Your next electric car could have its price cut by up to £3,750, thanks to a new EV grant from the UK government.
It isn’t quite the blanket cost-cutter many drivers might be hoping for, but it’s a step in the right direction, and means some of the best electric cars on sale today just had a price cut of up to 10 percent.
The exact saving depends on how environmentally-friendly each EV is deemed to be, including how the manufacturer has committed to lowering their emissions targets, and the cleanliness of the energy used to produce the vehicle. So it’s not just a case of the most efficient EV qualifying for the biggest saving.
The grant, which totals £650 million, also only applies to EVs that cost from £37,000 to £42,000, but the car must start below the former and not exceed the latter when the buyer’s preferred optional extras are selected. So if you choose a car that qualifies, but then pick a higher trim level and get greedy with the options list, it might no longer be eligible for the grant.
That excludes all Teslas, since the Model 3 starts at £39,990, and pricier electric cars from brands like Audi, BMW and Porsche. There are also two tiers of grant to be aware of, resulting in a saving of either £3,750 or £1,500, depending on the environmental credentials of the car and its manufacturer.
The size of the grant depends on the specification and efficiency of the car itself, plus the sustainability of the energy used to produce both the vehicle and its battery.
It’s all a bit complicated, but at least discounts are there for the taking – and, ultimately, the grant means drivers looking for an efficient new EV could save an extra few thousand pounds.
Which EVs qualify for the full £3,750 grant?
Although very few cars qualify for the largest saving, over 30 vehicles fit into band two, where buyers save £1,500 on the purchase price. This list includes electric cars from Alpine, DS, Citroen, Cupra, Peugeot, Renault, Nissan, Vauxhall and Volkswagen.
Only two qualify for the full grant, but this is expected to change as new vehicles are launched, and as countries where production lines are located improve the sustainability of their energy.
Ford Puma Gen-E
The Puma Gen-E is the all-electric version of the Puma, a compact crossover that is the UK's best-selling car. Priced from £26,245 to £32,795 (plus options), the Ford falls well within the government's EV grant limitations, and promises a WLTP range of up to 233 miles.
It charges at up to 100 kW, which is enough to fill the battery from 10 to 80 percent in around 24 minutes – and, at the time of writing, Ford has an offer that includes a free home charger and up to 10,000 miles' worth of free charging from Octopus Energy.
Ford E-Tourneo Courier
An all-electric people-carrier, the E-Tourneo Courier is a five-seater with van-like proportions. It's priced from £29,940 and has a WLTP range of 177 miles. That falls to just 127 miles on the motorway, according to Ford's own estimates, so while this isn't an EV for clocking up mega milage, it's utilitarian and properly spacious.
Using a 100 kW rapid public charger, it can fit its battery from 10 to 80 percent in a claimed 35 minutes. Like other electric Fords, the E-Tourneo Courier has access to the company's BlueOval Charge Network, which boasts 36,000 AC and DC public charge points across the UK.
Best of the rest: These EVs qualify for a £1,500 discount
EV drivers might be disappointed to see just two cars eligible for the full £3,750 discount. That will change, and we're assured more EVs will qualify for the larger discount soon. But for now, plenty more are entitled to the second tier, which reduces their price by £1,500.
There are a lore of impressive electric cars here, from the Renault 5 and related Alpine A290, to the Cupra Born, Volkswagen ID.3, and a wide range of EVs from Peugeot and Vauxhall. You can find a full list, provided by the UK government, below. We'll update this as more vehicles are added.
- Citroën ë-C3 and Citroën ë-C3 Aircross
- Citroën ë-C4 and Citroën ë-C4 X
- Citroën ë-C5 Aircross
- Citroën ë-Berlingo
- Citroën ë-SpaceTourer
- Cupra Born
- DS DS3
- DS No. 4
- Nissan Ariya
- Nissan Micra
- Peugeot E-208
- Peugeot E-2008
- Peugeot E-308
- Peugeot E-408
- Peugeot E-Rifter
- Peugeot E-Traveller
- Renault 4
- Renault 5
- Renault Alpine A290
- Renault Megane
- Renault Scenic
- Skoda Elroq
- Skoda Enyaq
- Toyota bZ4X
- Toyota Proace City Verso
- Vauxhall Astra Electric
- Vauxhall Combo Life Electric
- Vauxhall Corsa Electric
- Vauxhall Frontera Electric
- Vauxhall Grandland Electric
- Vauxhall Mokka Electric
- Vauxhall Vivaro Life Electric
- Volkswagen ID.3
Where are all the Chinese and Korean EVs? An expert explains...
You might have noticed a lack of Korean and Chinese cars on the list. Despite them being popular – and, in some cases, truly excellent EVs that are both efficient and well priced – none currently qualify for the government grant. This is due to how the cars and their components are made, and crucially, it is affected by the cleanliness and sustainability of the energy used to manufacturer them. This varies by country.
Dr Ashley Fly, senior lecturer in vehicle electrification at Loughborough University, explains: “The environmental assessment criteria considers the emissions associated with the country in which the batteries are made, and the vehicle is assembled, and all manufacturers must evidence emission reduction targets through the Science-based Target Initiative.
"This means vehicles made in countries with an energy system highly dependent on fossil fuels, like China, are scored less favourably than a country with less carbon-intensive energy and more renewables, like France, where some of the eligible cars including the Renault 5 and Peugeot e-308, are manufactured."
