Outlining the latest changes
The Government has announced that the grant schemes for electric cars and vans are to be cut. From Thursday the 18th March 2021 the Department For Transport has reduced the grant for electric cars from £3,000 to £2,500.
Since 2018 the grant had already dropped from £5,000 to £3,000 in a series of changes that also went on to excluding plug-in hybrids from being eligible. While the ceiling limit had already been cut to £50,000 for cars in last year’s budget, the car grant will also now only apply to EVs priced under £35,000 meaning the latest move will eliminate numerous electric vehicles.
The government will also alter how it calculates the plug-in van grant, and change the eligibility for the grant to vehicles that are able to travel for 60 miles using electric power alone.
Summary
- The grant on electric cars drops to £2,500 from £3,000 and will now only apply to cars under £35,000.
- For vans, the amount available has dropped, and two new classifications have been introduced; small vans of under 2,500kg GVW and large vans of between £2,500 to £3,500, both covering CO2 emissions of less than 50g/km and the ability to travel 60 miles emission-free.
- For small vans, the grant will pay for 35 percent of the purchase price, up to a maximum of £3,000.
- For large vans, the grant will pay for 20 percent of the purchase price for these vehicles, up to a maximum of £6,000.
- For trucks, the funding has dropped from £20,000 to £16,000, which is available for the first 250 orders placed. After this point, a maximum grant rate of £6,000 will apply.
The plug-in car grant was introduced 10 years ago, and was designed to reduce the price of electric cars. This was to encourage more people to consider purchasing them, as electric cars generally cost more to make than their petrol or diesel equivalents, resulting in higher purchase prices.
Within this latest announcement, the Department For Transport added that the number of electric car models priced under £35,000 has increased by almost 50 percent since 2019 and more than half the models currently on the market will still be eligible for the grant.
It has also said that cutting the grant would mean funding would last longer and be used by more people. They also wanted to target help at those people less able to afford electric cars, rather than wealthier buyers of premium vehicles.
