Government cuts electric car grants by £1,000 in a bid to broaden service to more people

Former_MSE_Sophie

Motorists hoping to buy a brand new electric car have seen the Government grant they can take out to help towards costs slashed with immediate effect this week.

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Government cuts electric car grants by £1,000 in a bid to broaden service to more people

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Belenus

Electric car grants remind me of solar panel feed in tariffs of the last decade.

How much of it is relatively poor taxpayers subsiding relatively rich taxpayers who can afford the capital costs required?

Jenni_D

Broaden the service by making it less attractive?

Keep_pedalling

This is the second time this year. On the first occasion just before I was about to order an ID3. It actually bumped the price up by £3500 as the spec I was looking had the whole grant taken away as the price was about £500 over the max list you could get a grant on. Shortly after however the price of the Family spec was significantly reduced by VW which made it cheaper than it was with the old grant.

I think these sort of grants just allow manufactures inflate the list price so they are the beneficiaries rather than the buyer, and the same happens with the grant to install an approved home charge point.

Ian_Papper

Despite signing a lease contract over a year ago, the dealership are now saying the government won't honour the grant. Article on gov website says they would. Anyone else had similar issues?

Grumpy_chap

It seems likely that the EV car grants will be cut entirely in the very near future.  

It is rather illogical for Government to have a grant to stimulate demand for a market segment where demand far outstrips supply and prices are rising exponentially as a result.

Ian_Papper said:

Despite signing a lease contract over a year ago, the dealership are now saying the government won't honour the grant. Article on gov website says they would. Anyone else had similar issues?

In this case, your choice seems to be to pay the higher price or let the car go to someone else.  The Dealer will probably be able to sell it for more to someone else.

sheramber

Have you asked the dealer why it is not being honoured?

Have they already applied if the car is not yet available?

Grumpy_chap

Is this a lease or a PCP?
It is possible, if a lease, that is treated differently to a purchase.

ev51

Is it not the case that the vehicle has to be delivered within one year of applying for the grant?  Given current delivery delays this could catch a lot of EV buyers out...

Extension of Plug in Grant Completion Deadlines

OZEV have advised that given the current production constraints they are allowing a longer period for Plug-in Vehicle Grant orders to complete. Specifically:

    Orders placed on the Plug in Grant Portal will have 12 months to reach ‘awaiting payment’, ‘awaiting audit’ or ‘completed’ status on the portal until further notice. Previously the period was only 9 months.

    OZEV will consider the approval of longer delivery timescales up to a maximum of 18 months for multi-stage build vehicle (MSBs) and wheelchair accessible vehicle orders (WAV) on a case-by-case basis and with suitable evidence provided.

Implementation

Due to the way the Plug in Grant Portal is automated, any order which does not reach ‘awaiting payment’, ‘awaiting audit’ or ‘completed’ status by the usual 9 month deadline will automatically move into ‘on hold’ status on the portal. We have previously circulated instructions to portal users on what to do to get an order reactivated so that it can be progressed.  

Instructions on progressing orders which have moved to ‘On Hold’ status:

    Manufacturers or Dealers with orders which are likely to complete within 12 months but beyond the normal 9 month limit do not need to contact DVLA until the vehicle is ready to register and deliver. The Plug in Vehicle Grant Portal is set to automatically place orders which are not completed within the usual 9 month grant completion period to ‘On Hold’ status. These orders can be reinstated (moved to either ‘in pipeline or ‘awaiting registration’ status) provided the order is eligible for and completed within the 12 month period. Dealers should contact the DVLA when the vehicles are due to be registered. Please include the following information:
        Order number/s
        Expected registration and delivery dates for the vehicle
    Please note that if DVLA reinstate an order which has not completed within the normal 9 month timeframe it will revert back to ‘On Hold’ status if it is not progressed by the dealer within 24 hours. Therefore please try to only contact DVLA immediately before you are ready to register the vehicle and provide accurate information on expected registration/delivery dates for the vehicle to help us to manage the grant as efficiently as possible.

Cancelling Orders

We will continue to automatically cancel orders which have not completed within the relevant order expiry date. Orders that have been in the system for more than 9 months (or 12 months where the extension applies) and have not reached "completed", "awaiting payment" or "awaiting audit" status will be cancelled by the portal administrators.