Electric vehicles continue to grow in popularity as drivers gain confidence in range and charging, says Silverstone Leasing.

 

The leading vehicle leasing firm has seen an uptick in sales of electric vehicles for both personal and fleet leasing as motorists face continued economic challenges, despite the government pushing back the zero-emission vehicle mandate to 2035.

 

New laws brought in last year created a framework whereby all new cars and vans must be zero emission by 2035, rather than the original pledge of 2030.

 

Yet, post pandemic, there were several disruptions in the vehicle market, including the semi-conductor shortage and the Ukraine conflict causing delays to the manufacture of electric vehicles.

 

However, the market has gradually settled in recent years and is now growing annually. Increased supply alongside the cost-of-living crisis affecting demand and the Government push for zero emissions has brought better incentives and deals to shift motors.

 

Silverstone Leasing account manager Tom Bailey said: “We’ve certainly seen a higher drive towards electric. I think there’s always been a bit of uncertainty on electric vehicles in terms of what we call the residual values, but when you lease a vehicle, you don’t have to worry about that. It really just comes down to what the figure is per month.

 

“There’s a lot of incentives out there in terms of the actual rentals coming down and we’ve seen a few exceptional deals to attract buyers.

 

“Add to that the fact that people are watching the pennies more and electric vehicles still do make good sense for a lot of people because there are fewer running costs.

 

“The maintenance element is a whole lot less and the cost to charge it up is considerably cheaper than a tank of fuel.”

 

Delaying the zero-emissions date by five years has given manufacturers more breathing space however Tom says it has also created some uncertainty in the market among manufacturers.

 

“A lot of manufacturers have been rushing to get everything switched over to electric for 2030 and now they’ve seen the goal posts move,” he said.

 

“Some manufacturers like Volvo have really changed their tune and they’re going to look at hybrids for a bit longer. They’re now saying, we can actually take our time with this.

 

“Others are still pushing ahead with fully electric anyway, for that deadline.”

For more information on how you can get the best deal on your vehicle lease, contact Silverstone Leasing on 01604 978480 or visit www.silverstoneleasing.com