MERIDIAN Vehicle Solutions has added the first electric vehicles to its fleet of medium-term rental specialist Meridian Vehicle Solutions.

A number of Audi e-trons are becoming available for rental for leases from periods of 3-12 months, with vehicles delivered new directly from the dealer.

Phil Jerome, managing director, said: “Like any rental provider to the company car sector, we need to be adding electric vehicles to our fleet to meet future needs and this seems like the right moment to take that step.

“Initially, we expect interest to be high from businesses and company car drivers who are curious about EVs but remain cautious about the technology and don’t want to jump straight in and take out a long term lease.

“We are providing an option that allows them to see whether an EV will fit in with their work and personal motoring needs.

“Our feeling is that, once they have tried out an EV over an extended period of time, they will come to be strong advocates of the technology.”

Jerome added that the e-tron would be a permanent addition to the Meridian model range but that the overall number of EVs being added to the fleet would remain relatively low for the next few months because of limited availability and high prices in relation to comparable petrol and diesel models.

He said: “We would like to add more EVs and plan to do so during the rest of 2020 but much will depend on the supply situation and the kind of pricing that the market will accept. Providing EVs into the medium-term rental sector remains relatively uncharted territory.”