UK Government axe the plug-in car grant

Published on June 17th, 2022 | by Sophie West

Earlier this week (14^th June 2022), the UK government announced that it had axed the plug-in car grant to focus more on spending money on the public charging network and commercial EV grants. Although this is good news for the network, it’s bad news if you were hoping to save the £1,500 off a new plug-in vehicle.

According to gov.uk, the grant had successfully kickstarted the UK’s interest in electric cars and supported the sale of around half a million electric cars. Since the start of the scheme in 2011, the sale of electric cars has gone from less than 1,000 a year, to almost 100,000 in the first 5 months of 2022 alone.

Transport Minister, Trudy Harrison said: “The government continues to invest record amounts in the transition to EVs, with £2.5 billion injected since 2020, and has set the most ambitious phase-out dates for new diesel and petrol sales of any major country. But government funding must always be invested where it has the highest impact if that success story is to continue.

Having successfully kickstarted the electric car market, we now want to use plug-in grants to match that success across other vehicle types, from taxis to delivery vans and everything in between, to help make the switch to zero-emission travel cheaper and easier.

With billions of both government and industry investment continuing to be pumped into the UK’s electric revolution, the sale of electric vehicles is soaring.

We are continuing to lead the way in decarbonising transport, with generous government incentives still in place, while creating high-skilled jobs and cleaner air across the UK.”

To continue the government’s drive towards net zero and ensure the effective use of taxpayer’s funds, they have said the £300 million in grant funding will now be refocused towards extending the plug-in grants to boost sales of plug-in taxis, motorcycles, vans and trucks and wheelchair accessible vehicles.

What does this mean for new plug-in electric cars?

Basically, it means that any private electric vehicle below the £32,000 price point will no longer be eligible for the £1,500 grant. In our research, with the recent price increases, there are only a handful of vehicles that would be eligible if it was still running.

What is the new plug-in vehicle grant?

The new grant is focused on commercial vehicles. For each business or organisation a limit of 1,000 plug-in van grants can be applied for each financial year subject to the following terms:

• Small vans: These vehicles are less than 2,500 kilograms (kg) gross vehicle weight, have CO2 emissions of less than 50g/km and can travel at least 96km (60 miles) without any emissions at all. The grant will pay for 35% of the purchase price for small vans, up to a maximum of £2,500.
• Large vans: These vehicles are between 2,500kg and 4,250kg gross vehicle weight, have CO2 emissions of less than 50g/km and can travel at least 96km (60 miles) without any emissions at all. The grant will pay for 35% of the purchase price for these vehicles, up to a maximum of £5,000.
• Wheelchair-accessible vehicles: You may be able to get a grant towards the cost of converting a passenger vehicle into a wheelchair-accessible vehicle. Please contact us for more information.

What do I need to do when I order a van or wheelchair-accessible vehicle through Agility and how do I find more information?

Our team are available to guide you through the process and provide you with information about the vehicle grant amounts. You can contact a member of the team on 01527 571 605 who will be able to answer any questions you have regarding the grant and be able to give you information on eligible vans and wheelchair-accessible vehicles.