[Martyn86]

I am in the fortunate position of being able to enter the company car scheme and get an EV, one of which is a polestar 2 single motor standard range. In company car tax this would cost approx £30 per month.

Currently I have a f31 335d which I have owned for 4years and done approx 70k miles in it. My commute to work various daily and can range from 30 - 100miles each way. 9/10 times there is charging facilities on site and there is also chargers at the main office although it can be difficult getting a free one.

My current car cost £490 to road tax, same again to insure, then tyres and servicing. Currently am doing around 2000miles a month. So thinking the company car may save me £ overall as I wouldn’t have any of those costs.

If I went into the EV world then this would allow me to sell the f31 and use the funds to buy the wife a new car (her current car is over 11years old)

Question I am asking myself is do I do it and is an EV right for me… can’t decide?!?

Any help / thoughts appreciated

[MashinBenzin]

Given what everybody who makes the jump to EV says, and it does seem to be pretty much everybody, I'd say you should go for it. Particularly as it's a company car scheme with the savings that brings.

I'm not sure on the Polestar range, but I'd imagine your worst case would be winter, 100 miles each way and no charging at the other end - then you might need to stop on the way home. Even a 3-pin charge on site would be enough to avoid that perhaps.

Get a home charger and you're sorted.

I'm a private buyer, my (still rare) commute is 40 miles each way and I made the EV jump last week as you've probably seen.

[gangzoom]

Originally Posted by Martyn86

I am in the fortunate position of being able to enter the company car scheme and get an EV, one of which is a polestar 2 single motor standard range. In company car tax this would cost approx £30 per month.....

....My current car cost £490 to road tax, same again to insure, then tyres and servicing. Currently am doing around 2000miles a month. So thinking the company car may save me £ overall as I wouldn’t have any of those costs.

So the company car is only £30/month? I presume there is some addtional impact on take home pay otherwise its the bargain of the century!!

The most expensive part of owing any car is depreciation/lease/hire car costs, than maintenance. £490×3=£1470 a year running costs Isnt alot. Am assuming you don't pay for fuel, and claim back mileage at the HMRC rates of 45/25p per mile? What is the depreciation currently. Can you still claim back HMRC car allowance on a company car?

EVs are great, but don't automatically assume they are cheaper based on tax. I believe even the VAT reclaim rate on initial purchase has a potential sting when it comes to 'disposing' of the car at the end.

[MashinBenzin]

Fuel claims profit vs. electricity claims loss would be my only concern - but if you're charging for free a lot…

I think Grant_7 has a lot of experience here having made a similar move a few years back.

[cramsnik]

Originally Posted by gangzoom

So the company car is only £30/month? I presume there is some addtional impact on take home pay otherwise its the bargain of the century!!

The most expensive part of owing any car is depreciation/lease/hire car costs, than maintenance. £490×3=£1470 a year running costs Isnt alot. Am assuming you don't pay for fuel, and claim back mileage at the HMRC rates of 45/25p per mile? What is the depreciation currently. Can you still claim back HMRC car allowance on a company car?

EVs are great, but don't automatically assume they are cheaper based on tax. I believe even the VAT reclaim rate on initial purchase has a potential sting when it comes to 'disposing' of the car at the end.

£30 pcm is the tax, at least I think that is what the OP means.

[isleaiw1]

Like MashinBenzin I get no tax breaks on my private purchase and went from an RS4 to an EV about 7 weeks ago. Just occasionally I miss the noise, but that's probably been 2 or 3 times in the 7 weeks. The rest of the time I love the EV experience.

I dont have a commute as such but I do a 300 mile round trip to family every month or so and need to rely on public charging, never been an issue. Charging at home is a game changer.

If I could have had a co car EV and just given up my car allowance (which hasnt changed for 8 years!) I would have in a heartbeat.....

[JustChris]

Good news.
Only you can judge the P2 and if its range etc meets your needs.

My summary would be ... £30 a month for a new £45k car on this day and age......what are you waiting for?

[Sennen]

Even I couldn't argue the case with those figures......... OP do it and get sometging 'fun' for the weekend ....... win win

[Eddamoo]

Well if its Polestar or Bust, its definitely the Polestar.

But surely you get a car allowance as an alternative option? If you get the full amount of a base Polestar2 paid for by the company, that suggests you have a roughly ~10k/pa allowance equivalent?

[joshpmc]

I am in a similar situation, although our company gives me a car allowance that I can use towards a salary sacrifice scheme.
I took the polestar 2 DM LR on an extended test drive last weekend and really enjoyed it.
Yes it lacks the noise and some of the drama of the 440i (with BM3 and milltek exhaust), but the savings far out way this and I still have my e46 M3 for weekend petrol head duties.

[isleaiw1]

Originally Posted by Eddamoo

Well if its Polestar or Bust, its definitely the Polestar.

But surely you get a car allowance as an alternative option? If you get the full amount of a base Polestar2 paid for by the company, that suggests you have a roughly ~10k/pa allowance equivalent?

if only it worked like that - NICs (Ers at 13%) payable on any car allowance, and companies are notorious at not increasing them in line with real costs. For example, I get £7500 which I have for 7 years and was set before I joined. MY SIL would get £8700 if he didnt have the tesla - even though he gets paid less than me normally...

