revised company car list - PHEVs

revised company car list - PHEVs

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snorkel sucker

Original Poster:

2,662 posts

202 months

Friday 24th February 2017
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We've just had a change to what was previously a rather dull company car list (exclusively full of diesels). The list has now expanded to include a host of PHEVs and some notes which seem to suggest that, if the cars are ordered before April 6th, then they'll not be subject to the new rules coming into force. It coincides nicely with me looking to change cars but I have a couple of questions to the PH masses:

Am I correct in saying that any car ordered before April 6th means it will remain on the current BIK rates? I've been on Comcar and the BIK rates significantly increase over the coming years but I'm not clear whether, by jumping into a PHEV now, you are "locked in" to the current BIK rates.

Sadly I can only bump up one grade which means I miss out on the more interesting cars (BMW i3 and 330e for example). The PHEV choices for me are:
Mondeo Saloon Titanium Hybrid 187ps Auto
2 Series 225xe Active Tourer 1.5 Phev Sport
Lexus CT 200h 5 Door 1.8 Luxury Nav E-Cvt
Toyota C-Hr Hatchback 1.8 Hybrid Excel
Toyota Prius+ Estate 1.8 VVTi Icon Nav
Toyota RAV4 2.5 VVT-i Hbd Busns Edtn Plus
Golf GTE

Is it a no-brainer that the Golf GTE is the one to go for?

Comcar suggests that a GTE has the following:

Tax year to 5th April 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19
P11D value £34,000
Percentage charge 7% 9% 13%
Benefit in kind £2,380 £3,060 £4,420
Tax payable at 20% £476 £612 £884
Tax payable at 40% £952 £1,224 £1,768

Quite a jump from 2016/17 to 2018/19.

Sorry if this is a stupid question but I've been a car allowance person for, well, forever!

Trabi601

4,865 posts

94 months

Friday 24th February 2017
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BIK rates go up yearly, you don't 'lock in' to this year's rate, unfortunately. Some colleagues of mine have been caught out by this as they've ordered stuff like Evoques and Disco Sports - they'll be paying 500 quid a month in a couple of years!

The big change to VED in April kicks in for anything registered from April onwards, not ordered. If you're ordering now, you'll be caught by the new VED rates - although, for a sub £40k car, this isn't too bad. For a car over £40k, it's adding around £30 a month to lease costs and means that some of my colleagues have had to downgrade from, for example, a BMW 520d MSport to a 520d SE, as the extra £30 / month blew the limit.

Otispunkmeyer

12,558 posts

154 months

Friday 24th February 2017
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Some who works in our building has the BMW 225xdrive e thingy. I dare say it looks like a pleasant motor car. I'd not be upset to have one. I know people on here were quick to put the car down as a dog's dinner and a sell out for being FWD but it's a nice looking thing to me.

As it's FWD they put the electric motor at the back and that gives it it's XDrive badge. Can do 25 miles on a charge and get along at 78 mph on just the motor if you want it too. Surely worth a look, especially if you have a family to ferry about.

I'd forget all the Toyota cars. They're not proper PHEVs and they're ugly. The Lexus CT is decidedly old now as well. Based on the old Prius.

Golf is smart though, but I think the BMW is worth a look myself.

Edited by Otispunkmeyer on Friday 24th February 22:10

jkh112

21,893 posts

157 months

Friday 24th February 2017
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The new rules coming into force in April are around salary sacrifice. The BIK rates increase year on year and there is no way to avoid that, but from April the tax liability on a company car (or one via a salary sacrifice scheme) will be the greater of the BIK or the income tax on the amount of salary lost to cover the car, I.e. the equivalent car allowance. This only really affects cars with low BIK such as PHEVs.

snorkel sucker

Original Poster:

2,662 posts

202 months

Saturday 25th February 2017
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Thanks for the input. We've been told that any order placed before mid march will be processed before 6th April and will therefore fall under the current rules.
The 2 series does sound interesting and would be very useful in replacing the current family wagon. Decent turn of pace to it too.
I was planning on making a move to a PHEV anyway, just using my allowance, so I need to work out whether it is better financially to do this or go for a company car.

