More overnight government EV grant changes.

[The Rotrex Kid]

Surprise surprise, it's going down again!

Plug-in Car Grant
Grant rates changed from:

35% of purchase price, up to £2,500

To:

35% of purchase price, up to £1500
35% of purchase price, up to £2,500 for cars which are converted to wheelchair accessible (subject to limits set out below)
Eligibility criteria changed from:

Cars must cost less than £35,000. This is the recommended retail price (RRP) inclusive of VAT and delivery fees.
These vehicles have CO2 emission of less than 50g/km and can travel at least 112km (70 miles) without any emissions at all

To:

Cars must cost less than £32,000. This is the recommended retail price (RRP), inclusive of VAT and delivery fees (for full definition please see Plug in Car Grant Application Guidance)
Cars which are converted to wheelchair accessible must cost less than £35,000 (subject to limits set out below). This is the recommended retail price (RRP) inclusive of VAT, and delivery fees, and excludes conversion costs (for full definition please see Plug in Car Grant Application Guidance)
These vehicles have no tailpipe CO2 emissions and can travel at least 112km (70 miles)
There are a total of 250 wheelchair accessible vehicle grants available until 31 March 2022, and a further 1000 available between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023.

There's changes on vans too...

Plug-in Van Grant (N1/Light Commercial Vehicles)
Grant rates changed from:

35% of purchase price up to £3,000 for small vans < 2.5 tonnes gross vehicle weight (t GVW)
35% of purchase price up to £6,000 for large vans 2.5-3.5t GVW

To:

35% of purchase price up to £2,500 for small vans < 2.5 tonnes gross vehicle weight (t GVW)
35% of purchase price up to £5,000 for large vans 2.5-3.5t GVW
There are no changes to grant rates for vehicles over 3.5 tonnes

It was going to happen sooner or later!

[sjg]

Yep. While getting more money off expensive things is good, the last grant reduction caused a lot of list price reductions to keep cars under the grant. Effectively a bit of competition to offer the best package at less than £35k (£32.5k to customer). Should see the same again, particularly for the more mainstream stuff.

[DonkeyApple]

Why would this be a surprise? It was laid out years ago that the grants would be cut as rapidly as the market evolved to permit.

It's not like the user of the car receives the Grant anyway, it goes straight into the coffers of the overseas business that made the vehicle. The sooner we stop giving tax payer money to overseas firms that have zero need to be on benefits the better?

In many ways BIK has made the grants superfluous as it's created more potential EV buyers than there are EVs for sale and the benefits actually go where you'd generally want them to go.

[soupdragon1]

Keep an eye on:

VW ID3 Life - currently £32.2k - pretty certain this'll drop to £31999

Skoda Enyaq - currently a hair under £33k - will they drop the price by £1k?

I bought an ID3 Family pro performance back in Oct (glad I did now) and we were deliberating between an ID4 and a Polestar 2 as our family car

But £35k for the base ID4 - by the time you add alloys and a couple of other bits, you are into Polestar 2 money - so may as well get that now. That £2.5k makes a difference when weighing up overall value for money

[ajap1979]

soupdragon1 said:

Keep an eye on:

VW ID3 Life - currently £32.2k - pretty certain this'll drop to £31999

Skoda Enyaq - currently a hair under £33k - will they drop the price by £1k?

I bought an ID3 Family pro performance back in Oct (glad I did now) and we were deliberating between an ID4 and a Polestar 2 as our family car

But £35k for the base ID4 - by the time you add alloys and a couple of other bits, you are into Polestar 2 money - so may as well get that now. That £2.5k makes a difference when weighing up overall value for money

VW price rises only happened on the 1st December. Will they back track?

[The Rotrex Kid]

DonkeyApple said:

Why would this be a surprise?

The Rotrex Kid said:

Surprise surprise,

'.surprise, surprise
phrase of surprise
informal

said ironically when one believes that something was entirely predictable.
"we entrust you with Jason's care and, surprise surprise, you make a mess of it".'

[The Rotrex Kid]

soupdragon1 said:

Keep an eye on:

VW ID3 Life - currently £32.2k - pretty certain this'll drop to £31999

Skoda Enyaq - currently a hair under £33k - will they drop the price by £1k?

I bought an ID3 Family pro performance back in Oct (glad I did now) and we were deliberating between an ID4 and a Polestar 2 as our family car

But £35k for the base ID4 - by the time you add alloys and a couple of other bits, you are into Polestar 2 money - so may as well get that now. That £2.5k makes a difference when weighing up overall value for money

I think there will be lots of manufacturers readjusting list prices/discounts to meet these requirements. I think Renault headed it off with the most expensive GT Edition spec @ £31995.

