TL;DR
Paua Solo makes public EV charging fair by letting all drivers pay from gross salary, not just those with home chargers. It cuts costs by up to 62% and makes electric driving inclusive for everyone.
The Fair Way to Charge: How Paua Levels the Playing Field for EV Drivers
Making electric driving accessible, affordable and inclusive for everyone
The electric revolution is here.
Cars are cleaner, quieter, and cheaper to run. Businesses are proudly rolling out EV salary sacrifice schemes to help employees make the switch.
But there’s a quiet truth hiding in plain sight.
Not everyone has a driveway.
Not everyone can charge at home.
And that simple fact can make the “green transition” feel a little less fair.
That’s the problem Paua set out to solve - by creating Paua Solo, the public charging solution that levels the playing field for every EV driver.
1. The EV revolution has a fairness problem
Electric vehicles promise lower costs, cleaner air, and a better future. But for nearly half of UK households - around 44% - the benefits have been harder to reach because if you can’t charge at home, your costs are higher.
Your routine is trickier.
And your experience of “going electric” can feel more like compromise than progress.
It’s not that public charging is unavailable - far from it. The UK now has more than 69,000 public connectors across 50+ networks. But the way we pay for that charging has been the missing link.
Until now.
2. Why fairness matters
Fairness isn’t just a moral idea - it’s the foundation of real sustainability.
When we talk about “net zero,” we’re not just talking about the planet. We’re talking about people.
A sustainable future only works if everyone can afford to be part of it. That includes the warehouse worker renting a flat in Manchester, the teacher in a terraced house in Bristol, and the regional manager without a home charger in Leeds.
Fair access to clean energy is the next big test of progress.
3. The invisible divide: home-charger haves vs have-nots
EV salary sacrifice schemes have made electric cars accessible to thousands of people. But without a public charging solution, they risk creating a two-tier benefit:
Group
Charging Type
Cost per kWh
Salary Sacrifice Benefit?
Homeowners with driveways
Home charger
7–10p
Yes (car)
Renters / urban drivers
Public charger
50–75p
No (charging)
That gap can add hundreds of pounds a year to one driver’s running costs.
And it’s no one’s fault - it’s a gap in how the system evolved.
So Paua designed a way to close it.
4. A fairer way to charge
Paua Solo is a public charging card that sits inside your salary sacrifice car package.
It lets you use part of your gross salary - before tax and National Insurance - to pay for public charging.
That means:
- You save at your tax rate (typically 28%–42%, and up to 62% when including employer NI).
- You pay less for every kilowatt-hour.
- You enjoy the same tax efficiency as home charging - even without a driveway.
It’s a simple, elegant idea: use the same system that made electric cars affordable to make charging affordable too.
5. Designed for everyone
Paua Solo was built for inclusion.
For employees - it makes public charging fair, easy and affordable.
For employers - it offers a benefit that reaches every part of the workforce, not just homeowners.
For scheme providers - it completes the EV offer, turning a car lease into a true mobility benefit.
Everyone gains something:
- HR teams gain a fairer benefits package.
- Finance teams get clean payroll alignment.
- Sustainability teams get real, measurable impact.
Fairness isn’t just good ethics - it’s good business.
6. Simple, seamless, stress-free
Here’s how Paua Solo works:
- Add Paua Solo when you choose your EV via salary sacrifice.
- Pick your allowance (£25–£100/month).
- Payroll deducts that amount from your gross pay.
- Paua loads your allowance onto your charging card.
- You charge anywhere on the UK’s largest aggregated network.
No receipts. No expense claims. No grey areas.
If you use less than your allowance, it rolls over.
If you use more, the extra comes from your debit card.
All while staying 100% HMRC-compliant.
Simple. Predictable. Fair.
7. Inclusion in action
Let’s take two employees at the same company.
Tom owns a house with a driveway. He charges overnight at home for about 7p/kWh.
Aisha rents a flat with on-street parking. She relies on public chargepoints costing 60p/kWh.
Before Paua Solo, Aisha paid almost ten times more per kWh - through her taxed income.
Now, she pays from her gross salary, saving around 42% instantly.
Suddenly, the two employees have access to the same level of affordability.
That’s what levelling the playing field looks like.
8. A quiet revolution in workplace benefits
Adding Paua Solo turns salary sacrifice EVs from a “perk” into a policy of fairness.
It’s not just a nice-to-have - it’s a reflection of how progressive companies think:
- Sustainability that includes everyone.
- Innovation that feels human.
- Benefits that match modern lives.
In a world where employees want purpose as much as pay, that message matters.
9. Fairness is the next competitive advantage
Companies spend millions on employee engagement, wellbeing and culture. Yet sometimes the most powerful gestures are the practical ones.
Offering an EV salary sacrifice scheme with public charging says:
“We’ve thought about everyone - not just the easy cases.”
It shows fairness in action - something tangible that employees can use, every day, that aligns with environmental goals.
That builds trust. And trust builds loyalty.
10. The bigger picture
Paua’s mission has always been simple: to make electric driving easier for everyone.
We started by unifying charging networks - building the UK’s largest aggregated access network. Then we made home energy reimbursement easy with Paua Reimburse.
Now, with Paua Solo, we’re making public charging fair and tax-efficient - the final piece in a truly inclusive EV ecosystem.
We call it the fair way to charge.
11. Why it matters
Because the transition to electric isn’t just about cars and cables.
It’s about people.
Every driver who can afford to go electric is a step towards cleaner air, quieter streets and a fairer planet.
And when we design systems that include everyone - not just homeowners or executives - we build a future that actually works.
Paua Solo isn’t just about saving money. It’s about removing friction, creating equality, and speeding up progress.
That’s what fairness looks like when it’s done right.
12. The last word
Electric mobility isn’t just about innovation - it’s about inclusion.
When everyone can plug in easily, affordably and confidently, we all move forward faster.
With Paua Solo, you don’t need a driveway to drive into the future.
You just need a fair system - one that values people as much as power.
Paua Solo: The fair way to charge.
Public charging made simple, fair and tax-efficient - for everyone.
