Car sharing clubs are raising the alarm over worsening EV affordability, and for the first time have reduced the proportion of electric vehicles on their fleets.
Car clubs are membership organisations typically offering pay-as-you-go access to shared vehicles, reducing the need for users to buy their own cars. There are around 5,500 car club vehicles operating in the UK currently and 350,000 active users, with the majority in London. As environmental and net zero challenges continue to bite in cities across the UK, some think car clubs have the potential for a much bigger future.
Yet new data from a charity working in the shared transport sector, CoMoUK, reveals that in 2024 the proportion of EVs in car club fleets dropped to 30 per cent from 35 per cent in 2023. The charity calls this “a marked decline, and the first time on record that the share of EVs within car clubs has fallen”.
Rising EV costs
Rising costs facing operators are being blamed for reducing the appetite for EVs in the sector. These include higher charging fees at public charging stations, as well as hard-hitting changes to policies around vehicle excise duty that removed EV exemptions from April this year.
As a result of all the factors affecting affordability, CoMoUK calculates that running an EV costs car share clubs an average of £6,276 more per year than a petrol equivalent.
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“The fall in the proportion of electric vehicles within UK car club fleets is unprecedented and concerning, and illustrates the intense cost pressures being faced by operators,” says CoMoUK’s chief executive Richard Dilks.
