Fleet Leasing Explained

If your business relies on transporting either people or goods, then it’s vital that you have a stress-free and trustworthy supply of vehicles. Achieving this through buying a fleet can be an expensive commitment.

That’s where fleet leasing can help. By working with a leasing company like GRIDSERVE, you’ll be able to access reliable and affordable cars and vans that will improve your employees’ work life, as well as allowing you to take advantage of a number of financial incentives to improve your bottom line.

What’s more, if you choose to lease electric cars or vans as part of your fleet, you’ll reap a whole range of other benefits, including tax breaks and grants. Going green doesn’t have to mean breaking the bank.   

Want to know more about how it works? Our guide below will explain all about fleet leasing.

What is fleet leasing?

There’s no secret here, fleet leasing simply means that a company leases several vehicles for use by their staff for business purposes with monthly payments set over a fixed term.

Once the contract ends, the vehicles are returned to the leasing company, allowing you to refresh your fleet with new vehicles. That means you never have a depreciating asset on your books.

How many vehicles are there in a fleet?

Some people assume the term fleet means that you must have a whole multi-storey car park worth of vehicles under your business, but that’s simply not the case.

Anything more than one car or van qualifies as a fleet and there’s no limit on how many you can have in a fleet. Depending on the scale of your fleet (small, medium, large), the benefits and lease options will vary.

How does electric fleet leasing work with GRIDSERVE?

We’ve designed leasing with GRIDSERVE to be easy and straightforward, leaving you with as little to do as possible. Here’s a step-by-step guide to leasing a fleet of electric vehicles with us:

1. Choose the number of vehicles: You’ll need to know how many vehicles you want in your fleet. Try to plan ahead to ensure you have the vehicles you need at the right time.
2. Select your models: Just as important as the number of vehicles is the type. Do you need cars to drive long distances or are short, city trips more normal? Do you need vans in the fleet? Our search tool can compare EVs to help you choose the perfect mix.
3. Contact us: Get in touch with GRIDSERVE to discuss your lease and our experts will be happy to answer any questions you might have. We can also help with charging solutions at depots or at home.
4. Submit the paperwork: You’ll need to get a finance check and application with relevant documents. We’ll help you through this part.
5. Order placed: Once all the Is are dotted and Ts crossed, we’ll place your order with the supplier and give you an estimated arrival time.
6. Organise delivery: Near to the delivery time, we’ll be in touch to arrange delivery to a convenient place.
7. Fleet delivery: We’ll then deliver your new fleet, give you a walkaround and answer any final questions.

After that, all that’s left to do is drive your new company cars and vans until the end of your lease agreement. Once the term ends, return the fleet to us and we can discuss starting a new lease. It’s really that simple.

GRIDSERVE electric fleet solutions

Our team of fleet experts are here to help make the electrification of your business fleet as easy as possible.

We can help you with:

• Optimising fleet cost
• Fleet consultancy
• Electrification strategy
• Corporate EV charging infrastructure
• Keeping your business moving
• Fleet management tools

Read more about the GRIDSERVE electric fleet solutions.

Is leasing an EV fleet best for my business?

Fleet leasing is a great way for a business that requires transportation for staff to have access to new cars, without having to foot the bill for hundreds of thousands of pounds in one go.

Your fleet will never be out of warranty, either, and you won’t have to worry about selling vehicles when you want to upgrade.

There are also a host of other financial advantages to leasing, including running costs and tax benefits. You can read more about this in our business car leasing guide.

The case for fleet leasing gets even stronger when you’re considering switching to an EV.

Here are five reasons why leasing an EV fleet is a great option:  

1. Lower running costs: You’ll be able to offset up to 100% of the lease rental against corporation tax. If you’re running a fleet and can charge at the workplace and make use of smart energy tariffs then you’ll see a big reduction on your fuel bills, too.
2. Business reputation: Many customers are keen to see the businesses they work with making positive environmental changes. Leasing an electric car, instead of a petrol or diesel car, is one way to show you’re doing that.
3. No emission charges: There’s no charge to drive in the Ultra Low Emissions Zones (ULEZ) or Congestion Charge in London, and that’ll be the case once any other cities introduce Clean Air Zones too.
4. Low Benefit-in-Kind (BiK): Employees who have use of a business lease vehicle can benefit from low BiK tax rates. Better still, BiK rates for electric vehicles are very low: they will rise slowly over the next few years, but only by single percentage points. Use our company car tax calculator hereto get a more accurate idea of what you can expect to pay.
5. Smooth driving: And finally, driving an EV is extremely relaxing – you’ll find your employees are less stressed behind the wheel thanks to the silent cabin and smooth, gearless acceleration.

