A £550 million debt securitisation facility from Lloyds Bank to fund electric vehicles (EVs) has been secured by Octopus Electric Vehicles, bringing total EV funding to £1.2 billion.

It says that the additional funds will play a pivotal role in financing Octopus’ EV salary sacrifice programme, which was launched in 2021. 

Octopus offers an easy all-in-one service, providing a new car, charger and discounted energy tariff.

Fiona Howarth, CEO of Octopus Electric Vehicles, said: “We're delighted to be partnering with Lloyds to supercharge the transition, with an additional £550m to help drivers switch from old school gas guzzlers to a cleaner alternative."

Octopus EV now offers over 85 vehicles from 28 brands with a risk fleet exceeding £450m in value. 

It has more than 4,000 companies signed up to its salary sacrifice offer, including Dyson, McLaren and Innocent Drinks. 

Octopus has also opened up its full service electric car package to drivers outside of salary sacrifice.

Transport secretary Mark Harper said: “As more electric vehicles become available for consumers, private sector innovation plays an important role on the road to zero emission vehicles.

“That’s why it’s fantastic to see Octopus EV expand their flagship salary sacrifice scheme to help drivers with the upfront costs and easily make the change – with Government already committing to £2bn to support the transition to zero emission vehicles, today’s announcement shows the UK continues to make good progress on enabling people to buy the zero emission vehicles they want.”

Miray Muminoglu, managing director, head of securitised products group at Lloyds Bank, added: “We’re delighted to become a funding partner to Octopus EV with this innovative £550m securitisation facility.

“Given the alignment across the two institutions in supporting the transition to net zero, and our leading auto franchise within SPG, this facility demonstrates not only our strategic ambitions to broaden and deepen our client relationships but also our commitment to help Britain prosper.”