Trabi601

4,865 posts

94 months

Saturday 25th February 2017
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snorkel sucker said:
Thanks for the input. We've been told that any order placed before mid march will be processed before 6th April and will therefore fall under the current rules.
The 2 series does sound interesting and would be very useful in replacing the current family wagon. Decent turn of pace to it too.
I was planning on making a move to a PHEV anyway, just using my allowance, so I need to work out whether it is better financially to do this or go for a company car.
What rules?

Is this a salary sacrifice scheme, rather than traditional company car scheme?

snorkel sucker

Original Poster:

2,662 posts

202 months

Saturday 25th February 2017
quotequote all
Having done some more reading on this today, the changes are in regard to the BIK tax becoming the higher amount; either the P111d / BIK value of the car or the car allowance cash equivalent.

Edited by snorkel sucker on Saturday 25th February 21:34

Cagey

66 posts

128 months

Saturday 25th February 2017
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I'm 4 weeks into having a 225xe as my co. car having come out of a Mk7 GTD and so far so good. Goes well, roomy inside, including a decent sized boot as the batteries are under the rear seat - think the Golfs might be under the boot floor thus losing some room. Even looks alright to my eyes (at least as far as a small MPV goes) - I think lighter colours suit it better so played safe and went for silver in sport spec and added privacy glass as the only option.

I would say though that the 25 mile electric range is optimistic at best. My commute is 12 miles each way, 9 miles of which is dual carriageway. I stick it in Max eDrive all the way (good for up to 78mph on electric) and generally finish the journey with 15-20% battery. Of course sitting at 75 eats the battery quickly but I don't think I'd ever see 25 miles out of a charge in normal driving. I get to charge at work and home though so can commute fully on electric. Also with the batteries being where they are, the fuel tank has been shrunk to fit. Filling up today with 25 miles range left cost me £38 and according to the app, the car now has a range of 330 miles. Of course this doesn't take into account the fact that I'll be charging after most journeys but maybe something to consider if you'll be doing a lot of long trips.

Car has averaged ~70mpg over the first thousand miles which included a couple of 150-ish mile round trips so will be interesting to see how that settles over time.

snorkel sucker

Original Poster:

2,662 posts

202 months

Sunday 26th February 2017
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Very useful information, thanks. I have a mixed bag of driving; sometimes in the main office, circa 80miles round trip, local office, circa 10 miles round trip and the occasional longer journey. Not the ideal candidate for a PHEV but the tax and mileage rates will, I think, make it a better proposition than a diesel.

I'm going to have a look at a GTE and a 225xe and see which would be better for me. There's only a few £ difference in tax so it's more a case of what floats my boat and offers the best fit for 4yrs of motoring!

jason61c

5,978 posts

173 months

Sunday 26th February 2017
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I tried a 225xe, didn't like the battery/engine transition, it also wasn't great on mainly long runs that I do.

It does offer a lot of interior space if you can get past the lawn bowls club looks.


jkh112

21,893 posts

157 months

Sunday 26th February 2017
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snorkel sucker said:
Having done some more reading on this today, the changes are in regard to the BIK tax becoming the higher amount; either the P111d / BIK value of the car or the car allowance cash equivalent.

Edited by snorkel sucker on Saturday 25th February 21:34
That is what I posted on Friday. I presume the reading you did was of the earlier posts in this thread !

oop north

1,592 posts

127 months

Monday 27th February 2017
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jkh112 said:
snorkel sucker said:
Having done some more reading on this today, the changes are in regard to the BIK tax becoming the higher amount; either the P111d / BIK value of the car or the car allowance cash equivalent.

Edited by snorkel sucker on Saturday 25th February 21:34
That is what I posted on Friday. I presume the reading you did was of the earlier posts in this thread !
ULEVs are specifically exempted from the salary sacrifice rules. Watch out for further increase in bik in 2019-20 (I think) to 16% x list price x tax rate - just before pure battery cars drop to 2% and phev's will be in a range up to 14% depending on battery range.