Rachel Reeves should make electric vehicles more attainable to help Yorkshire's net zero push: Ian Hughes

As the UK’s leading independent leasing, fleet management and vehicle outsourcing business, Zenith has around 170,000 vehicles under management, spanning the breadth of the automotive world, from passenger cars, LCVs and HGVs right through to specialist vehicles and plant ancillary vehicles.

We are one of Yorkshire’s largest companies, employing more than 1,400 people, and we manage the fleets of many households’ blue-chip names.

While vehicles are at the heart of our business, we’re well aware of the carbon impact they have, and the effect polluting emissions have on the world we live in. According to government data, the transport industry is unsurprisingly the UK’s highest carbon emitting sector, accounting for 29.1 per cent of the total emissions.

Road transport is responsible for the vast majority of this, and we’re committed to drive change, leading the transition to zero emission vehicles and creating a cleaner world as a result.

However, while manufacturers continue to make great progress with electric vehicle (EV) technology, without access to company car or salary sacrifice schemes, the majority of people still cannot afford EVs and, more worryingly, are often deeply misinformed about them.

Every day we see negative stories about EV safety, battery health, and their environmental impact, which is fuelling a harmful perception of electric vehicles and visibly reducing the initial momentum for this new and green technology.

With a new government in place, there is a real opportunity to keep accelerating towards our goals. The pre-election manifesto gave us hope that the vital transition can, and will, be achieved, especially if the party’s commitment to reinstating the 2030 deadline is confirmed. However, more needs to be done to help average people go electric.

Just last month, I attended a parliamentary reception, talking to MPs across all parties about how they can support the transition to electric vehicles, what measures need to be taken and what the industry and our customers need from government.

We’ve also written to Leeds MP and Chancellor Rachel Reeves about what she can do in her first budget to help make EVs more attainable.

We speak to our customers every day, all of whom are keen to make the transition, but continue to worry about the infrastructure and the falling values of used EVs due to a lack of demand in the used market.

In our letter, supported by The British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association, we asked for action to back up the phase-out date on the ban on the sale of petrol and diesel vehicles, and that government demonstrates its commitment to the deadline in the upcoming Autumn Budget.

This action could take the form of a used EV grant and a cut to VAT on used EVs to help make them more affordable. Likewise, cutting benefit in kind tax on used EVs to 0 per cent for four years would make them accessible to more lower wage workers on salary sacrifice schemes.

And, while financial incentives will definitely encourage the transition, we need to provide confidence to really change behaviours, so we would like to see the Department for Transport launch an EV information campaign to help people understand the benefits of moving into an electric vehicle, especially a used one.

While it’s positive that companies like Zenith, and those attending events like last week’s Climate Change Summit, are collaborating to pave the way forward, as a region we need greater clarity and support from government if we’re to achieve wider UK net zero goals and make that next step in ensuring our planet’s future.

Ian Hughes is CEO of Zenith’s Corporate and Consumer divisions