Leasing a used electric car has gone from a bit of a niche choice to something a lot more UK drivers are seriously considering, and it’s not hard to see why.
With petrol prices having jumped sharply since the conflict involving the US, Israel and Iran flared up earlier this year, plenty of people are looking for a cheaper way to get from A to B, and secondhand EVs are suddenly looking like a much more sensible option than they used to. Here’s what making them so much more appealing to the average Brit.
The numbers behind this change are pretty striking.
Figures from the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA) show that used electric car leasing has more than doubled over the past year. That’s a huge jump in a fairly short space of time, and it’s being driven by a few things happening all at once.
There are simply more used electric cars available now, as the early adopters who bought EVs new several years ago start trading them in for newer models. With the number of electric cars on UK roads having recently passed the two million mark, there’s finally enough supply for leasing companies to build a solid secondhand offering.
Most of us lease rather than buy outright, and that’s now catching up with EVs too.
The vast majority of new vehicles in the UK, around 85 percent, are bought using some form of finance rather than paid for upfront, since most people would rather spread the cost across manageable monthly payments. Leasing companies had been slower to offer this for secondhand electric cars though, mainly because they wanted more data on how well EV batteries actually hold up over time before committing to offer them. With more cars now out there and more evidence of how they perform, that hesitation seems to be fading fast.
Salary sacrifice schemes are opening EVs up to people who couldn’t afford them before.
One of the biggest drivers of this growth has been salary sacrifice leasing, a scheme that lets people pay for a car straight out of their salary before tax is deducted, which works out significantly cheaper overall. Take-up of this route for used electric cars has grown five times over in the last year alone, according to industry figures, opening up electric driving to households who’d previously written it off as too expensive.
There has been one sticking point with this approach, though. The tax savings on these schemes are currently calculated based on what the car cost when it was brand new, even if you’re actually leasing it secondhand. That’s meant the savings haven’t always reflected the lower price of a used EV, something industry figures are keen to see addressed.
Straightforward personal leasing has taken off too.
It’s not just salary sacrifice driving the trend. Ordinary personal leasing, where you simply pay a monthly fee to drive a car without ever owning it outright, has grown almost sixfold for used electric vehicles over the past year. It’s an appealing option for anyone nervous about a car losing value over time, since that risk sits with the leasing company rather than the driver.
Business leasing has grown too, helped along by generous tax breaks that made electric company cars an attractive perk in the first place. That’s now extending into the secondhand market as more used stock becomes available for businesses to lease.
Why used EVs are suddenly such good value
According to figures from one of the UK’s largest EV leasing providers, secondhand electric cars are now selling faster than the rest of the used car market simply because the savings on offer are hard to pass up. Drivers can get the same technology and the same low running costs as a brand new electric car, but for considerably less each month, in some cases with monthly savings running into the hundreds of pounds compared to leasing new.
With fuel costs remaining high and more affordable used stock continuing to enter the market, it’s a trend that industry insiders expect to keep accelerating over the coming year, potentially by as much as 80 to 120 percent according to one leasing firm’s own projections.
What this means if you’re thinking about making the switch
For UK drivers put off electric cars by the upfront cost of buying new, leasing a secondhand model is increasingly looking like the easiest way in. You get the environmental and running cost benefits of electric driving, without needing to find the deposit or monthly payments that a brand new EV would typically demand. With supply continuing to grow and prices staying competitive, now looks like a good moment to see what’s on offer, particularly if rising fuel costs have already got you rethinking your next car.
