Building an EV-Ready Benefits Package: A 2026 Guide for UK HR Teams
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The corporate fleet has changed faster than most HR benefits packages. According to EY, more than 75% of new corporate car registrations in 2025 were electric. Fleets are leading the UK's EV transition, but the way the benefits are structured (particularly regarding charging) hasn’t kept pace.
For employees who have an EV through a salary sacrifice scheme, the savings on the vehicle are meaningful. The BiK rate on fully electric cars sits at 4% in 2025/26. The monthly cost, after tax and National Insurance savings, is typically a fraction of what the same vehicle would cost on a personal lease. That part of the EV employee benefits equation is well understood.
What tends to be missing is the second half. The moment an employee drives away in their salary sacrifice EV and pulls up to a public charger, they pay for electricity from post-tax, take-home pay, the same as any other driver. The car is tax-efficient, but running it isn’t.
That is the gap this guide is designed to address. A complete EV-ready benefits package in 2026 isn’t just a salary sacrifice car scheme. It is a three-component offer: the car, salary sacrifice charging, and a company EV policy that sets out how it all works in practice. This is how you turn a basic EV perk into a competitive, complete modern benefits package.
What Does a Complete EV Benefits Package Look Like in 2026?
Most businesses offering EV employee benefits have focused on one thing: the car. A salary sacrifice car scheme reduces the cost of the vehicle by allowing employees to give up a portion of their gross salary in exchange for the benefit, before income tax and National Insurance are applied. It is a well-established, well-understood mechanism. For many employers, ticking that box has felt like enough.
While that’s great, it’s not enough in 2026. It's worth considering: if you only offer the car, are you giving employees half a benefit?
According to Zapmap data analysed by Field Dynamics, around 32.8% of UK households (approximately 9 million homes) don't have access to a driveway or dedicated parking space. For those households, installing a home charger isn't a viable option. Without a solution to pay for public charging in a tax-efficient way, the running cost advantage of an EV over a petrol or diesel car narrows significantly.
A complete EV-ready benefits package addresses the whole picture. It brings together three components that together give employees full financial coverage of their EV ownership costs:
The salary sacrifice car scheme handles the capital cost of the vehicle
Salary sacrifice charging, delivered through The Charge Scheme, covers ongoing energy costs across home, workplace, and public charging
A clear company EV policy sets out how both work in practice, who is eligible, and what employees can expect
Each component does a distinct job. Together, they close the gap between a partial benefit and a competitive EV workplace benefit.
The organisations that get this right in 2026 are removing the practical and financial barriers to EV adoption for their workforce, and positioning themselves as employers who understand what a modern benefits package should deliver.
Key Takeaways
32.8% of UK households can't install a home charger due to no dedicated parking
A car scheme alone leaves employees paying for fuel from post-tax income
Three components complete the package: car, charging, and policy
Employers who close this gap build a genuinely competitive EV reward strategy
Component 1: The Salary Sacrifice Car Scheme
A salary sacrifice car scheme that gives employees access to a new EV below the market cost is the foundation of any EV-ready benefits package. The way it works is simple: the monthly lease cost is deducted from the employee's gross salary before income tax, and National Insurance is calculated, reducing the taxable income on which both are assessed.
For the employee, the savings are substantial. The combination of reduced income tax, lower National Insurance contributions, and the currently low BiK rate on electric cars (4% in 2025/26) typically translates to a net monthly saving of 20–50% compared with taking the same vehicle via a personal lease.
For the employer, the salary sacrifice arrangement reduces the gross payroll against which employer National Insurance contributions are calculated. The scheme is cost-neutral at minimum, and for many organisations it produces a measurable NIC saving that partially or fully offsets the cost of administering the benefit.
