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Business leasing customers driving UK EV adoption – BVRLA

Demand for rental EVs is driven by business customers, accounting for 67% of car rental and 84% of LCV rental.

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The EV leasing sector in the UK is strong, with salary sacrifice schemes and company car schemes leading the adoption of electric vehicles, according to the BVRLA ‘Road to Zero’ report.

Demand for rental EVs is being driven by business customers, accounting for 67% of car rental and 84% of LCV rental.

Business leasing demand grew to take a 40% ZEV share in business leasing, with demand being driven by effective incentives and continued growth in BEV adoption among company car (58%) and salary sacrifice schemes (88%).

Battery electric vans reached a 9.8% market share in May 2026, up from 7.6% in May 2025, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

These figures were also reflected in BVRLA business leasing figures showing a rise from 6.6% in Q4 2024 to 10.7% in Q4 2025.

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Year to date, BEV vans stand at 9.4% of LCV registrations, against 8.3% over the same period in 2025, according to the SMMT.

Total LCV registrations remained subdued, down 1.6% year to date, and forecast to fall 0.5% across 2026, following a 10.3% decline in 2025, reflected in the SMMT data.

The BVRLA found that weak demand is attributed to higher upfront cost, rising energy prices and infrastructure constraints, alongside persistent concerns over vehicle suitability that prevent electric vans from meeting the operational needs of many businesses.

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EV prices have declined since 2025 while ICE prices continued to increase, narrowing the price differential, according to the BVRLA.

The Electric Car Grant introduced in July 2025 reinforces the downward pressure on consumer prices, CAP-HPI have said.

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Autotrader also found that the number of lower-priced models reaching the market continues to accelerate, with many sub-£20,000 entrants arriving in 2026.

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Rising fuel and energy prices are also widening the divide between customers who can rely on lower-cost home charging and those who must depend on more expensive and less convenient public infrastructure, according to the BVRLA.

Zapmap data showed that as of April 2026, the average pay-as-you-go price for slow and fast chargers was approximately 54p per kilowatt-hour (kWh), while rapid and ultra-rapid chargers averaged around 79p/kWh.​

These are similar to 2025 prices, with the cost sitting at 53p/kWh for slow and fast and 81p/kWh for rapid and ultra-rapid.

There remains a higher concentration of chargers in London and the South East than elsewhere in the UK, with more than 45,000 public EV chargers, 38% of the UK total and 46% of England’s total.

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Scotland is now the third-largest UK region by charger count, with three Scottish authorities appearing in the national top 10 rankings, with London grouped as a single area.

Northern Ireland continued to lag on charger deployment with 1% of the UK total, providing 59.4 public EV chargers per 100,000 people compared with the UK average of 171.9.

The number of affordable electric models has grown, with 55 now under £30,000 and 22 under £25,000.

However, only four vans sit below £30,000, where demand typically sits.

As ZEV technologies and supply chains are maturing, price reductions in entry-level electric cars and vans are falling and model capabilities are improving.

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For cars, the number of affordable models below £30k has increased from 25 to 55 models in 2026, with the £20k to 30k model segment again showing the fastest growth of any price bracket. 

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