Yesterday the government announced an effective immediately change to the grants they are providing for new electric vehicles.
This affects the eligibility criteria as well as the rates provided for the plug-in car grant, plug-in van grant and the plug-in truck grant.
Plug-In Car Grant
Previously you could have a grant for plug-in electric cars that was up to £3,000 off the purchase price but capped at 35% of the total vehicle price. This has now decreased by £500 to £2,500 but remains at 35% of the vehicle’s cost.
It now also excludes cars that are over £35,000. This total cost must be the recommended retail price and include VAT and any delivery fees as well.
This new cap means that vehicles like the Tesla Model 3, Polestar 2 and the Ford Mustang Mach-e are no longer eligible as they are over the cost of £35,000.
Plug-In Van Grant
Prior to yesterday you could have had up to £8,000 off the price of an electric van, provided it was no more than 20% of the purchase price. This has now changed to a grant of up to 35% of the purchase price but the amount has lowered and now been broken down between the size of the van.
Small vans, which are categorised as those with less than 2.5 tonnes gross vehicle weight, are eligible for up to £3,000.
Large vans, which are classed as those weighing between 2.5 and 3.5 tonnes gross weight, are eligible for a grant of £6,000.
The eligibility of the plug-in van grant has also changed.
Previously they needed to have less than 75 g / km of CO2 emissions and travel at least 10 miles without emissions. This has now been updated to CO2 emissions of less than 50 g / km and able to travel at least 60 miles without any emissions.
Plug-In Truck Grant
The plug-in grant for trucks was not immune from changes either.
It was previously 20% of the purchase price up to £20,000 for N2 and N3 trucks for the first 200 ordered, and this was limited to 10 vehicles per customer.
This has now been amended to 20% of the purchase price, up to £16,000 for small trucks which are those in the N2 category and between 3.5 and 12 tonnes gross weight. This is available for the first 250 vehicles ordered per financial year, and for the purposes of this March 2021 is included in 2021-22 financial year.
In contrast to other changes the grant for large trucks, those in the N3 category which are trucks weighing over 12 tonnes gross weight, has increased. This will still be 20% of the purchase price but up to £25,000 for the first 100 applications per financial year. Again this month will be included in the 2021-22 financial year.
There is a maximum of 10 grants for N2 vehicles per business and 5 grants for N3 vehicles.
The eligibility criteria has also updated and trucks must be able to travel at least 60 miles without any emissions at all.
The Government has advised that these changes have been put in place to ensure the scheme can run for as long as possible and continue to provide support to drivers looking to make the switch. They also advised that the changes came in with little warning because they had budgetary concerns, saying that they would not have the finances to meet an upsurge in demand for the grants if there was an end date announced for the grants.
These changes came into effect as of 7am on the 18th of March, immediately as the announcement was made but the office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) has advised that it is continuing to allow dealers and manufacturers to claim for orders placed by customers in the 28 days before yesterday’s change.
If the vehicle has already been entered on the OZEV grant portal then the grant eligibility will be processed. If not, then there will be onus on the dealer to provide evidence of the order.
How Will This Affect My New Lease?
When leasing the cost of the grant is still applied to the vehicle for you. The grant is applied to the purchase price of the vehicle for the lease funder and is passed onto you in lower monthly rentals.
If you have already placed an order with us then this will have been ordered with the dealer and the previous grant will have been ordered by the dealer and in place for you.
If you are currently looking at a new lease we will quote you a figure that takes into account the new grant amounts. We’re currently updating our prices on the website and many of them will now be correct but we apologise if there is a price still listed that has not yet been updated.
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