Glasgow-based leasing and fleet management specialist Fleet Alliance is reporting electric vehicles (EVs) have taken a record share of the new car order bank at in the first quarter of 2022, as increasing numbers of clients switch to electric operation. Between January and March, some 30% of new car orders were battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and 33% were hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), a new record for the business.
Fleet Alliance CEO Andy Bruce commented: “With almost two-thirds of orders either BEVs or HEVs, we are continuing to see significant growth in electric cars across our managed fleet, well ahead of the national rate, as more of our customers opt to go down an electric route.
“This is being helped by an ever-widening array of new electric models coming onto the market, as more manufacturers broaden their product line-ups to include both BEVs and HEVs. The only major constraint is that of vehicle supply due to the global shortage of semiconductors but, with the increase in new models, there are always solutions available.
“And we fully expect to increase the electric element of our fleet still further thanks to our popular and highly cost-effective salary sacrifice scheme which focuses on the provision of electric vehicles to small and medium sized businesses.”
The scheme provides cheap access to fully maintained, zero carbon-emitting vehicles at no extra cost to the business, and delivers significant cost-reduction benefits due to Fleet Alliance’s multi-bid funding solution.
This employs competitive tendering amongst a panel of funders to ensure that maximum value is delivered to employer and employee by selecting the lowest cost – a facility not normally available to smaller businesses.
Bruce said that demand was also being driven within existing clients as part of Fleet Alliance’s commitment to the EV100 movement. As an EV100 member, Fleet Alliance plans to electrify its managed fleet of more than 30,000 vehicles by 2030.
“We have transitioned our own company cars to electric across the board. And we are now seeing growing numbers of our customers mirror our actions and make their own commitment to going electric,” he said.
EVs accelerating
For the first quarter of this year, the Fleet Alliance new car order bank show a 76% increase in BEV orders over the first quarter of 2021 and this type of vehicle now accounts for 30% of the company’s order bank. (See chart below).
| Q1 2021 Orders | Q1 2022 Orders | 2022 vs 2021 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fuel Type | Proportion | Fuel Type | Proportion | % increase / decline |
| Petrol & Diesel | 53% | Petrol & Diesel | 37% | -30% |
| Battery Electric | 17% | Battery Electric | 30% | +76% |
| Hybrid Electric | 30% | Hybrid Electric | 33% | +10% |
| Total | 100% | 100% | ||
HEVs now make up 33% of first quarter orders, up 10% on the same period last year. Meanwhile, orders for new diesel and petrol cars continue to fall, and are down 30% in the first quarter of 2022 compared to 2021.
The Fleet Alliance figures compare with the latest Society of Motor Manufacturers and Trades (SMMT) new car market figures which show that sales of BEVs accounted for a 15.4% share of the UK new car market in the first quarter of 2022 – a new record but around half that seen in the Fleet Alliance order books.
And HEVs, meanwhile, took a 18.6% market share, compared to the 33% share on the Fleet Alliance fleet.
Across the UK, national figures show that conventional engine cars continue their steady decline in popularity, in line with the Fleet Alliance figures.
Sales of diesel cars fell 51% in the first three months of 2022, according to the SMMT, as fleets continue to shun the once popular and market-leading fuel.
Sales of petrol cars, meanwhile, fell 15% in the first quarter, and in the month of March were down 25%.
For the first three months of 2022, SMMT statistics show that UK new car sales were down 1.9% to 417,560 new units, compared to 425,525 in the first three months of 2021, largely because of global supply problems caused by the semiconductor shortage.