Nick Salkeld, chief commercial officer at LeasePlan, said: "The main reasons why fleet managers are interested in hybrids/electric cars are cost control and the fact that companies want to reduce their ecological foot print from a corporate social responsibility perspective. Although the on-going increase of fuel prices in the past played a role in making fleets greener, local tax incentives as well as EU and US regulations that aim to bring down CO2 emissions have been a far more important rationale.

“In other words, seen from a cost perspective the effect of a (temporary) drop in fuel price on fleet composition is there, but it is limited. Fleet managers take a long-term view, they see corporate social responsibility as a core value which includes running an environmentally friendly fleet of cars.”

LeasePlan has also reported a reduction in CO2 emissions for its global fleet average over the last years – from 180g/km for petrol cars and 152g/km for diesel cars in early 2011 to 150g/km for petrol cars and 130g/km for diesel cars at the end of 2014.

The global LeasePlan MobilityMonitor survey, based on research by TNS among 3,377 lease drivers in 20 countries worldwide, also reveals that most lease drivers pay attention to fuel prices: nearly half (45%) of the surveyed lease drivers are always price-conscious when refuelling, 27% say they sometimes pay attention to fuel prices. While increasingly more lease drivers want to drive an electric vehicle for environmental reasons, the LeasePlan MobilityMonitor respondents see the limited driving range and the immature infrastructure for electric vehicles as the main issues that keep them from driving one.