The UK is currently the second-largest EV market in Europe, behind only Germany, with around 270,000 battery electric vehicles sold so far this year. Yet, its electrification pace is lagging, and penetration is unlikely to meet the mandated 22% rate by year-end.

With macroeconomic headwinds affecting EV growth globally, countries are looking at ways to incentivise the switch using either a carrot or a stick. In Britain, private purchase subsidies are no longer available, though there remain tax incentives for company cars.

Octopus Electric Vehicles, part of energy supplier Octopus Group, has been helping build the UK EV parc since 2018. Put simply, the company wants to be a one-stop shop to facilitate the transition to EVs for consumers and businesses alike.

Chief executive Fiona Howarth told Kallanish how Octopus Electric Vehicles is playing a crucial role in increasing EV adoption through initiatives such as salary sacrifice schemes, charging solutions and partnerships across the industry.

 

➡️ Fiona, please tell me about the company and its mission.

Our mission is straightforward – to make it easy for drivers to make that switch to clean, electric transport. We’re able to provide everything drivers need to take the road, from the car to charger and energy tariff. We’re unlocking a fun driving experience and cheaper running costs by trading out your old-school gas guzzler for clean, electric driving.

 

➡️ What is Octopus Electroverse and how does it work?

Electroverse is Octopus’ EV charging platform that allows you to charge at 850,000 chargers from 950 different charging operators in 40 countries. Electroverse is making public charging simple by having just one card and one app and support for the latest in-car technology.

We are constantly rethinking the best ways to interact with the public charging network and working on pricing structures that bring cheaper charging to those on the roads or without the ability to charge at home. One way is through ‘Plunge Pricing’. ‘Plunge Pricing’ is not your average discount; it’s a revolutionary approach tied to energy supply, demand, and wholesale prices – and it’s something you would never see with petrol. When green energy is abundant in the grid and wholesale prices fall, we can pass these on to customers charging on the public network. While a ‘Plunge Price’ one day might bring you a 15% discount, the following week could see discounts of 45% off.

 

➡️ What other solutions are currently available to those thinking of making the switch to an electric car in the UK?

We are the UK’s largest EV-only lease company, specialising in helping businesses set up EV employee benefit schemes.

Salary sacrifice is a piece of financial magic for workers that has cleaned up the UK environment not once, but twice, in the last twenty years (first through the Cycle-to-Work scheme). The beauty of salary sacrifice is that the money comes out of your pay before the taxman can touch it.

You save up to 40% on the car and, with clever energy tariffs, up to 90% on fuel. It is playing a major role in the clean energy transition. Salary sacrifice cars are used for the school run, the weekly shop and family trips – they’re in the hands of everyday drivers.

 

➡️ What do you see as the main barrier to wider and faster adoption in the UK BEV market?

The cars and charging infrastructure have changed so quickly – and their tech and availability are just much better than most people realise – sometimes made worse by incorrect information in the media.

Despite that, one in two (47%) drivers of petrol and diesel cars are tempted to switch to electric because of cheaper running costs, our new research shows.

However, EVs still are less than 25% of new car sales in the UK. So nearly a quarter of drivers getting a new car are having to take a petrol or diesel car when they really were considering an electric one.

Drivers are looking for experts to help them make the switch – from discovering the car, to understanding charging options and answering questions like “Will the battery degrade after two years like my phone?” (which, by the way, it won’t). So, we get feedback from our drivers that really appreciate the independent, impartial advice from our trained experts.

We’ve also partnered with The FullyCharged Show to launch an industry body: Electric Vehicles UK, to accelerate access to accurate information and factual evidence of all aspects of EV ownership.

 

➡️ Some believe the UK and Europe will see a spike in EV demand next year. Do you agree the ongoing EV demand slowdown is temporary?

With new models entering the market monthly – each with new tech features and improving efficiency – it certainly wouldn’t be a surprise if the market took off next year. You only need to ask a friend or family member who drives an EV what they think to realise just how great they are. Word travels fast and current drivers are acting as an army of advocates that will continue to drive demand.

According to our recent research, almost all (96%) EV drivers are happy with their vehicles and say it is likely their next car will also be electric.

 

➡️ What do you see as the major trends that are going to take EVs further into the mainstream in the coming years?

Without a doubt it is the rise of the second-hand market. EVs are still a relatively new technology, and so until recently there hasn’t been an extensive second-hand market. That’s now changing, and fast. The vast majority of car sales in the UK are second hand and this is a huge market to be tapped into.

As the electric market matures, and leased cars are returned by drivers, there is a wave of cheaper, but still brilliant, cars ready for new EV drivers to pick up.

We wanted to make these cars even more accessible and so were the first company in the UK to launch salary sacrifice for second-hand cars. Drivers still get the same tax benefits –saving up to 40% on the lease price – while benefiting from having a cheaper car too. We have a range of models for less than £300 a month and they have been really popular – the second-hand salary sacrifice market is only going in one direction.

EV charging also continues to be far cheaper than running an old-school, fossil fuel, car. Charging on an EV tariff like Intelligent Octopus Go can cost just 2 pences per mile; that’s six times cheaper than fuelling a petrol car.

In the future, as technology continues to evolve, we’ll also be able to tap into power in our car batteries through vehicle-to-grid. When we reach 10 million cars in the UK, we’ll be able to power the entire country at peak times. What’s not to love about EVs?