Government slashes electric car grant by 40% and makes it only available for models costing up to £32,000 – the second time THIS YEAR it has been cut
The electric car grant designed to make expensive zero-emission vehicles more affordable for drivers to buy has been cut by 40 per cent in a surprise announcement made by the Government this morning that will enrage both motorists and motor makers.
It is the second time in just nine months that the grant amount has been reduced.
The scheme has been slashed to just £1,500 as of 7am on Wednesday, down from the £2,500 amount when it was last cut in March, in order to ‘enable taxpayers’ money to go further’, the Department for Transport (DfT) has announced this morning.
Eligibility for the scheme has also been made more restrictive, with the £1,500 grant now only available for pure EVs prices below £32,000 – down from £35,000 previously – with manufacturers given no forewarning that their battery models are being priced out of the grant.
The DfT said the changes will allow ‘the scheme’s funding to go further and to help more people make the switch to an EV (electric vehicle)’.
It added that the Government’s investment in the transition to EVs ‘remains unchanged’.
Grants for new electric cars have been slashed by 40% to `enable taxpayers´ money to go further´, the Department for Transport (DfT) has announced (John Walton/PA)
The purchase of more than half a million low-emission vehicles has been supported by the plug-in grant scheme over the last decade.
Launched in 2011, the Plug-in Car Grant originally offered to pay £5,000 toward the price of a new electric car – and at the time some plug-in hybrids – to reward early adopters making the switch to green vehicles.
However, ministers have repeatedly warned that it would be scaled back over time as electric vehicles became more mainstream and there was less need for government incentives to encourage people to ditch their petrol and diesel cars.
Sales of zero-emission new vehicles are up 89 per cent this year compared with 2020, and in the last three months nearly a quarter of new cars sold had a plug (though some of these are hybrids that are no longer eligible for the grant).
Maximum grants for electric motorcycles and mopeds was £1,500, but this has been cut to £500 for the former and £150 for the latter, the DfT said today.
Large electric vans are now eligible for a grant of up to £5,000 – down from £6,000 – with the support for small vans falling from a maximum of £3,000 to £2,500.
The DfT also announced that it will introduce new rules next year aimed at increasing confidence in charging infrastructure.
A minimum standard for payment – such as contactless – will be required for new 7.1kw and above charge points, and motorists will soon be able to compare costs across charging networks in a ‘recognisable format’ similar to pence per litre at petrol stations.
Transport minister Trudy Harrison said: ‘The market is charging ahead in the switch to electric vehicles.
‘This, together with the increasing choice of new vehicles and growing demand from customers, means that we are re-focusing our vehicle grants on the more affordable vehicles and reducing grant rates to allow more people to benefit, and enable taxpayers’ money to go further.
‘We want as many people as possible to be able to make the switch to an electric vehicle, which is why we will also be introducing new rules to make it easier to find and pay at charge points.
‘This will ensure drivers have confidence in our charging infrastructure, as we look to reduce our carbon emissions, create green jobs and level up right across the UK.’
The news comes just a month after the end of the COP26 climate summit in which a faster acceleration to electric vehicles was one of the four main pillars of Boris Johnson’s green strategy for ‘Cash, coal, cars and trees’ – a mantra concocted by Allegra Stratton, the Prime Minister’s former adviser who resigned last week over the Tory party’s Christmas party scandal.
It is also just months in the wake of the introduction and expansion of emission taxation zones in cities, which