that BIK cannot be changed during your current arrangement (i.e if you take a car in 2027 say on a 3 year arrangement you are protected from mid contract change)? If so then it's a fair amount of notice and difficult not to expect "realignment" at some point.
Not as far as I am aware - when I do a quote on Arval it tells me my yr 1 bik, yr 2 bik, yr 3 bik etc.

I had ignored it but clicked it the other day and it is a lot - starts at £40 (rounding error) and ends up at £100 by 2027. From there it seems like it'll be £100 going up quite significantly.

Edit: what I haven't seen is anything about road tax and whether that is priced in, though. I guess it'll be £180/year? Or is it 180 + lux tax?
 
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Been a while since I looked at this, but is it not the case that BIK cannot be changed during your current arrangement (i.e if you take a car in 2027 say on a 3 year arrangement you are protected from mid contract change)? If so then it's a fair amount of notice and difficult not to expect "realignment" at some point.
Depends on the agreement I expect, my Salary Sac agreement explicity says that BIK will go up 1% per year.
So if you take a car in 2027, because they know it will be going up 2% then it will go up, but if you took a car 6 months ago, on a 6 year arrangement, you will probably be protected from the 2% and only have the contracted 1%.

That would be my guess anyway.
 
After earlier studies on the few electric miles phev's do, I think prevalence of cheap overnight tarifs, has meant people do charge them, least ways my neighbour does,
and there are frequent posts here from people who do.

EU had driven the upsizing/range of phev batteries to obtain latest tax breaks - do they demand individual tax reporting of electric and petrol miles driven, to compliment that
 
After earlier studies on the few electric miles phev's do, I think prevalence of cheap overnight tarifs, has meant people do charge them, least ways my neighbour does,
and there are frequent posts here from people who do.

EU had driven the upsizing/range of phev batteries to obtain latest tax breaks - do they demand individual tax reporting of electric and petrol miles driven, to compliment that
Your sample size is a bit skewed tho. I work at a place that had FLEETS of 330e and all had the chargers still in brand new packaging in the boot.
 
Been a while since I looked at this, but is it not the case that BIK cannot be changed during your current arrangement (i.e if you take a car in 2027 say on a 3 year arrangement you are protected from mid contract change)? If so then it's a fair amount of notice and difficult not to expect "realignment" at some point.
No.

The government can change the BIK rates tomorrow and you’d have to pay. Anything in your contract relating to tax should be considered as illustrative and subject to change. I’m sure words to that effect will be buried in the T&C’s somewhere.

Likewise there is usually a clause to pass on any VED changes.

Edit: to put it another way, your contract is to hire the vehicle for X cost. The government determine what tax is paid on that benefit.
 
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Your sample size is a bit skewed tho. I work at a place that had FLEETS of 330e and all had the chargers still in brand new packaging in the boot.
Did those users have private fuel provided under their company car agreement though?

@b0rn2sk8 I do agree with you apart from on the point that people got PHEVs with no intention of charging them.

Those with private fuel sure but if people had the ability to charge and it would save them money, why wouldn't they?

With regards to BIK rates, we are just lucky that the current ones (and subsequent rises) were locked in to 2028!
 
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Another example - there are no rear window switches. There’s a touch button, right by the front switches, which changes front/rear mode.


You inevitably press it each time you’re trying to put the window up/down.

For reference, it looks like this (Cupra Tavascan). It's quite silly, I'll give my feedback on it when I get mine.

ik09WfB.png
 
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