A new generation of ‘rapid’ electric vehicles (EVs) is creating potential fleet risk management and cost issues, a fleet software and management specialist is warning.

Emerging performance EVs, such as the 641hp Hyundai Ioniq 5N and 435hp MG4 XPower, both of which cover 0-60mph in around 3.5 seconds, are unleashing performance of a level that until very recently was limited to genuine sports cars and even supercars, and was almost unknown on fleets.

Peter Golding, managing director of FleetCheck, pointed out that the instant power ability of a typical EV makes them generally faster in terms of acceleration than petrol cars on fleets, with even mainstream models such as the Tesla Model 3 in its most basic form covering 0-60mph in less than six seconds.

“To some extent, fleets have so far found this issue has been self-managing – if EV drivers have made use of the potential performance of their cars, they’ve found the range falling very rapidly, so have tended to be generally conservative behind the wheel,” Golding commented.

“However, with the market is now producing rapid EV hot hatches, providing a very high level of performance at relatively accessible prices, such as the XPower at around £36,000, they raise a fundamental question of whether they should be added to fleets?”

Vehicles with this level of performance would not just present a very real risk if drivers attempted to access the available performance on a public road but there would be cost issues arising from excessive tyre and brake wear,” Golding added.

“Of course, there have been privately-owned cars on public roads that go this fast for some years but the numbers have been tiny. The danger is that this represents a new class of attainable vehicle that could be appealing to some fleet drivers. However, there is a fundamental question to be asked about whether anyone driving on company business needs access to this kind of speed? Should they be added to company choice lists at all?

“From our point of view, the answer would be no and it is difficult to envisage a serious and informed risk management conversation that concludes otherwise. However, this does seem like a conversation that the fleet sector needs to be having. Getting this wrong could result in tragedy for fleet drivers and other road users.”