The Government have announced that the £3,000 electric car grant will be slashed to £2,500 and the list price threshold will be reduced with immediate effect in a move that many commentators are pointing out isn’t exactly supportive of our Net Zero ambitions.
How much of a problem is it? Well, it doesn’t send out a terribly positive message, but from a practical perspective £500 on a £40k car – or even a £25k car – probably won’t sway many buying decisions.
The threshold change is perhaps more interesting: previously the grant was available on cars with a list price of up to £50,000 but that’s now dropped to £35,000. If you’re Volkswagen or Ford, in the process of launching your £35k+ ID4 and Mustang Mach-E – appealing cars with huge potential to draw more people across to battery power – it’s not great news. But a substantial proportion of £35k+ cars are bought as company cars where the tax incentives are so strong that you’d have to be doing a lot of long journeys to choose anything other than an electric car, so the lack of a grant won’t be a deal breaker in too many cases.
As a private buyer, the grant is more significant and anyone about to order the nice new Mustang crossover will be feeling rather sore. But there’s still plenty of choice, from the bargain basement MGs, through electric stalwarts like the Renault Zoe and Nissan Leaf, to the rather fetching Mazda MX-30. Or how about a nice Skoda? Their new Enyaq is a VW ID4 underneath, has a nice interior and starts at £34k so is still subsidy-friendly. No reviews yet but you can be pretty sure it’ll be a good’un.
Given that price – alongside range – is generally cited as one of consumers’ biggest concerns about electric cars, the change to subsidies is disappointing, especially when compared to much bigger grants available in other countries. France has even offered a subsidy of 1,000 euros on used electric cars. So let’s hope that it’s a sign that the market starting to be able to support the transition on its own and Britons are up for the switch.
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