Jodie Monaghan, Operations Director at Tusker, explores the growing role of pre-loved EVs in making electric driving more affordable and accessible. She looks at changing driver demand, the role of salary sacrifice and employer-backed schemes, and what a stronger second-life market could mean for the wider EV lifecycle.
With Used EV Week (21-27 September) putting the UK’s pre-loved electric car market firmly in the spotlight, one thing is clear: consumer needs around EV usage are changing.
In the workplace, the conversation has moved beyond the value which EVs bring and towards how EVs can be made more affordable and accessible to wider cohorts of employees.
The benefits EVs bring to employees are well-known: they are more cost-effective to run than petrol or diesel vehicles and they are better for the environment. But now, it’s the affordability and accessibility piece which are foremost on peoples’ minds. People want to drive EVs, but upfront costs have been, up until now, prohibitive.
Salary sacrifice has already played a major role in making EVs easier to access. BVRLA stats indicate that salary sacrifice cars grew by 123.4% year on year, perhaps echoed in Tusker’s continued growth - and our summer milestone of providing 100,000 cars to employees through their employers’ benefit schemes.
Within Tusker’s fleet, 83% of its salary sacrifice cars are battery electric and a further 14% are plug-in hybrid. At the same time, the broader EV market continues to grow, with Zapmap reporting that as of August 2026, there are now more than 2.18 million fully electric cars on UK roads.
The next phase of EV adoption will depend on reaching drivers who have previously been unable to make the switch. Lower-priced new models are helping, yet pre-loved EVs are going further by creating a more affordable route into electric driving, particularly through employer-backed schemes that, like brand new EVs, include servicing, maintenance, insurance and support.
Used EVs also help answer a growing market challenge. As the first wave of fleet EVs reaches the end of their initial contracts, the leasing sector needs strong, second-life channels that keep those vehicles moving. No wonder then, that BVRLA’s January 2026 Leasing Outlook described a ‘dramatic increase’ in used car leasing.
Demand is becoming more segmented. Early EV adopters were often motivated by environmental commitment, company car tax advantages or access to the newest technology. Today, it’s broader. More drivers are weighing up monthly affordability, certainty over running costs, delivery times, charging confidence and whether a car fits with their needs.
This is where pre-loved EVs come in: they have universal appeal. They can appeal to employees who are interested in electric driving but have been priced out of new models, to employers looking to extend benefit access across a wider workforce, to companies needing to meet sustainability goals while managing cost pressures.
Shorter lead times and the ability to choose from available stock can also make used EVs attractive to drivers who need a car quickly.
For the used EV market to grow sustainably, demand needs to come from multiple channels. Retail buyers have an important role, but employer-backed programmes can give second-life EVs a structured route to market, with trusted providers, clear pricing structures and support built around the driver experience.
This matters, because it feeds into the EV market lifecycle. Increased demand for used EVs helps make new EV leasing much more resilient. Returned vehicles are given a valuable second life and increasing numbers of employees can benefit from electric driving. In short, pre-loved EVs are not just a value option, they are becoming an important part of the market’s next growth phase.
