Been wondering what cars are going to be eligible for discounts under the UK government’s new grant for EVs? Wonder no more, as the initial batch of cars to get price drops as part of the scheme has been announced, and is slowly but steadily growing.
They include some of our favourite EVs on sale, like the reborn Renault 5 and its sporty twin, the Alpine A290, both of which see £1500 knocked off their list prices.
What does a car have to do to qualify for the grant?
Nissan Ariya
Firstly, it has to be electric. Obviously. It has to have a range of at least 100 miles too, although that’s basically every EV these days. Secondly, its existing list price has to be under £37,000 (although it appears this applies to the entry point for the entire range rather than working on a trim-by-trim basis, as the top-spec £37,500 Alpine A290 GTS qualifies).
Thirdly – and this is the kicker – it has to meet other sustainability criteria, relating to its manufacturing. The actual details of this are still a bit hazy, but it’s based around the Science Based Targets Initiative, a programme that companies can sign up to help reduce their CO2 emissions. Being manufactured in Europe appears to help, although the Japanese-built Nissan Ariya has been confirmed as eligible.
Based on these criteria, cars are sorted into two bands that determine how big of a discount they get. Band 2 cars can get up to £1500 knocked off their price, while more sustainably-manufactured Band 1 cars can receive a full £3750 off. It seems being eligible for Band 1 is no small feat, as no qualifying cars have been announced yet, although Nissan expects its new UK-built Leaf to receive the full amount when it goes on sale later this year.
Which cars qualify?
Band 1
As mentioned above, no cars have been announced yet that meet the Band 1 criteria and therefore qualify for the full £3750.
Band 2
Vauxhall Astra Electric
A growing list of cars is now eligible for a £1500 discount by meeting Band 2 criteria.
- Alpine A290
- Citroen e-Berlingo
- Citroen e-C3 and e-C3 Aircross
- Citroen e-C4 and e-C4 X
- Citroen e-C5 Aircross
- Nissan Ariya
- Nissan Micra
- Renault 4
- Renault 5
- Renault Megane
- Renault Scenic
- Vauxhall Astra Electric
- Vauxhall Combo Life Electric
- Vauxhall Corsa Electric
- Vauxhall Frontera Electric
- Vauxhall Grandland Electric
- Vauxhall Mokka Electric
What if I want a car that doesn’t qualify?
Hyundai Ioniq 5 N
Well, depending on what you’re after, you might be in luck. Following the announcement of the scheme last month, various car manufacturers introduced ‘grants’ of their own, either to spur on demand while they waited to find out if their cars would be eligible, or because they knew they likely wouldn’t be.
Because these grants are totally at the discretion of the manufacturers, we’ve seen discounts applied to cars that otherwise likely wouldn’t be eligible, including some above the £37,000 threshold.
That sees some of our favourite EVs get cheaper. Both equally excellent ends of Hyundai’s EV spectrum, for instance – the cutesy Inster and phenomenal Ioniq 5 N – get discounts, as do two very fun Stellantis twins, the Alfa Romeo Junior Veloce and Abarth 600e. While it’s not necessarily a car we’d recommend, the brutally quick MG4 XPower also sees a price cut. We’ve put together details of some of the manufacturers introducing grants of their own here.
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