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An EV as a company car

Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 12:44 pm
by marktime
My current company car is a 2006 Toyota Prius T4. I have been very pleased with it, it's tax efficient and practically pays for it's self as I make a profit out of my business mileage that easily pays the PUC. It is due for replacement next Jan (2011) and my automatic choice would have been the current (mk3) model Prius for all the same reasons.
In the time I have driven the Prius I have been far more interested in the the electric side of it than the ICE side (the 'Power split device' (transmission) is the real marvel) and have taken an interest in pure EV's but not taken the plunge.

I can see that the Mitsubishi i-MiEV will be on stream next Jan as will the Nissan Leaf these look like real contenders for my next Co car.
This would involve some risk on my part as I am a computer service engineer and while most days I do 60 - 70 miles I sometimes have to do more! I would need to use my wife's car when I am on call overnight or at weekends as I would be covering a much larger patch so I need my employer to be flexible about being able to claim a diesel mileage rate for these journeys.

The financial side of running an EV as a Co car is a no- brainer as the BIK is 0% and there is no risk to me in carrying the cost of a circa £25k car but it would be a bold step for my employer / fleet to take it on even if they milk the green / PR side of it.

Does anyone have any practical experience of the i-MiEV or the Leaf? I know they have been on trail in the UK.

MarkTime

Re: An EV as a company car

Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 1:01 pm
by Kevin Sharpe
marktime wrote:The financial side of running an EV as a Co car is a no- brainer as the BIK is 0% and there is no risk to me in carrying the cost of a circa £25k car but it would be a bold step for my employer / fleet to take it on even if they milk the green / PR side of it.
I would suggest you contact Tesla. They have some great charts that compare the costs of various company cars... the maths make a powerful argument for the 'bean counters' in your company.

If you can stretch to a Tesla then 200+ mile range on a single charge is not that difficult to achieve.

Re: An EV as a company car

Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 11:08 am
by ChrisB
MB is running one of the Mitsubishi i-MiEV currently, he should be able to give you a better idea.

As kevin says go for a Tesla, 200miles is the way to go 8)

ChrisB

Re: An EV as a company car

Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 11:50 am
by marktime
Thanks for the tip about Tesla Kevin, I do not consider the Tesla to be the car for me, I think they are aiming for a different market place but that does not mean their analysis of the numbers is not valid.


MT