Electric vehicle grants to help your business

While the Plug-in Car Grant was scrapped by the Government in June 2022, there’s better news for businesses. The Plug-in Van Grant is still active and means you can net a big discount when you lease an electric van.

The size of the discount depends on the size of the van, often referred to as the Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW), with larger vans able to get a larger discount.

Small vans cover those vehicles with less than 2,500kg GVW, which includes the Citroen e-Berlingo, Peugeot e-Partner and Renault Kangoo E-Tech. The large van category is between 2,500kg and 4,250kg GVW, including the Citroen e-Dispatch or Ford E-Transit.

How do EV running costs compare to petrol of diesel vehicles?

Switching your petrol or diesel-powered fleet to an all-electric fleet is going to save you money when it comes to running costs, especially if you set up workplace charging and can take advantage of smart energy tariffs.

In terms of maintenance, electric cars have a lot fewer parts than a petrol or diesel - something in the region of 20 compared to 2,000 individual components are needed to get you from A to B.

That has two benefits. One, there’s less to go wrong so your fleet spends less time off the road and more time working and, secondly, average maintenance costs can be as much as 50% less than for an ICE car.

As a business owner, you’ll also save on vehicle excise duty (more commonly known as road tax). Electric vehicles are currently exempt, meaning you won’t have to pay the annual fee – this can be a huge saving once your fleet starts to grow. It’s important to note that from April 2025, this will change and EVs registered after April 2017 will pay the standard rate.

What are the other benefits of EV fleet leasing?

Electric cars have a much lower Advisory Fuel Rate than petrol or diesel cars which means you’ll be paying out less to cover the mileage your fleet drives. And, as electricity is not classed as a fuel, there’s no Class 1A National Insurance to pay for this, either.

If you’re running an EV fleet, you can also take advantage of the Workplace Charging Scheme, which provides support for the up-front costs of buying and installing EV charge points at business premises.

Your employees will be just as happy that you’ve opted for an EV fleet thanks to appealing Benefit-in-Kind tax rates. BiK rates for electric vehicles are very low compared to petrol and diesel equivalents. They are scheduled to rise slowly over the next few years, but only by single percentage points, so you’ll save thousands a year for quite a while yet.

Use our company car tax calculator here to get a more accurate idea of what you can expect to pay.

And don’t forget, depending on vehicle usage, you can claim up to 100% of lease rental against corporation tax.

Will my business access fleet management software?

A good fleet management system is essential to getting the most out of your fleet. If you lease with GRIDSERVE, you’ll get access to our class-leading software which offers real-time analysis of your fleet data so you can make informed decisions.

We’ll also be able to show you whole life cost comparisons so you can make data-led choices on which vehicles to choose and when is best to switch to an EV.

Why choose GRIDSERVE for your fleet leasing deal?

There are plenty of providers to choose from when it comes to leasing an electric car or van for your business but there are a few things that make GRIDSERVE Car Leasing a little bit different. Here’s why you should choose to partner with us:

• Plant power: We plant 100 trees for every new lease
• Fully charged: We’re experts in all things EV and you can combine your lease with EV charging on the GRIDSERVE Electric Highway – plus we can support with charging solutions, such as at a depot
• Expenses made easy: Charge regularly on the GRIDSERVE Electric Highway and you can sign up to our automated digital receipts service to get charging sessions sent direct to your inbox
• Sun-to-Wheel: Our industry-leading chargers are powered exclusively by net zero carbon energy – part of our sun-to-wheel ecosystem
• Help at hand: We’ll be there to support you throughout your lease with our exceptional customer support
• All inclusive: When you lease with us, we offer leasing contracts that include road tax, insurance and maintenance to take the stress out of running your vehicle

ELECTRIC FLEET SOLUTIONS