• The UK’s largest leasing company is offering £1,000 towards the cost of the first 1,000 electric vehicles it leases from 2019
• Lex Autolease believes this could increase the total number of pure electric vehicles registered next year by 8%
• At the end of the £1m EV drive, it will double the size of Lex Autolease’s pure electric fleet and help customers achieve 25 million zero emission miles over the next five years

LEX AUTOLEASE is giving a massive boost to the electric vehicle market with an EV war chest of £1m. From 2019, it will contribute £1000 towards the cost of  1,000 new pure electric vehicles.

Announced at the Zero Emission Vehicle Summit in Birmingham, Lex Autolease said the £1m fund is for the first 1,000 customers who sign up for a battery electric vehicle from January 2019.

Tim Porter, Managing Director of Lex Autolease, commented:

“In July, the Government set out its ambition for at least half of new vehicles to be ultra-low emission by 2030. Our announcement today highlights our commitment to supporting this ambition and the role we, as the UK’s leading vehicle leasing provider, can play in helping to make it happen.”    

Acknowledging it can be difficult for motorists to balance the conflicting demands of vehicle cost, choice and their responsibility to help achieve cleaner cities and a low carbon future, the fund will also support Lex Autolease in doubling the size of its pure electric vehicle fleet and help its customers to collectively achieve 25 million zero-emission miles over the next five years.

 “The electric vehicle market is still relatively new and continues to evolve at pace. One of the key benefits of leasing an electric vehicle is that customers don’t take on any of the potential risk associated with the future resale value of the vehicle,” Porter continued. 

“As battery technology and the range of electric vehicles improves, they are fast becoming suitable for mainstream motorists – meaning more road users can take advantage of their low running costs.

“As the global automotive industry goes through this transformative period, the leasing industry has a huge role to play.  We have been working with customers for a number of years to help them upgrade to low emission vehicles – where it’s the right move for them as individual drivers or fleets.  We’re ideally placed to provide the guidance and support that drivers and fleets need in order to make this important transition.”

As the largest leasing company in the new vehicle supply chain, Lex Autolease buys 4% of all new cars and vans sold in the UK and currently owns and operates a fleet of over 380,000, including over 18,000 alternatively-fuelled vehicles. 

Lex Autolease said the £1,000 contribution will be available to business and personal customers.