What to look for in a car scheme provider
Not all salary sacrifice car schemes are the same. The key features to assess when reviewing or selecting a provider are:
The breadth of vehicle choice available to employees
How the scheme handles early termination events, such as redundancy or parental leave
Whether the scheme is administered on a fully managed basis or requires significant internal resources
How well the provider supports employee communications at the point of enrolment
The Electric Car Scheme is the provider behind The Charge Scheme and offers salary sacrifice car arrangements that can be complemented by salary sacrifice charging. For HR teams exploring an integrated EV benefits package, this connection matters. A car scheme and charging benefit running through the same provider reduces the number of contracts to manage, aligns the payroll integration, and creates a joined-up employee experience from vehicle to fuel.
For organisations already running a car scheme through a different provider, the charging component can still be added independently. The Charge Scheme is a bolt-on benefit compatible with any existing salary sacrifice arrangement.
Key Takeaways
Salary sacrifice car schemes reduce taxable income, saving employees 20–50%
BiK on EVs sits at 4% in 2025/26, making electric the most tax-efficient choice
Employers also save on NIC contributions through gross salary reductions
The Charge Scheme bolt-on works alongside any existing car arrangement
Component 2: Salary Sacrifice Charging
A salary sacrifice car scheme covers the cost of the vehicle, but it doesn't cover the cost of running it. Salary sacrifice charging is the component that closes that gap, and it's the part of the EV benefits package that most organisations are missing.
The Charge Scheme is the UK's first salary sacrifice benefit dedicated entirely to EV charging. It works by deducting employees' charging costs from gross salary, before income tax and National Insurance are applied. The saving mirrors the structure of the car scheme: employees pay for their electricity in pre-tax pounds rather than post-tax pounds, delivering a saving of 20–50% on every charge depending on their tax bracket:
Basic rate taxpayers save approximately 32% on every kWh
Higher-rate taxpayers save approximately 42%
Additional rate taxpayers save up to 50%
Applied across a year of charging, these savings amount to hundreds of pounds per employee, on top of the savings already delivered by the car scheme itself.
What Does Salary Sacrifice Charging cover?
The Charge Scheme covers home, workplace, and public charging within a single benefit. Employees charge as normal and submit a monthly mileage reading, which takes around 10 seconds. The system calculates the cost of their charging across the month and processes it through payroll. No receipts, no expense claims, no manual reconciliation.
For public charging, a single RFID card gives employees access to over 76,000 charge points across the UK, including BP Pulse, Shell Recharge, IONITY, and Tesla Superchargers. There's no need to manage multiple network memberships or pay from a personal bank account. Every session is logged and processed through the scheme automatically.
The no-home-charger problem, solved
For employees who rent, live in flats, or don't have off-street parking, The Charge Scheme is particularly important because a salary sacrifice car without a charging scheme creates the most financial pressure. Public charging at rapid speeds carries a cost premium, and without a tax-efficient mechanism to pay for it, those costs can undermine the overall value of the EV benefit.
The Charge Scheme removes that friction. Whether an employee charges at home, tops up in the office car park, or uses the public network on a long commute or business trip, every session is covered. There's no requirement to have a home charger to benefit fully from the scheme.
What Is The Cost to the employer?
The Charge Scheme is free for employers. There’s no net cost to the business because it's funded through the NIC savings generated within the scheme structure. For HR and finance teams, this is a decision about whether to give employees a benefit that costs nothing to provide and delivers meaningful value to them every month.
Key Takeaways
Salary sacrifice charging cuts employees' energy costs by 20–50% per charge
Home, workplace, and public charging are all covered in one integrated benefit
One RFID card accesses 76,000+ charge points; no multiple accounts required
The Charge Scheme costs employers nothing, funded through NIC savings
Component 3: A Clear Company EV Policy
The car scheme and charging benefit are the structural components of an EV-ready package. The company's EV policy is what makes them work in practice. Without it, employees face a patchwork of unanswered questions:
Which chargers are they expected to use at the office?
What happens if they need to charge on a business trip?
How are home charging costs handled when a personal vehicle is used for work?
A company EV policy doesn't need to be a lengthy document, but it does need to cover the ground that affects employees' day-to-day experience of driving electric for work. For HR teams carrying out a benefits review, getting the policy right is as important as getting the products right.
