8:07 am, August 14, 2025
A month after the launch of the Electric Car Grant there are still no EVs eligible for the full £3,750 discount.
Launched on July 14, the grant offers a two-tier discount scheme for electric cars under £37,000 with Band 1 cars getting a full £3,750 discount and Band 2 cars getting a reduced £1,500 off the price.
As of today (Aug 14), only 17 cars have been signed off by the Department for Transport (DfT) and all of them only benefit from the reduced £1,500 grant.
Nissan says its new Leaf will be eligible for the full discount – but it is not even on sale yet – leaving customers with no cars on sale with full access to the full discount.
Car dealers have privately told this magazine that the scheme is causing ‘chaos’ in showrooms as customers delay their purchases and wait to hear if their cars are going to receive the grant.
No Volkswagen Group, BMW or Mercedes models have yet been signed off despite being among the most popular car brands in the UK.
Peter Smyth, director of franchised dealer group Swansway, called the roll-out of the scheme ‘shambolic’.
He said: ‘This scheme should have been far more simpler than this typical government bureaucratic mess we’re in now.’
Neil McCue, boss of the large South Coast-based franchised dealer group Snows, told Car Dealer he also thought the scheme was ‘ill thought out’.
He said: ‘We saw customers holding off buying electric cars in July and we’re seeing it again in August. They’re all asking for their £3,750 discount and we can’t give it to them.
‘A lot of brands have done their own things and set up their own initiatives, but why has this Electric Car Grant been so complicated?
‘It shouldn’t have been linked to emissions for manufacturing – the idea here was to boost the sales of electric cars and you can only do that with a simple scheme that covers them all.’
Another boss of a large dealer group was frustrated that the details of the scheme weren’t hammered out behind the scenes first, letting car makers announce the eligible cars from day one.
Instead, car makers were invited to apply for the discounts via an online portal with the DfT on the day the scheme was launched and it took three weeks to get even the first cars signed off. The first were Citroens and others have been slowly added over the past week.
Which cars are eligible for Band 2 Electric Car Grant?
These models benefit from the reduced discount of £1,500 as of August 14. There are currently no Band 1 cars available to buy on the scheme. An up to date list can be found on the government website here.
- Citroën ë-C3 and Citroën ë-C3 Aircross
- Citroën ë-C4 and Citroën ë-C4 X
- Citroën ë-C5 Aircross
- Citroën ë-Berlingo
- Nissan Ariya
- Nissan Micra
- Renault 4
- Renault 5
- Renault Alpine A290
- Renault Megane
- Renault Scenic
- Vauxhall Astra Electric
- Vauxhall Combo Life Electric
- Vauxhall Corsa Electric
- Vauxhall Frontera Electric
- Vauxhall Grandland Electric
- Vauxhall Mokka Electric
There is strict criteria for the grant based on a car’s ‘sustainability criteria’ with the greenest ‘band one’ vehicles eligible for the full amount of £3,750.
This is based on the environmental credentials of the car manufacturer as a whole and looks at the battery production emissions, vehicle assembly line emissions and the ‘carbon intensity’ of the electric grids in the countries where car production occurs.
This rules out a large number of manufacturers from the Band 1 £3,750 discount as many fail the standards in their production.
This has led to many car makers launching their own schemes instead, including most Chinese brands.
In a statement, issued to Car Dealer Magazine, a Department for Transport spokesperson said: ‘We expect dozens of models to be eligible for the Electric Car Grant with 17 models announced to date and many more to come, providing a substantial boost for the industry and saving drivers thousands of pounds.
‘The list of eligible models is published online and regularly updated with discounts available for the public at dealerships.
‘We have also published comprehensive guidance for manufacturers who we will continue to work with alongside dealers to help more of their customers access the grant.’
No estimates could be given on how many cars may be eventually eligible for the full £3,750 discount.
The decision to apply for a grant was said to be a ‘commercial decision’ for the car manufacturers. It is understood that many are still waiting for their discounts to be signed off.
An industry source added: ‘The scheme is sadly too complicated. By linking it to carbon emissions of car manufacturers as a whole, each case has to be carefully checked and this is taking too long.
‘It would have been far easier to simply discount VAT on electric cars under £37,000 by 10%. Yes, that would have meant every car was included – even the Chinese models – but surely this was about boosting electric car demand, not turning it into a Net Zero scheme for car manufacturing?’
The government is understood to be committed to the grant and is working to sign off grants as quickly as possible by supporting car manufacturers with their applications.
Speaking earlier this month as the new car sales figures for July were announced – showing a 5% fall in sales – SMMT boss Mike Hawes said: ‘July’s dip shows yet again the new car market’s sensitivity to external factors, and the pressing need for consumer certainty.
‘Confirming which models qualify for the new EV grant, alongside compelling manufacturer discounts on a huge choice of exciting new vehicles, should send a strong signal to buyers that now is the time to switch. That would mean increased demand for the rest of this year and into next, which is good news for the industry, car buyers and our environmental ambitions.’
