Fleet electrification in Switzerland: rules, roadmap and TCO levers

No, Swiss law does not require companies to electrify their fleets: there is no electric-vehicle quota and no levy on combustion fleets. The pressure comes from elsewhere: CO2 rules for vehicle importers, the 2050 net-zero target in the Climate and Innovation Act, climate reporting for large companies, and group targets passed down to Swiss subsidiaries.

This guide is for fleet and sustainability managers, particularly in international groups aligning a Swiss entity with group-wide targets. It covers the legal framework, market data, a five-step roadmap, charging and how to measure CO2 avoided. Voltaback, a platform used by more than 200 client companies, supplies the data most projects lack: where, and how much, each car charges.

Key points in 30 seconds

• No fleet obligation: Switzerland has no quota or tax on company fleets.
• Importers: an average target of 93.6 g CO2/km for new cars from 2025 to 2029, then 49.5 g from 2030. Missed in 2025, with penalties of about CHF 97.7 million.
• Climate Act: all companies must reach net zero by 2050; a roadmap is voluntary.
• Market: 22.8 % battery-electric new cars in 2025, 26.2 % from January to September 2026 and a record 35.7 % in September 2026.
• What makes it work: home charging, measured and reimbursed at real cost. It decides both TCO and driver buy-in.

Is there an obligation to electrify a company fleet in Switzerland?

No. Unlike some neighbouring countries, Switzerland sets no minimum share of low-emission vehicles when a company renews its fleet. A 30-car SME in Zug or a 500-car group headquartered in Geneva may legally keep buying combustion cars.

The obligation lies with importers. The revised CO2 Act, in force since 1 January 2025, sets an average target for new passenger cars: 93.6 g CO2/km from 2025 to 2029, then 49.5 g CO2/km from 2030. Any importer whose sales exceed its individual target pays a penalty. Sources: Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN / BAFU), CO2 rules for new vehicles and Swiss Parliament, revised CO2 Act final text.

In 2025, new cars exceeded the target by about 7.3 g CO2/km on average, and provisional penalties for passenger-car importers reached about CHF 97.7 million, up from CHF 2.26 million the previous year. Source: Federal Council, enforcement of CO2 rules for 2025.

What this means for you: importers have every reason to sell more EVs. Expect better lease terms and discounts on electric models, and combustion cars whose prices increasingly reflect the cost of penalties.

The Climate and Innovation Act: net zero by 2050, companies included

The Federal Act on Climate Protection Targets, Innovation and Strengthening Energy Security (Climate and Innovation Act, KlG / LCl), approved by popular vote in June 2023, has been in force since 1 January 2025. It enshrines net zero by 2050 and sets indicative targets by sector. For transport, emissions must fall by 57 % by 2040 compared with 1990.

For companies the Act sets two rules:

• All companies must reach net-zero emissions by 2050 at the latest, taking into account at least their direct and indirect emissions (Art. 5 KlG).
• A net-zero roadmap is voluntary. The Confederation provides guidance, standards and advice to companies that draw one up by 2029. It becomes mandatory only for companies applying for financial support for innovative technologies (Art. 6 KlG).

Source: FOEN, 2050 net-zero target.

Company cars are part of a company's direct (scope 1) emissions. They are often the easiest item to cut: the technology exists, TCO is comparable, and replacement follows the normal lease cycle.

Climate reporting for large companies

Public-interest entities (listed companies, banks, insurers) which, together with the companies they control, employ at least 500 full-time equivalents on annual average and exceed CHF 20 million in total assets or CHF 40 million in revenue in two consecutive financial years must publish an annual report on non-financial matters, including climate (Art. 964a ff. of the Code of Obligations, OR / CO). Source: Code of Obligations, Art. 964a.

Since 1 January 2024, the Ordinance on Climate Disclosures has specified this content in line with the TCFD recommendations. A revision that would have widened the scope to smaller companies was consulted on in 2024-2025, then paused by the Federal Council in June 2025 pending EU simplifications. Check the current status with your auditor before your next financial year.

Even outside the legal scope, the Swiss subsidiary of a European group often receives targets from headquarters: share of EVs, average g CO2/km, scope 1 emissions. These then have to be measured, and Swiss figures must be comparable with those of sister companies elsewhere in Europe.

How fast is EV adoption in Switzerland?

Figures from auto-schweiz, the importers' association, show a clear acceleration:

Including plug-in hybrids and range extenders, plug-in vehicles reached 38.5 % of new cars in the first nine months of 2026. Sources: moneycab, auto-schweiz 2025 results and electrive, auto-schweiz September 2026.

The Electric Mobility Roadmap, led by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE / BFE), aimed for plug-ins to reach 50 % of sales in 2025. The target was missed and the roadmap has been extended to 2030. The car stock remains overwhelmingly fossil-fuelled: in 2024 about 4 % of passenger cars on the road were battery-electric.

Electrifying your fleet in five steps

Step 1: take stock with real data

For each car you need: real annual mileage, type of journeys, lease end date, where it is parked overnight and whether the driver can charge at home. Without this data, the electrification plan rests on averages. Voltaback's box-free telematics reports mileage, consumption and vehicle status for connected cars, without ever sending location data to the company.

Step 2: follow the replacement cycle

Electrifying as leases expire avoids early-termination costs. Over a four-year cycle, most of a fleet can be electrified with no transition cost.

Step 3: start with the cars that gain most

The order of priority is simple:

1. High-mileage drivers with a parking space at home: above 20,000 km a year, where the energy saving is largest.
2. Regular, predictable journeys: field engineers, sales staff with fixed territories around Zurich, Basel or the Lake Geneva region.
3. Management cars: good signal, but mind the 0.9 % private share on a higher price.
4. Complex profiles last: frequent long trips abroad, employees with no way to charge at home.

