The government has announced the Plug-in Car Grant for new electric cars has ended.
Customers who have already ordered a new EV will still get the £1,500 grant – as will those who have placed an order in the last two working days.
‘The government has always been clear the Plug-in Car Grant was temporary,’ said an official statement.
Previous reductions in the size of the grant have, apparently, ‘had little effect on rapidly-accelerating sales or on the continuously growing range of models being manufactured’.
Because of this, £300m of grant funding is being refocused to help fix the UK’s patchy public charging infrastructure instead.
“Government funding must always be invested where it has the highest impact,” said transport minister Trudy Harrison.
“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.”
From £5,000 to zero
The Plug-in Car Grant has been progressively reduced over the years. Once worth £5,000, in its final guise it offered a £1,500 discount – and only to pure electric cars with a list price of less than £32,000.
The government says the grant supported the sale of almost half a million EVs (and, originally, plug-in hybrids) since being introduced in 2011.
EV sales of less than 1,000 cars in 2011 have since grown to almost 100,000 in the first five months of 2022 alone.
‘The wrong message’
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders has criticised the decision.
Chief executive Mike Hawes says it “sends the wrong message to motorists and to an industry which remains committed to government’s net zero ambition.
“We are now the only major European market to have zero upfront purchase incentives for EV car buyers, yet the most ambitious plans for uptake. The decision comes at the worst possible time.
“If we are to have any chance of hitting targets, government must use these savings and compel massive investment in the charging network, at rapid pace, and at a scale beyond anything so far announced.”
‘Prices need to fall’
RAC head of policy Nicholas Lyes said: “The UK’s adoption of electric cars is so far impressive but in order to make them accessible to everyone, we need prices to fall.
“Having more on the road is one important way of making this happen, so we’re disappointed the Government has chosen to end the grant at this point.
“If costs remain too high, the ambition of getting most people into electric cars will be stifled.”
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