Scottish Water works with Tusker to help realise government targets for net-zero

Tusker’s salary sacrifice scheme is helping Scottish Water employees obtain an affordable path into a new electric vehicle (EV).

The global environmental message is clear with businesses around the globe striving to reduce emissions in line with government targets. Back in 2019, Scotland became one of the first nations to announce a climate emergency, something that sparked a plan to hit net zero by 2045.

Utility supplier, Scottish Water, have accelerated their carbon reduction and have a target of net zero by 2040 and so has joined forces with Tusker to help further the commitment to shrink their carbon footprint.

Having already transitioned their company car scheme to fully electric, Scottish Water wanted to offer a similar option to all its employees and encourage even more people into zero-emission cars.

Holly McPhee from Scottish Water’s Fleet team comments, “We found that a number of companies in the UK were offering their employees salary sacrifice car schemes and with the ethos of our movement to net zero, we were keen to work with our reward partner, Reward Gateway, and Tusker, to offer an affordable route to EV motoring to as many of our employees as possible.”

Employees can drive fully insured and maintained electric cars for a fixed monthly cost that’s taken from their gross salary, before tax and national insurance contributions are calculated. This approach means Scottish Water employees can make the transition to a new EV, something that’s good news for their wallets and good news for the environment. Further savings for EV drivers are to be found with lower running costs than a petrol or diesel car.

A sharp uptake in electric car sales and Tusker’s own research highlights that motorists are enthusiastic about a switch to EVs, however, one of the biggest hurdles was revealed to be the purchase price. Currently, electric cars are notably more costly than a traditional petrol or diesel equivalent, but Tusker’s salary sacrifice scheme opens the door to affordable fixed cost EV motoring.

Since the scheme’s launch in August, almost 1,000 Scottish Water employees have already signed up to look at cars on Tusker’s salary sacrifice scheme. The easy-to-use online portal and the support provided when they have a question ensures they have found the right car for their requirements. Being a publicly owned company, it was important that Tusker met Scottish Water’s requirements, something that was made easier by Tusker’s highly informed team answering any questions quickly and thoroughly.

All of the latest electric models are available through Tusker, with vehicles to suit every need. From compact city cars to family SUVs capable of traveling long distances between charges, all the leading manufacturers can be selected via Tusker’s salary sacrifice scheme. Tusker is also keen to help those transitioning from combustion to electric with helpful tools such as an online charging point locator and a journey cost calculator.

With the help of Tusker, Scottish Water is on track to meet its net zero goals by giving all employees the opportunity to drive a brand-new electric car.

Alison Argall, Business Development Director at Tusker comments, “We’re seeing more and more businesses with net zero targets working with us to move their employees into zero-emission vehicles – the car scheme can help with removing large amounts of emissions from the car parks of organisations, rather than just those in company cars, so it’s an easy win.”