Building an EV-ready benefits package: a UK HR guide

EV adoption in the UK workforce is no longer a niche consideration. Company car tax rules have made electric the obvious choice for anyone with a company car, and salary sacrifice car schemes have brought EVs within reach of employees who would never have leased one otherwise. Most HR teams now have EV drivers on the books, whether or not their benefits package was built with that in mind.

Being "EV-ready" as an employer means the whole journey is covered, not just the car. Here is what that package actually needs.

Start with what most packages already have

Many UK employers already offer an EV salary sacrifice car scheme, which lets employees lease an electric car through gross salary deductions, saving on income tax and National Insurance. This is usually the first and most visible piece of an EV benefits package, and it is a good foundation.

Where packages usually stop, though, is at the car itself. The ongoing cost of running it, principally charging, is left to the employee to sort out and pay from taxed income.

The four pieces of a complete package

1. The car. Salary sacrifice or company car scheme covering the lease.

2. Charging costs. A way for employees to pay for charging, at home, at work and in public, that is also tax efficient. This is what The Charge Scheme does: employees pay through salary sacrifice and save 20 to 50% depending on tax band.

3. Workplace charging. If you have chargepoints on site, employees need a simple way to use them without manual logging, and the cost should feed into the same system as home and public charging rather than being tracked separately.

4. Business mileage reimbursement. For employees who drive for work in an electric car, whether company-owned or personal, reimbursement needs to reflect actual charging cost and stay HMRC-compliant. This is a distinct requirement from personal charging costs and is handled by Reimburse.

Missing any one of these leaves a gap that employees notice, usually the hard way, through an unexpectedly large electricity bill or an expenses process that does not fit how they actually charge.

A checklist for HR teams

• Do you know how many employees currently drive an EV, company car or personal, including under salary sacrifice?
• Do you know how many of those employees have off-street parking? Roughly nine million UK households do not, and that group is paying public charging rates with no support unless you have addressed it.
• Is there a mechanism today for employees to claim back personal charging costs tax efficiently? If not, they are paying from net income for a cost that could be sacrificed from gross pay.
• If employees drive for business, is mileage reimbursed using an accurate, HMRC-compliant method, or a flat estimate that may over or underpay?
• Does your current EV scheme provider already offer a charging solution, or would adding one mean a separate agreement?

Why sequencing matters

The natural instinct is to solve the car first and charging later, since the car is the bigger financial decision. In practice, charging costs are what employees feel every week, so leaving that gap unaddressed for months after launching a car scheme is where a lot of the early goodwill gets lost. If you are planning an EV salary sacrifice car scheme launch, it is worth bringing charging into the same conversation from the start rather than treating it as a phase two.

How it fits without a rebuild

None of this requires switching your existing car scheme provider. The Charge Scheme and Reimburse both sit alongside whatever car leasing arrangement you already have, so the addition is a new agreement covering charging and mileage, not a replacement for your existing setup. Payroll adds one deduction line, and employee onboarding and support are handled for you.

Full detail on implementation is on our HR teams page, and payroll mechanics are covered on finance and payroll.

Next steps

If you are mapping out an EV-ready benefits package and want to see where charging and mileage fit, book a demo and we will talk through your current setup.