Ambitious Government plans to make the UK the world leader in electric car adoption could be hampered by its decision to increase company car benefit-in-kind tax on those vehicles by 500% in 2015/16 with a further rise due in 2016/17.

Zero emission electric vehicles are currently 0% rated for company car benefit-in-kind tax, but fleet-decision-makers’ organisation ACFO’s Electric Vehicle Seminar heard that fleet demand could be hit by HM Treasury’s decision to increase the charge on models to 5% in 2015/16 and 7% in 2016/17.