The UK Government has announced an immediate change to the rates and eligibility criteria for the Plug-in Car Grant and the Plug-in Van Grant.
Changes include:
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The Plug-in Car Grant has been cut from £2,500 to £1,500 and now excludes models that cost more than £32,000.
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The Plug-in Car Grant will remain at £2,500 – and £35,000 – for vehicles converted to wheelchair accessible (subject to limits).
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The Plug-in Van Grant has been cut to a maximum of £2,500 for small vans (< 2.5 tonnes gross vehicle weight) and £5,000 for large vans (2.5t-3.5t GVW).
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Each business, organisation or individual may receive up to 1,000 Plug-in Van Grants each financial year (1 April to 31 March). Limits apply to end customers and not to lease companies.
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There are no changes to grant rates for vehicles over 3.5 tonnes.
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The new terms apply from 07:00 today (Wednesday 15 December 2021). The portal has been suspended while these changes are made.
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The guidance on the GOV.UK website will be updated to reflect the new grant rates and eligibility criteria. A revised list of vehicles which are now eligible for the grants will be available from 15 December 2021.
Government has recognised the disruption no notice changes will create. OZEV has communicated the following justification to the BVRLA. This can be used by BVRLA members when communicating with customers.
“Government has a responsibility to manage the grant budget and to deliver value for money for taxpayers and, as signalled to industry following the March 2021 grant changes, has therefore been unable to provide notice ahead of the grant changes. When we have given the market prior notice of changes to the Plug-in Grants in the past, this has caused order spikes which are unaffordable within allocated budgets.
"Government recognises that when immediate changes are made to Grants it will mean funders and leasing companies are often not able to honour quotes given to customers for orders if the full ordering process is not complete when the grant change happens. Whilst OZEV appreciates the disappointment this could cause for affected drivers, in the context of our responsibility to protect public funds it is unfortunately unavoidable.”
Full details are available on the Guidance page.
Read the BVRLA’s response online.