Our analysis of EV total cost of ownership in Switzerland shows the break-even point: at 25,000 km a year with 80 % home charging, the EV is cheaper than petrol over four years; at 15,000 km a year the gap is close to zero.

Step 4: organise charging

Three places to charge, three logics:

• At home: the cheapest kWh, around 28 Rp./kWh on average. A suitable socket or wallbox needs a licensed electrician, who files a connection request and an installation notice with the grid operator.
• At the workplace: useful for pool cars and employees who cannot charge at home. See our guide to installing chargers at the workplace.
• Public network: essential for long journeys, but at least twice the cost of home charging.

For employees in a condominium (Stockwerkeigentum / propriété par étages), a charging installation is a building measure that in principle needs a majority of co-owners who also hold the larger share of the property (Art. 647d of the Civil Code). Tenants need their landlord's written consent (Art. 260a CO). This may change: from 19 June to 12 October 2026, the Federal Council consulted on an amendment to the Energy Act that would let tenants and condominium owners require a basic charging installation, implementing motion 23.3936 adopted by Parliament in June 2025. Source: Federal Office of Justice, consultation on basic charging installations.

Cantons and municipalities sometimes subsidise charging infrastructure: Zurich's programme supports basic installations in residential buildings with CHF 500.– per parking space until the end of 2026, Geneva funds the electrification of collective residential car parks, and Basel-Stadt supports charging in car parks. These schemes change often, so check them project by project. The rules for company sites are summarised in our article on workplace charging obligations.

Step 5: win over the drivers

Drivers accept an EV when three questions have clear answers: where to charge, who pays for the electricity, and what changes on their salary certificate (Lohnausweis / certificat de salaire).

• The private share stays at 0.9 % of the purchase price excl. VAT per month. A pricier EV slightly raises taxable income.
• Home electricity must be reimbursed. The model expense regulations (Spesenreglement) of the Swiss Tax Conference (SSK / CSI) allow a flat allowance of up to CHF 60.– a month, or reimbursement of actual costs. Someone driving 25,000 km a year spends about CHF 90.– a month at home: the allowance falls short.
• A driver who pays for their own charging does not reduce their private share. The salary certificate guidance is explicit on this point. Source: Federal Tax Administration, salary certificate guidance 2026.

The tax details are explained in our guide to taxation of electric company cars.

The TCO levers of electrification

Electrification cuts costs only when three conditions are met.

Automobile tax no longer makes a difference. Since 1 January 2024, EVs pay the 4 % federal automobile tax on import value, just like combustion cars. Source: Federal Office for Customs and Border Security, automobile tax.

Cantonal vehicle tax is often favourable, but not everywhere. Zurich exempts EVs, Vaud reduces their tax by 90 % and Bern by 60 % for four years. Geneva's system since 2025 favours light EVs, and St. Gallen has taxed EVs by weight and power since 2026. A fleet spread across cantons must calculate canton by canton.

Home charging does the rest. It is the most variable item: between an EV charged 80 % at home and one charged mostly in public, the gap exceeds CHF 2'500.– per car over four years.

To put a figure on this item for your cars and cantons, use the fleet home-charging cost simulator.

Measuring CO2 avoided and reporting it

Credible climate reporting rests on measured data, not catalogue values. For each car you need:

1. Real kilometres, private and business, for the period.
2. Energy used: litres of fuel for combustion cars, kWh charged for EVs, with the charging location (home, workplace, public).
3. Emission factors: about 2.3 kg of CO2 per litre of petrol burned and, for electricity, the factor from your supplier's electricity disclosure or a Swiss average.
4. A baseline: what the replaced combustion car would have emitted over the same mileage.

Example: a petrol car using 6.5 l/100 km and driving 25,000 km a year burns about 1,625 litres, roughly 3.7 tonnes of CO2 at the tailpipe. An EV charged with the Swiss electricity mix, heavy in hydro and nuclear, emits far less in use. For a 50-car fleet, the order of magnitude is hundreds of tonnes over a four-year cycle.

Voltaback provides this data per car: kWh charged at home, mileage and consumption, with no box and no location data sent to the company. This fits the revised Federal Act on Data Protection (nFADP / nDSG) and Article 26 of Ordinance 3 to the Employment Act (ArGV 3 / OLT 3), which bans systems designed to monitor employees' behaviour. The platform has been ISO 27001 certified since 2 December 2025.

Electrifying is not enough: reimbursing home charging

An electric fleet whose drivers pay part of their own electricity loses on three counts: TCO (they charge elsewhere, at higher prices), buy-in (they feel they are paying for the company) and compliance (a miscalibrated allowance or an unsupported expense claim).

Voltaback measures every kWh charged at home and values it at the real tariff of the employee's contract, high or low tariff depending on the time. Voltaback relies on the home's MID-certified meter, not on a standalone cable meter; the measurement has been audited by an independent third party at a 1.22 % relative error. A monthly export is ready to import into your payroll software. The platform is 100 % software and works with more than 48 car brands.

Our practical guide to managing and reimbursing home charging across a fleet walks through the roll-out. To see how Voltaback supports fleet teams, visit the page for fleet managers.

From intention to an electrification plan

In Switzerland, electrifying a fleet is a choice, not an obligation. It pays off when it is driven by data: real mileage, where cars charge, and the actual cost of every kWh.

To build your electrification plan and reimburse home charging at real cost, contact the Voltaback team.