Starting 7.00am 18th March 2021, the Electric Vehicle Grants structure has changed.
The government also lowered the price cap for cars eligible for the subsidy from £50,000 to £35,000 whilst reducing the maximum grant from £3,000 to £2,500. Below is a summary of the changes.
The government said the changes were made to target help at people less able to afford electric cars, rather than wealthier buyers of premium vehicles. It also said cutting the grant would mean funding would last longer and be used by more people.
A summary of the changes is below:
Plug-in Car Grant
Grant rates changed
· From 35% of purchase price, up to £3,000
· To: 35% of purchase price, up to £2,500
Eligibility criteria changed
· From: Cars must cost less than £50,000. This is the recommended retail price (RRP), and includes VAT and delivery fees.
· To: Cars must cost less than £35,000. This is the recommended retail price (RRP), and includes VAT and delivery fees (see full definition below)
Plug-in Van Grant (N1/Light Commercial Vehicles)
Grant rates changed
· From: 20% of purchase price up to £8000
· To: 35% of purchase price up to £3,000 for small vans < 2.5 tonnes gross vehicle weight (t GVW) and 35% of purchase price up to £6,000 for large vans 2.5-3.5t GVW
Eligibility criteria changed
From:
· Vehicles have CO2 emissions of less than 75g/km and can travel at least 16km (10 miles) without any emissions at all.
· Zero emission vans can travel at least 60 miles without any emissions at all
To:
· Eligible vans have CO2 emissions of less than 50g/km
· Eligible vans and trucks can travel at least 96km (60 miles) without any emissions at all.
Plug-in Truck Grant (N2 and N3 Trucks)
Grant rates changed
From:
· 20% of purchase price, up to £20,000 for N2 and N3 trucks (first 200 ordered, limited to 10 per customer) – these caps did not reset each financial year (FY).
To:
· 20% of purchase price, up to £16,000 for small trucks (N2, >3.5t-12t GVW). For the first 250 ordered per FY, limited to 10 per customer.
· 20% of purchase price, up to £25,000 for large trucks (N3, >12t GVW). For the first 100 ordered per FY, limited to 5 per customer.
Eligibility criteria changed
From:
· Trucks can travel at least 16km (10 miles) without any emissions at all.
· Zero emission trucks can travel at least 60 miles without any emissions at all
To:
· Trucks can travel at least 96km (60 miles) without any emissions at all.
Plug in Car Grant Price Cap
To be eligible for the Plug-in Car Grant, cars must now be priced below £35,000 RRP.
The definition of price includes:
· VAT, including VAT reclaimable by a business
· vehicle manufacturer or dealer’s mandatory extras including delivery charges or administration fees
· the battery cost (including where the battery is leased)
· any non-standard option fitted by the manufacturer or dealer affecting the capacity of the battery, drive train configuration or maximum net power.
and excludes:
· any non-standard option fitted by the manufacturer or dealer which does not affect the capacity of the battery, drivetrain configuration or maximum net power.
· modifications such as ‘police packs’, ambulance/fire engine modifications
· modifications for disabled users
· warranty/insurance and service packages etc
· first registration fee and cost of first licence
· discounts (including rebates).
Where a vehicle model has a price range that straddles the cap, only those variants/trim levels priced below the cap will be eligible for the grant. Variants and trim levels of eligible vehicles priced above the price cap are not eligible for the grant. Vehicles that are no longer eligible for the plug-in car or van grant following these changes are being removed from the plug-in grant portal with immediate effect.
For more information please contact our sales team, or visit the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles