Bedford Borough Council has ended its electric vehicle (EV) car club for staff, citing high costs and low usage, and is now looking at a salary sacrifice scheme as a more viable alternative to support low-emission travel.
The scheme, which provided three EVs for council staff business use, was launched in 2022 using external grant funding.
But after the funding expired, the council struggled to justify its cost, last week’s Environment and Sustainable Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee (3 July) was told.
Saragh Fleckney, manager for passenger transport and sustainable travel, said: “It was established that using the three vehicles for staff purposes would have been significantly more than if we’d have paid mileage to those individuals [for using their own vehicles].
“So it wasn’t seen as a viable alternative going forward from a financial perspective, and that scheme finished at the end of March this year.”
Cllr Christine McHugh (Lib Dem, Goldington) said it is a “shame” that that the staff EVs didn’t take off.
“But if you’re reimbursing people for mileage, then there’s very little incentive for people to use the electric vehicles,” she said.
“Maybe a certain team could have been encouraged to use them and not receive reimbursement for [using] their own vehicles.”
A fourth vehicle, available to the public at Riverside Car Park, was also withdrawn .
Instead, the council is now exploring a green vehicle salary sacrifice scheme, allowing employees to lease low-emission vehicles through a portion of their salary.
The proposed scheme could include insurance, maintenance and other costs, potentially making it more accessible for younger staff who might otherwise be priced out of EV ownership.
“The key thing here is obviously giving people the opportunity to purchase, or actually be in, a green car,” the council’s chief officer environment, Paul Pace, said.
While the council has held early talks with car hire firms about a possible public-facing car club in future, no replacement scheme has yet been announced.
By John Guinn
Local Democracy Reporter
