Gridserve has launched an EV leasing business in partnership with Hitachi Capital, designed to bring the cost of driving electric well below that of petrol or diesel cars.
Net zero carbon energy is included in monthly leasing payments, meaning drivers can charge at electric forecourts without paying any extra costs.
It therefore enables people to accurately compare the cost of leasing a petrol or diesel vehicle, plus fuel, with an electric vehicle with fuel included, therefore removing a key barrier to mass EV adoption.
This reflects the true overall cost to the consumer, which in most cases demonstrates a lower cost for EVs than petrol or diesel vehicles.
The benefit is greater for the 40% of UK drivers without access to off-street parking who would otherwise have to rely on less dependable and typically more expensive public charging infrastructure compared to charging at home.
Hitachi Capital and Gridserve are currently offering EVs from Audi, BMW, DS, Mercedes-Benz, MG, Mini, Nissan, Renault, and Volkswagen, and plan to offer a wider range in the future.
Gridserve has also partnered with a tree planting organisation, which will plant 100 trees for every EV leased through the service, helping minimise the carbon emissions from supply chain processes, such as manufacturing.
This week Gridserve opened the UK’s first electric forecourt in Braintree, Essex, one of more than 100 to be built by the firm in the next five years, as part of a £1bn programme part funded by Hitachi Capital.
Toddington Harper, Founder and CEO of Gridserve said, “Together with our solar farms and electric forecourts, Gridserve Electric Vehicle Solutions completes our ‘sun-to-wheel’ infrastructure designed to deliver net zero carbon transport from 2020 onwards.
“By including the planting of 100 trees for every electric vehicle leased through the service and providing net zero carbon energy to charge all the vehicles, we’re making EV driving greener, cheaper and more straightforward than ever before.”
Robert Gordon, CEO of Hitachi Capital (UK), added, “Our partnership with Gridserve is a total game-changer for electric mobility. Not only are we providing electric vehicles at some of the most competitive rates on the market, but we are at the same time developing a network of rapid, reliable and renewably powered electric forecourts that will fast-track the electric vehicle revolution in the UK as we prepare for a zero-carbon future.”
