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Fleet industry news round-up October

31st October 2025

Industry wrap-up:

In this month’s Fleet Industry News Round Up, electric vehicles (EV) continue to remain a major focus across. The surge of new EV uptake and considerable growth in the used EV market, suggest that EVs could be key in achieving zero-emission motoring within the UK.

We explore the government’s upcoming plans to make EV charging easier for driverswith off street parking, the latest advisory electric rates and also raise awareness of the dangers and concerns of driving in the dark, as longer nights approach.

There has been a surge in the number of used electric vehicles being leased (Opens in new window), particularly through business contract hire (BCH) and salary sacrifice.

  • Leasing companies reported an astounding 7,000% year-on-year rise in salary sacrifice for used vehicles (to 3,990 cars) in the three months to June 2025.
  • Additionally, there was a 174% increase in BCH for used EVs.

New data from the British Vehicle Rental Leasing Association (BVRLA) shows that the UK’s used vehicle market has taken a massive step forward with a 166% year-on-year increase in used car contracts overall. Additionally, leasing companies are increasingly re-leasing used EVs to mitigate the impact of the huge declines in used EV values, which has been a huge cost to the leasing and fleet sector. While re-lease volumes remain lower than new leasing contracts, the BVRLA suggests that the pace of growth indicates a shift from niche to mainstream as used EV supply expands and consumer interest builds.

In a recent survey, over half of drivers considering buying an electric vehicle (EV), say that within the next two years they will expect to buy a pre-owned vehicle. This highlights the potential of used market becoming the gateway to zero-emission motoring for most UK households in the future, as for most people the used market will be their first step into electric.

However, low confidence in used EVs still remain significant as 64% of motorists say there isn’t enough public information on how to buy a used EV. Concerns around battery health and warranty coverage persist as they remain the most common perceived risks. But, once drivers are given accurate information about battery lifespan, running costs, the likelihood of drivers considering a used EV rises by 8%. This shows the importance of providing transparency on battery health checks, warranty-backed schemes and education is needed to build trust.

To find out more about our salary sacrifice scheme (Opens in new window) or used vehicle leasing with us, get in touch (Opens in new window) with our dedicated team - we are here to help you every step of the way.

EV drivers without driveways face higher costs, lower confidence and major barriers to switching.

Research conducted by the Electric Vehicle Association (EVA) England (Opens in new window), found that 87% of drivers with driveways found their EVs “much cheaper” to run than a petrol or diesel car. In contrast, only 50% of drivers without driveways agreed their EVs were cheaper to run.

As the switch to EVs expands to highly populated urban environments - where more drivers lack off-street parking, and more households have lower incomes,  persistent barriers and growing inequalities are emerging. This is shown by 60% of petrol and diesel drivers without off-street parking who said they would never consider an EV, compared to 43% of those who have a driveway.

Also, access to home charging and the cost savings it provides are a big determinant behind who can afford to go electric. Public charging remains significantly more expensive than home charging, costing up to 10 times more: average prices for public charging are 48p per kWh compared to 32p at home, but in some cases can reach 98p per kWh, while home charging can be as low as 8p per kWh.

Public charging is also subject to a higher VAT rate, as it is taxed at 20% compared to 5% for domestic electricity.

However, in July the Government launched a £25 million scheme to support local authorities (Opens in new window) to provide discreet cross-pavement channel charging solutions for residents, so more people without a driveway can charge easily and cheaply at home. Additionally, earlier this week it was the Department for Transport (DfT) announced new plans designed to make it easier for drivers without off-street parking to charge their EVs.

Read more about the DfT’s newly announced plans to make charging easier for drivers without off-street parking in the following article below.

The Department for Transpot (DfT) has unveiled new plans designed to make it easier for drivers without off street parking to charge their EVs. (Opens in new window)

There will be a consultation launched on removing planning permissions currently needed for those without driveways to install cross pavement charging gullies and wants to mandate charging points in new covered car parks.

The Government will also work with Ofgem to ensure public costs are fair and strengthen protections against landowners who overcharge tenants for home charging above the market rate.

Transport secretary Heide Alexander says that “These reforms will improve infrastructure foe the EV revolution, increase charge points across the country and open up affordable home charging to thousands of households”.

During the Planning and Infrastructure Bill debate in the House of Lords, Barons Pidgeon highlighted that installing simple cross-pavement charging channels, which allow a home charger cable to run safely under the pavement, can cost the resident around £3,000 and take over a year for approval.

The Government launched a £25 million scheme in July to support local authorities to provide discreet cross-pavement channel charging solutions for residents, so more people without a driveway can charge easily and cheaply at home, as affordable home charging for EVs remain a top priority for current EV drivers and those considering making the switch.

Half of all new vehicles registered  in september 2025 were electric vehicles (Opens in new window), with Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) being the fastest growing powertrain, rising 56.4% to achieve 12.2% market share, while hybrid electric vehicles comprised of  15.3% deliveries.

Battery electric vehicles (BEV) uptake grew by 29.1%, with over 70,000 registrations it has been the best month on record for BEV volumes.

Additionally, zero-emission vehicles now make up more than one in five new cars that were registered so far this year. Additionally, electric van sales also had their second largest month on record with almost 4000 registered vehicles.

Furthermore, fossil fuel-based vehicles continue to shrink as diesel car registrations fell by a third compared, only capturing 4% of the market. Petrol vehicles also slipped in registrations while PHEVs grew by just under 32% in the year-to-date helping push the combined plug in-share to just under one car in three.

Overall the UK new car market rose by 13.7% in september, which is the strongest for the new plate month since september 2020 - with most of the registrations comprising of business and fleet registrations.

As of September 1st 2025, the new advisory electric rate (AER) announched for charging on the public network is now in effect, where company drivers are reimbursed 8 pence per mile (ppm) and home charging at 14 ppm.

However, due to the lack of guidance provided by for the newly issued AERs, there has been rising concerns that fleets are not correctly applying the new mileage reimbursment. However, HMRC has recently released guidance of how to apply the new rates – stating that for journeys where a company car is charged at both public and residential locations, fleet can apportion the mileage based on how much charging happens at each place.

Additionally, a higher amount than the newly released advisory rates can be used as long as you can show that the fuel cost per mile is higher. Therefore, if the public charger used is higher in cost per mile than the new advisory rate introduced for public charging, a higher rate can be used as long as you can show the cost per mile is higher.

For more information regarding advisory fuel rates and avisory electric rates, take a look at HM Revenue & Customs guidelines (Opens in new window).

With the clocks going back and the imminent publication of a government commissioned report into headlight glare, the brightness of vehicle headlights has been listed as the top reason for drivers feeling nervous about when driving in the dark. The RAC reports (Opens in new window) that 82% of drivers are concerned about getting dazzled by other vehicles.

The main reasons for drivers reported feeling nervous about during darker hours are:

  • Bright headlights (75%)
  • Hazards are harder to spot (63%)
  • Difficulty in judging speed (41%)
  • Difficulty in judging distance (33%)
  • Low confidence driving at night (23%)

To help improve your confidence when driving in darker hours, take a look at our driving in the dark factsheet.download (pdf(download (pdf(

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