As a founding member of EV100, sustainable mobility is at the very heart of LeasePlan and everything we do. In 2021, we launched our Driving to Zero sustainability strategy, which builds on our commitment to lead the transition to zero-emission mobility, achieve net zero tailpipe emissions by 2030 and address the most important ESG issues facing businesses today.
With this in mind, we were thrilled to host our second edition of What’s next in EVs, focused on the future of zero-emission mobility in Europe and beyond. During our electrifying live event, our experts revealed why 2022 is looking to be a great year for EVs, discussed which countries are leading and lagging in the EV revolution and expertly answered many of your questions.
Driving to Zero
In his opening remarks, Matthew Walters, Head of Consultancy Services & Customer Value at LeasePlan UK, provided a quick introduction to LeasePlan’s EV strategy, which focuses on three pillars: Protect the Planet, Contribute to Societal wellbeing, and Be Responsible
Best EVs on the market
Robert Llewellyn of Fully Charged, the world’s no. 1 clean energy and EV show shared his thoughts on the Kia EV6, Whatcars overall winner for the Car of the Year 2022, calling it a “second generation electric car” and a “much more sophisticated machine”. He presented the most exciting new EV models that’ll hit the market this year, including the Lucid Air, “the next-level in luxury EVs” and the Polestar 3, “one of the most climate responsible cars ever made”. He also talked about the next-gen Asian EVs that are now ready to take the European market by storm. According to Robert, China is making cars of “stunning quality” like the Nio ET5, which offers innovations like battery swapping and a whopping 700 km range. Answering the question of whether it's the right time for company fleets to go electric, Robert said: “the savings are phenomenal – not only for fuel but also servicing costs.” This, coupled with charging infrastructure “getting better” and innovations such as rapid charging, vehicle to grid and solar panelled cars, Robert “can’t think of a reason not to make the transition”.
EV Readiness deep-dive
Berno Kleinherenbrink, Chief Commercial Officer at LeasePlan, presented our fifth EV Readiness Index 2022, an annual report that weighs key factors of EV preparedness across 22 European countries. He explained that, on the upside, EV uptake has significantly increased in almost all markets and that EVs are now more affordable than ever. However, “for the fifth year in a row, charging infrastructure is the bottleneck holding back the EV revolution in Europe. This highlights the urgent need for governments to invest in a robust and reliable public charging infrastructure across Europe,” said Berno. Like last year, Norway ranked the highest in EV Readiness, followed by The Netherlands and Britain. He also touched on highlights in a few other European countries, including Greece, which has shown the greatest improvement this year.
Greek triumph
With Greece’s recent EV Readiness performance in mind, Costas Petroutsos, Managing Director of LeasePlan Greece, outlined the factors contributing to this transformation, including an increase in EV maturity, improvements in charging infrastructure and incentives to lower the total cost of ownership. He also talked about what’s next for Greece including initiatives like 100% emissions-free islands and recently announced government incentives. For example, all taxis will have to be emissions-free as of January 1, 2026 and by January 1, 2030 this will apply to all new cars. Considering its location and climate, Greece has a great opportunity to make use of renewable energy sources. “After all,” said Costas, “we have sunshine 365 days a year.” He said that the biggest lesson that can be learned from Greece is “to learn from others’ good practices”.
Q&A round
In the Q&A round, our speakers answered viewers’ queries about the semi-conductor shortage, the gap in affordability of EVs and how LeasePlan is helping companies that face infrastructure challenges. Our experts also discussed supercharger networks, car sharing and why LeasePlan’s EV Readiness Index still has insufficient data to cover Asia and the Americas. When asked about the most common lease lengths at the moment, Berno said, “There is a high demand for flexibility but also for longer contracts to push TCO down.” But, by far, most fleet managers seemed to want to know what the must-have EV is right now. Our experts “would put their money” on the Kia EV6, but the Hyundai Ioniq5 SUV is also greatly admired and the Nio ET5 and the Ora Cat were mentioned.
What’s next?
Our mission is to provide you with What’s next in sustainable mobility so you can focus on What’s next for you. To learn more, download our EV Readiness Index 2022 or our white paper on the TCO of EVs . Do also subscribe to our LeasePlan Community for industry insights and updates on our next event or follow #DrivingtoZero on social media.
If you would like to rewatch the event, you can find a recording below.