7:35 am, August 5, 2025
Chinese car brand BYD has said it has been forced to act following ‘ongoing uncertainty’ over whether its vehicles will be eligible for the Electric Car Grant.
In a statement issued yesterday, the challenger brand said it was launching a range of new offers and warranty enhancements in light of the confusion over the grant.
The Electric Car Grant was launched three weeks ago and will reduce the price of eligible electric cars by up to £3,750.
However, there are restrictions as to which cars will be eligible and it is closely linked to how green a car manufacturer is overall – not just the cars.
The Department for Transport has split the £650m pot available into two bands with the greenest cars able to claim the maximum discount and ‘band two’ cars able to claim £1,500.
Car manufacturers have been scrabbling to get their cars through the government checks via a portal since the grant was announced and only today the first cars have been approved.
Citroen has announced that six of its vehicles will be the first to be eligible for the band two discounts.
It’s widely thought Chinese cars will not be eligible for the discounts due to their manufacturing processes not hitting the environmentally-friendly standards.
In a recent interview with the BBC, transport minister Lillian Greenwood suggested Chinese car makers would not be included.
She said: ‘The grant is restricted to those manufacturers that reach minimum environmental standards and, frankly, if you generate a lot of the electricity that powers your factory through coal power stations, then you are not going to be able to access this grant.’
In its latest statement, BYD said: ‘BYD UK has announced a proactive, customer-first initiative to support electric vehicle adoption and reward drivers choosing to go electric.
‘The announcement follows ongoing uncertainty surrounding eligibility for the UK government’s Electric Car Grant.
‘While BYD has formally applied to be included in the government-backed scheme, the brand may not be immediately eligible.’
As a result it has launched a free, five-year servicing offer on a selection of its new EV models and some used versions. It has also increased the battery warranty to eight years and 155,342 miles (200,000km).
Steve Beattie, sales and marketing Director at BYD – who recently appeared on the Car Dealer Podcast (above) – said he thinks customers are looking for more than just ‘upfront savings’.
He added: ‘[Customers] want lasting value and assurance. While we may not currently be part of the Electric Car Grant, we didn’t want to wait to show our commitment.
‘This five-year servicing offer is our way of giving back to drivers who choose BYD and supporting them well beyond the showroom.’
Another BYD executive recently branded the grant as ‘stupid’ and a ‘bit of a joke’.
In an interview with the Financial Times, BYD’s CEO Wang Chuanfu said: ‘They are too small and too late. By the time they start to take effect, the market will already be saturated with Chinese EVs.’
Meanwhile, other Chinese brands including MG, Leapmotor and GWM are offering their own grants instead.
Car dealers recently told this magazine that they applauded the grant being introduced but said its roll out was ‘messy’.
Speaking to the Car Dealer Weekly Briefing Substack newsletter, one dealer said they would have preferred to have seen a simple reduction in the price of VAT on new EVs under £37,500 to make it easier to implement.
Other dealers said the uncertainty as to which models would be included was also causing headaches with customers delaying orders to wait to see if their chosen car get cheaper.
