Tesla has responded to the recent changes to the Plug-in Car Grant by offering a discount to Model 3 buyers.
In a shock announcement, the government reduced the grant to £2,500 and lowered the list price threshold from £50,000 to £35,000. As a result, the Tesla Model 3 is excluded from the government scheme.
With a starting price of £43,500, the Model 3 is the most affordable Tesla, but the Performance model costs just shy of £60,000.
Tesla’s website states that customers ordering a Model 3 in March will receive a £2,500 discount. The reduction is only applicable for cars ordered after 18 March 2021 and delivered before 1 April 2021.
The small print makes for interesting reading, however: Tesla cannot guarantee delivery before 1 April 2021 “due to external circumstances or your order timing”. The car “must be delivered. But we cannot guarantee delivery”.
£3,000 discount on new MG EV
In a similar move, MG said it would honour the original £3,000 Plug-in Car Grant discount until 31 March 2021.
All MG electric cars fall under the £35,000 limit, but the company says it is “topping up the support level to its previous level for all customers who order a new MG EV in March 2021”.
Guy Pigounakis, MG’s commercial director, said: “While we welcome any news that encourages people to buy affordable electric cars, for it to come in the middle of the toughest March trading conditions ever is a blow to customers.
“At MG, we believe in ensuring our customers are as happy as they can be with their new cars and in recognition that many of them will have made the decision to buy an MG EV with the £3,000 grant funding in mind, we have decided to honour that for all purchasers who order a new MG ZS Electric or MG5 EV for delivery before the end of this month.”
READ MORE:
‘Why cutting the Plug-in Car Grant could be good news for EV buyers’
