A fleet and salary sacrifice business says that the controversial decision by the UK government to reduce grant and eligibility incentives for electric vehicle purchase schemes is the right one.

Tamworth-based Fleet Evolution is a dedicated provider of cost neutral, flexible car schemes, and is responding to the recent government proposal of slashing PiCG by £500 and limiting car scheme availability to electric cars up to a value of £35,000.

Fleet Evolution’s managing director Andrew Leech says it is the car manufacturers who ultimately need to make the call on reducing sale costs for electric vehicles in line with current prices for diesel and petrol vehicles.

When considering the current government target of 68% reduction in Co2 emissions by 2030, the argument seems to rest on finding the sweet spot between affordability of electric car subsidies for the taxpayer as electric car sales rise, and manufacturers setting retail prices that remain enticing to the consumer.

He said “I think on the whole it’s the right thing to do. There is a whole raft of affordable electric cars, such as the MG5, that sit well below the £35,000 price mark, and is capable of covering 200 miles on a single charge, which is more than enough for a week’s typical motoring, let alone a day.

“The typical employee covers just 27 miles a day, and there are currently 40 electric car models sitting below £35,000, with a couple of manufacturers already deciding to lower their prices to qualify for the revised grant.

“In a time of cost saving, you do have to question the sanity of the tax payer subsidising Teslas and Polestars when the pure maths makes these cars stand up anyway.

“However, we would have preferred the government to reintroduce increases on petrol and diesel cars to bring the argument into sharp focus.

“The true issue is one for the manufacturers. Electric cars are as simple to produce as petrol and diesel cars, so why should electric vehicles attract a premium price that typically makes them 30% more expensive than petrol or diesel cars?

“The removal of the grant will reward those who pioneer fair pricing and penalise those who either overprice or under develop electric cars, and that is something we would welcome.”