Charging at the Workplace
The policy should clarify whether the employer provides on-site charging and, if so, how access is managed. It should confirm whether workplace charging is covered through The Charge Scheme or handled through a separate arrangement. Importantly, the policy should make clear that workplace charging is not taxed as a benefit in kind when structured correctly, which removes a common employee concern.
Home Charging Reimbursement for Business Mileage
Employees who use their personal EV for work trips have a legitimate expectation of reimbursement for the electricity they consume. HMRC introduced a revised Advisory Electricity Rate structure in September 2025, with separate rates for home charging (7p/mile) and public charging (15p/mile), effective from 1 March 2026. The policy should specify which rate applies and how employees submit mileage claims. For fleets managing this at scale, Reimburse automates the calculation and produces a payroll-ready reimbursement file, removing the manual overhead from both employee and finance teams.
What Are the Eligibility Rules For Salary Sacrifice charging?
The policy should confirm which employees can access the EV salary sacrifice car scheme - typically all permanent employees above a minimum salary threshold - and which can access The Charge Scheme, which is compatible with any EV regardless of how it was obtained.
What Happens if An Employee Leaves?
The policy should set out how the salary sacrifice deduction is handled if an employee resigns, is made redundant, or goes on extended leave. This is a common point of employee uncertainty and worth addressing clearly before it becomes a support query.
Communication
The most effective EV policies aren't filed away in a document library. They're communicated at the point of enrolment, included in the welcome pack for any new salary sacrifice EV driver, and made available to employees who are considering the scheme but haven't yet joined. A policy that employees can't find delivers no value.
Key Takeaways
A company EV policy clarifies charging at work, home reimbursement, and eligibility
HMRC's revised AER from March 2026 sets 7p/mile for home and 15p/mile for public
Clear policy at enrolment prevents common support queries from employees
Reimburse automates business mileage calculations, removing manual overhead
How Salary Sacrifice Car and Charging Schemes Work Together
The car scheme and salary sacrifice charging are not in competition; instead, they’re designed to work together. This produces a more equitable benefits package than either benefit delivers alone.
The Charge Scheme bolts directly onto an existing EV car arrangement. This means no separate contract, no new payroll integration, no disruption to how the car scheme currently runs. For finance and payroll teams, the only operational addition is a monthly mileage submission from employees, which takes around 10 seconds.
Employees in the car scheme continue to receive their vehicle savings as before. Those who also enrol in The Charge Scheme save on their charging costs on top of that. And because the charging benefit carries no vehicle cost commitment, it improves the overall equity of the benefits package without reducing the value of the car scheme for anyone already in it.
The commercial case is also straightforward. Salary sacrifice reduces gross pay, so the employer's National Insurance contributions fall alongside the employee's savings. The Charge Scheme is cost-neutral for employers, funded through those NI savings within the scheme structure, with no setup or running costs for the business.
For organisations with Net Zero commitments, the combination carries an evidential advantage. Supporting employees to run their electric vehicles affordably across home, workplace, and public charging is a practical, measurable contribution to Scope 3 emissions reduction.
Key takeaways
The Charge Scheme bolts onto existing car arrangements with no new payroll integration needed
Employees keep their car scheme savings; charging savings stack on top for eligible drivers
Employer NI savings fund The Charge Scheme, making it cost-neutral to implement
The combination supports measurable progress toward Scope 3 emissions targets
A 90-Day Plan to Upgrade Your Benefits Package
For HR teams who have identified the gap and want to move, building a complete EV benefits package doesn't require a lengthy procurement process or a significant internal project. The Charge Scheme is designed as a bolt-on, compatible with any existing car arrangement and requiring minimal setup from the employer side.
Here is a practical 90-day sequence for HR teams moving from a single-component to a complete EV-ready benefits package.
Days 1-30: Audit and Align
Start with an honest audit of what you currently offer. If you have a salary sacrifice car scheme in place, the car component is covered. The gaps are likely in charging and policy. Survey employees who already drive EVs through the scheme and ask:
Where do they charge?
How do they pay?