[KCH1984]

Assuming the OP still pays for fuel on his private usage as well...in which case (especially living in Ayrshire) you should be able to make good use of the (currently) free public charging network.

The salary sacrifice makes opting for an EV a no-brainer in my view. Possibly not as economical as just keeping a car you've fully paid off, but if it also allows you to get into something new and effectively do the same for the other half, then why not? Life is too short.

[kzg1969]

would be worth checking if there is a mileage limit on the lease - 24k miles is a lot! If they are the usual 8k miles and you have to pay the rest....could be a big OUCH

[isleaiw1]

Originally Posted by kzg1969

would be worth checking if there is a mileage limit on the lease - 24k miles is a lot! If they are the usual 8k miles and you have to pay the rest....could be a big OUCH

if its a company car in the true sense of the word, its there issue not yours...

(I did 185 mile round trip commute 4 or 5 days a week plus private use in a company car.... now that was an expensive lease!)

[Grant_7]

Originally Posted by MashinBenzin

Fuel claims profit vs. electricity claims loss would be my only concern - but if you're charging for free a lot…

I think Grant_7 has a lot of experience here having made a similar move a few years back.

I did this almost 3 years ago; offered into the company car scheme, and that was with the first year at 0% BiK.

I was running a very well specified 340i that I'd had from new, however once I'd sat down with Excel and worked out worst case for the EV vs best case for my 340i, the savings were still compelling.

And I don't regret making the switch one bit (helped by the fact I really enjoy my current Tesla Model 3).

With regards the Polestar - which incidentally I have on order as a Tesla replacement, albeit a Dual Motor model - just bear in mind that the Single Motor variants are FWD and only around 220bhp, so you'll be losing quite a bit of poke.

[dopper99]

Just reading about these OTA performance upgrades. Seems very easy to get more power and keep your warranty.

However, bear in mind to tell your insurance - like its a "remap" at the end of the day. From the Polestar website:

[kzg1969]

Originally Posted by isleaiw1

if its a company car in the true sense of the word, its there issue not yours...

(I did 185 mile round trip commute 4 or 5 days a week plus private use in a company car.... now that was an expensive lease!)

Ah, i misread and thought it was a SalSac co. car EV lease scheme....

[Martyn86]

Originally Posted by gangzoom

So the company car is only £30/month? I presume there is some addtional impact on take home pay otherwise its the bargain of the century!!

The most expensive part of owing any car is depreciation/lease/hire car costs, than maintenance. £490×3=£1470 a year running costs Isnt alot. Am assuming you don't pay for fuel, and claim back mileage at the HMRC rates of 45/25p per mile? What is the depreciation currently. Can you still claim back HMRC car allowance on a company car?

EVs are great, but don't automatically assume they are cheaper based on tax. I believe even the VAT reclaim rate on initial purchase has a potential sting when it comes to 'disposing' of the car at the end.

Wasn’t really clear in my original post, so hopefully will explain better below:

Currently I recieve a car allowance of just over 6k a year before tax. My business mileage is reimbursed at 20p per mile and I am currently averaging 45mpg, so roughly breaking even on the fuel costs, in addition to this I claim back the difference between the 20p paid by the work and the HMRC rate of 45p for first 10k miles and 25p thereafter. My current private car is costing me £350 a month, so again my car allowance more or less covers this, the big reason for keeping the current car is that I only have £4500 of a loan to pay off then it’s fully owned… and my work will pay my car allowance up until the car is 7 years old then I would need to change (currently car is 4.5 years old).

The biggest bills for the car which I have owned for 4 years is insurance (£500), road tax (£490), servicing (£300-£500) and tyres although I am good for the next year.

If I go down the EV route I will no longer receive the car allowance & the company car would cost £30.68 in BIK car tax. But the upside is the company insure & maintain the car, any mileage over their lease deal is their problem and I get out the equity in my current car approx 14k (hopefully more). I will also get 5p per business mile based on the current HMRC fuel rates paid by my employer.

Should also say I work in construction and generally our sites are now being setup with charging facilities on site which are free to use.

[Martyn86]

Originally Posted by cramsnik

£30 pcm is the tax, at least I think that is what the OP means.

Correct it’s the company car tax (BIK) I would end up paying

[Martyn86]

Originally Posted by JustChris

Good news.
Only you can judge the P2 and if its range etc meets your needs.

My summary would be ... £30 a month for a new £45k car on this day and age......what are you waiting for?

The other thing to consider is the loss of my car allowance, admittedly didn’t mention this in my original post. That’s just over 6k before tax

[Martyn86]

Originally Posted by Eddamoo

Well if its Polestar or Bust, its definitely the Polestar.

But surely you get a car allowance as an alternative option? If you get the full amount of a base Polestar2 paid for by the company, that suggests you have a roughly ~10k/pa allowance equivalent?

Not as much as that unfortunately, currently my car allowance is just over 6k

[Martyn86]

Originally Posted by isleaiw1

if only it worked like that - NICs (Ers at 13%) payable on any car allowance, and companies are notorious at not increasing them in line with real costs. For example, I get £7500 which I have for 7 years and was set before I joined. MY SIL would get £8700 if he didnt have the tesla - even though he gets paid less than me normally...

Do you not also pay tax on a car allowance?