The electrification of road transport is no longer an emerging trend; it is a fundamental lever in modern business strategy. Over the last decade, corporate fleets have served as a catalyst for electric vehicle (EV) adoption, both in the UK and across Europe.

This snapshot analyses the growth, drivers, and defining milestones of EV adoption to help you navigate this transition with ease.

The fleet market: A decade of acceleration

The growth of Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) in the UK fleet market has transitioned from a small group of early adopters about 10 years ago, to a central pillar of new vehicle registrations by the mid-2020s. This acceleration has been driven less by private consumer sentiment and overwhelmingly by the fiscal incentives aimed at businesses.

The rise of the zero-emission fleet

It's clear that the corporate sector, not the private consumer, is propelling this change. Businesses are proactively capitalising on the economic and regulatory benefits:

• Market dominance: As of mid-2025, the fleet and business sector accounts for the vast majority of all new EV registrations.

  • Did you know... Roughly six out of every ten EVs (60%) on UK roads are registered in a company fleet!

• New registration share: In the period leading up to 2025, the market share of BEVs in new car registrations has consistently surpassed the 20% threshold in key months, a dramatic increase from less than 1% a decade prior. This trend positions BEVs as the fastest-growing powertrain, second only to petrol in overall volume.

• The million-EV milestone: By the start of 2024, the total number of fully electric cars on UK roads surpassed one million units, representing a massive increase in volume from the beginning of the decade.

This rapid uptake can be linked to the highly favourable benefit-in-kind tax rate for company cars, which has made the total cost of ownership for an EV more attractive than for internal combustion engine vehicles. Plus, policy measures, such as the upcoming Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate (requiring 28% of new car sales to be zero-emission by 2025), promise to influence the upward trend.

Growth in commercial light vehicles

While passenger cars lead the way, the commercial van segment has quietly started gaining momentum. The number of electric vans in use on UK roads has shot up, with figures showing a rapid spike in the past few years, reaching over 80,000 units by early 2024. Despite this, market penetration remains lower than that of passenger cars, accounting for a smaller percentage of the overall van fleet. This highlights that the next critical phase for fleets means overcoming the challenges associated with electric light commercial vehicles, such as payload and duty cycle management.

Scaling at pace in Europe

EV adoption across the European Union has looked similar, and in some areas exceeded, the UK's growth, thanks to diverse national incentives and the overarching EU CO2 emissions targets:

• In 2023, electric vehicles (including BEVs and Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles) accounted for nearly 23% of all new passenger car registrations across the EU-27.

• The commercial fleet EV sector in Europe showed some remarkable growth between 2016 and 2022, accelerating from approximately 100,000 to over 1 million vehicles in the space of six years. Analysts project that electrified fleets will account for a significant 50% of the total EV energy demand by 2030, highlighting their central role in the energy transition.

The trailblazers

• Norway's blueprint: It’s safe to say that the Scandinavian country is the global prime example, where new BEVs make up over 90% of all new car sales due to powerful and decades-long policy support.

• Germany and France: These major players contribute massively to the volume. In France, for example, battery-electric vehicles recently surpassed petrol cars in new registrations for the first time.

How the fleet manager can be the decarbonisation leader

It’s actually businesses, not private buyers, that are the driving force behind the electrification of transport. For a fleet manager, their strategy and operations can really shift the needle to hit ESG goals. While this is a super exciting and unique position to be in, they’re now faced with managing the complexity of diverse charging needs (home, public, and depot), integrating new payment systems, sourcing green energy supply and getting low-carbon tech installed at their commercial properties.

The good news is that there are partners with the industry know-how and expertise who can guide fleet managers through this new world. The businesses that take on the challenge of fleet electrification with a holistic approach will not only future-proof their fleets but also pioneer a more sustainable way of doing business.

Frequently Asked Questions