Do they feel the benefit covers their actual running costs?
The answers will tell you where the benefit is falling short and give you internal data to support the business case. In parallel, confirm the scope of your company's EV policy, or establish that no formal policy exists. Identify the specific questions it needs to answer: workplace charging access, home reimbursement rates, business mileage claims, and what happens when an employee leaves.
Days 31-60: Add Salary Sacrifice Charging
Contact The Charge Scheme to initiate setup. For organisations already running a salary sacrifice car scheme, the integration is straightforward. The Charge Scheme connects to your existing payroll process, and there's no requirement to migrate vehicles or change contracts. Employers can be live within a matter of days.
At this stage:
Draft or update your company EV policy to incorporate the charging benefit, including the HMRC Advisory Electricity Rate structure that took effect from March 2026
Brief your payroll team on the gross salary deduction process
Ensure your HR information system is updated to reflect the new benefit
Days 61–90: Communicate and Enrol
Communication is where many HR teams underestimate the work required. A new benefit that employees don't understand delivers less value than it should. At a minimum, this means a clear employee-facing communication explaining what The Charge Scheme is, how it works alongside their salary sacrifice car, and what they need to do to enrol.
For employees already driving EVs, the financial case is easy to make: they're currently paying for every charge from post-tax income, and they don't need to be. For employees still considering an EV, knowing that both the vehicle and the charging are covered tax-efficiently can be the factor that tips the decision. This is precisely the kind of benefit that supports an employer's wider Net Zero commitments while delivering a tangible, monthly financial saving to individuals.
The 90-day timeline is conservative. Many employers complete setup and first enrolments in under a month. The structure exists; the only variable is how quickly you choose to act.
Key takeaways
An audit of the current provision identifies the gap between car and charging coverage
The Charge Scheme integrates with existing payroll; employers can be live in days
Clear employee communications at launch drive enrolment and benefit uptake
The 90-day plan is a ceiling: many employers complete setup in under a month
Frequently Asked Questions
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A complete EV benefits package has three components: a salary sacrifice car scheme, salary sacrifice charging, and a company EV policy. Most organisations currently offer the first. The second and third are what separate a partial EV perk from a complete EV employee benefits package.
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Yes. The Charge Scheme is a bolt-on benefit compatible with any existing salary sacrifice car arrangement, regardless of provider. There's no requirement to switch providers, migrate vehicles, or change employee contracts. It also works for employees who personally lease or own their electric car.
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No. Workplace charge points are not a requirement. The Charge Scheme covers home, public, and workplace charging, but employees don't need access to on-site infrastructure to benefit. Where workplace chargers exist, they can be incorporated, but their absence is not a barrier to launch.
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For most employers, the net cost is zero. The salary sacrifice car scheme is cost-neutral, with NIC savings offsetting administration costs. The Charge Scheme is free for employers, funded through the NIC savings generated within the scheme structure.
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Once onboarded, employees can receive their RFID card within 3–5 working days. Many employers complete the full process from first contact to first enrolment within a month.
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No. The Charge Scheme bolts directly onto existing arrangements without disrupting vehicle contracts, payroll structures, or employee agreements. Employees simply add it as an additional gross salary deduction. There's no change to the car benefit itself.
Build the Benefits Package Your EV Drivers Actually Need
Most new company cars are now electric. The benefits package surrounding it, in most organisations, hasn't. That gap costs employees money every month, and it costs employers a competitive benefits offer they could be making at no additional cost.
The Charge Scheme closes the gap. It adds salary sacrifice charging to whatever car arrangement your employees already have, with minimal setup and no disruption to existing benefit structures. Employees save 20–50% on every charge. Employers reduce their NIC liability. And the company EV policy you build around both gives everyone clarity on how it works in practice.
For HR teams ready to move from a single-component EV perk to a complete, competitive EV-ready benefits package, the next step is straightforward.
Explore how The Charge Scheme works for companies, or share the details with employees directly by looking at how The Charge Scheme works for drivers.
Last updated: 12/06/2026
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