Mercia Fleet Management, the fleet management division of EV salary sacrifice specialist Fleet Evolution, is offering a series of free educational and myth-busting workshops for electric vehicles.

The workshops will dispel some of the myths that still surround EVs and explore everyday practicalities

The workshops, available throughout June and July in physical or virtual form, will draw on the company’s experience of managing EVs for fleet customers and will aim to address all the current fleet concerns involved in running EVs.

Designed to put every aspect of running EVs under the microscope, the free 30-minute sessions will consider the practicalities of living with an electric car on a 24/7 basis and what the common pitfalls are to avoid, while dispelling some of the myths that still surround EVs.

Each session will look at the practicalities of living with an electric car, sanity-checking manufacturer claims, and mythbusting popular claims by sceptics.

Hosted by Andrew Leech, founder and managing director at Fleet Evolution and head of the Mercia Fleet Management division, the workshops will dissect in fine detail every aspect of electric car operation from first delivery.

They will include:

• The road to the electric revolution
• Charging an electric car
• Charging infrastructure and tips
• Planning a road trip (petrol vs EV costs and times)
• Electric car vs used petrol car comparison
• Buy, lease, or salary sacrifice?
• Real-world mileage and brand reliability
• Charging costs without home charging
• Going electric in winter
• Selling your EV
• Extra topics: Electric vans and towing

They will also focus on dispelling busting some of the myths that are still associated with EVs, such as them being more prone to catch fire than equivalent ICE models. Recent research by Startline Motor Finance found more than four out of 10 people (43%) think electric vehicles catch fire easily, despite a wealth of evidence showing EVs are less likely to catch fire than ICE cars and that EV fires are very rare.

Andrew Leech, founder and MD at Fleet Evolution and head of the Mercia Fleet Management division

Leech, who has almost 15 years’ experience of running an electric car personally, said: “These sessions, which we will be running throughout the summer for both existing customers and new prospects, explore the practicalities of going electric and, as live sessions, we contain plenty of time for questions and answers.

“We will also demonstrate how you can introduce EVs to all employees where relevant, and what funding methods, such as salary sacrifice, are most appropriate.

“The sessions will be hosted online, but if you’re based near one of our customers, we can bring the show to you! If you prefer, just let us know and we can come to you with a selection of EVs,” added Leech.

Salary sacrifice has become one of the most popular methods of funding EVs in recent months as more companies appreciate the recruitment and retention benefits of offering employees a fully expensed electric car through this method. The latest Leasing Outlook report from the BVRLA reveals salary sacrifice car volumes are up 47% year on year.

The EV salary sacrifice scheme provided by Mercia Fleet Management’s sister company, Fleet Evolution, includes all servicing and repair costs, road fund licence, fully comprehensive insurance, corporate discounts and no deposit.

“An electric car salary sacrifice scheme is undoubtedly the most cost-effective way of making the latest electric models available across a business and opening up EV ownership to a wider audience,” added Leech.

To book your place in the workshop sessions or to express an interest in holding one at your workplace, please click here or email: [email protected].