[sjg]

Zoe GT is £32k list *after* grant. Currently only the base Play would get it, but mid Iconic would only need a small cut.

All these that get discounted heavily (Leaf, Zoe, etc get finance offers plus actual discount) may as well just move list prices to get under.

Not sure VW will bother adjusting for a bit, they removed the finance incentives on ID.3 already and lead times are massive as it is.

[carl0]

Looks like the grant will still apply on the old terms to cars on order and in the grant system.

[DonkeyApple]

Those near the cusp can just fiddle the RRP/finance relationship to get their subsidy if it suits their book to do so. Which would favour those who don't need expensive house finance and can source much cheaper elsewhere.

[Dave Hedgehog]

Thank you fossil fuel tax payers for the huge amounts of tax relief i received 2 years ago (£4500 if i recall) and the ongoing relief i still get

My nvidia 3090 RTX also thanks you

Edited by Dave Hedgehog on Wednesday 15th December 12:12

[soupdragon1]

ajap1979 said:

VW price rises only happened on the 1st December. Will they back track?

I think/guess the ID3 Life at £32.2k would move to £32k as the customer would save an additional £1.5k and make it more attractive

They could even move the heated seats and steering wheel onto the options list for £200 and you would think the vast majority of buyers would tick that box meaning VW still gets what it wants, and the buyer saves £1.5k

Not sure about the Skoda Enyaq - almost £1k away and not very well specced versus the likes of the ID4 equivalent - maybe remove the steering wheel and put it on the options list for £900 lol

[The Rotrex Kid]

sjg said:

Zoe GT is £32k list *after* grant.

Yes, sorry, you're correct.

Renault have been giving £5k off the GT for a while so it will be quite simple for them to reduce this and adjust list price.

[TheDeuce]

The Rotrex Kid said:

I think there will be lots of manufacturers readjusting list prices/discounts to meet these requirements. I think Renault headed it off with the most expensive GT Edition spec @ £31995.

I think so too. I approve of the way the grants have been structured to motivate potential buyers to make the leap and also motivate manufacturers to adjust prices downwards in stages.

It's not a big deal in £££ terms as it once was, but can remain a motivator to reduce car prices to a small extent. As such, all good imo.

[Chris32345]

If EVs are far superior as many owners say why do they even need a grant?

[RobDickinson]

Chris32345 said:

If EVs are far superior as many owners say why do they even need a grant?

Because they cost more, for now. Duh.

[TheDeuce]

RobDickinson said:

Chris32345 said:

If EVs are far superior as many owners say why do they even need a grant?

Because they cost more, for now. Duh.

I took the grant... but would have gone ahead without it tbh. Even without the BIK and road tax benefits.. I would still keep the EV. That's the extent to which I consider them superior as a daily driver.

If you scrapped all the incentives, a large part of the cost over and above ICE equivalent is covered by 'fuel' savings & far cheaper servicing costs. They probably would still work out to be slightly more expensive than the ICE alternative... but also they're faster, smoother, quieter and more convenient. In the end, as and when I have to, I'll pay to maintain such benefits.

[RobDickinson]

We're rapidly getting to a point where manufacture of EVs is equal or cheaper, and cost of ownership has long been cheaper over a 7-8 year period.


The problem for most manufacturers is you cant sell EVs, which are better and cheaper for the customer, at the same price as your fossil cars because no one would buy the fossil cars.


The cost per kwh of battery, and motors etc dont justify the extra costs associated with EVs at the moment.

[off_again]

TheDeuce said:

If you scrapped all the incentives, a large part of the cost over and above ICE equivalent is covered by 'fuel' savings & far cheaper servicing costs. They probably would still work out to be slightly more expensive than the ICE alternative... but also they're faster, smoother, quieter and more convenient. In the end, as and when I have to, I'll pay to maintain such benefits.

Said it before and will keep saying it - EVs are different, and offer 'luxury' in a different way. For some luxury is a big floaty boat of a car, others its something that doesnt crash over every single pothole. But EV's offer a level of convenience, quiet and technology that means you can sparse interiors and more open cabin space.

You arent going to save the planet by dropping $150k on a brand new top of the range EV. But, you are getting something different and for many, it offers a number of aspects that you dont get with an ICE. And yeah, if that works out more expensive, I am sure a lot of people would be prepared to pay that penalty for exactly what you say!

[krisdelta]

I hope this helps drive prices down, rather than make (already expensive) cars less attainable. I've been trying to time the order of an Enyaq to make the max benefit of deposit contributions and dealer contributions, but have clearly missed the boat to the tune of £2.5k, making a marginal case now a no-go.