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How The Electric Car Grant Works

The United Kingdom Office For Low Emission Vehicles provides grants for electric cars which subsidise the manufacturer's List Price of the car when new.

The subsidy or 'grant' reduces the manufacturer's List Price for the car according to set criteria. You can see the list of qualifying cars by clicking on the link.

What Are The Criteria?

The key criteria to be eligible for a grant are:

• be an 'M1' passenger vehicle*
• produce 0gCO2/km at the tailpipe
• have a minimum battery range of 100 miles (160km)
• have a 3-year or 60,000 mile warranty, whichever is reached first
• be powered by a battery with an 8-year or 100,000 mile warranty, whichever is reached first
• meet minimum sustainability criteria+

* An 'M1' vehicle is defined as a vehicle used for the carriage of passengers and comprising no more than eight seats in addition to the driver's seat.
+ The sustainability criteria requires that the manufacturer must hold a Science Based Target for emissions reduction aligned with the 'Paris' Agreement++. The vehicle must meet specific carbon emissions thresholds assessed by the Vehicle Certification Agency and Office for Zero Emissions.
++ The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change adopted by 196 parties at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris on 12 December 2015. It entered into force on 4 November 2016, and serves as the principal framework for global climate action.

You can read more about the full criteria for cars on the UK Government Website.

The grant is only available on new electric cars purchased from a manufacturer's authorised dealer and is not available for 'used' cars or on private sales.

How Much Is The Grant?

The grant is currently divided into two classes, 'Band 1' and 'Band 2'.

Band 1: Cars with a manufacturer's List Price of less than £37,000 are eligible for a grant of up to £3,750.
Band 2: Cars with a manufacturer's List Price of less than £37,000 are eligible for a grant of up to £1,500.

With regard to the manufacturer's List Price, certain cars with a List Price of up to £42,000 may also qualify if the 'base' model is below a List Price of £37,000. As a result this extends the grant to certain higher specification models of qualifying cars.

Qualifying Cars

HM Government maintains a list of qualifying cars on the official website.

You can see a details of current qualifying cars and their grant amounts on our car running costs calculator where the amount of the grant is deducted from the manufacturer's List Price of the car and the grant is displayed.

The current qualifying cars are also listed below:

Band 1 cars (Maximum £3,750)

• Citroën ë-C5 Aircross Long Range
• DS 3 Crossback E-Tense
• Ford E-Tourneo Courier
• Ford Puma Gen-E
• MINI Countryman Electric
• Nissan LEAF
• Renault 4
• Renault 5 (52 kWh)
• Renault Alpine A290

Band 2 cars (Maximum £1,500)

• Citroën ë-C3, Citroën ë-C3 Aircross and Citroën ë-C3 Urban Range
• Citroën ë-C4 and Citroën ë-C4 X
• Citroën ë-C5 Aircross
• Citroën ë-Berlingo
• Citroën ë-SpaceTourer
• Cupra Born
• DS DS3
• DS N°4
• Kia EV4
• Kia PV5 Passenger
• Nissan Ariya
• Nissan Micra
• Peugeot E-208
• Peugeot E-2008
• Peugeot E-308
• Peugeot E-408
• Peugeot E-Rifter
• Peugeot E-Traveller
• Renault 5 (40 kWh)
• Renault Megane
• Renault Scenic
• Skoda Elroq
• Skoda Enyaq
• Toyota C-HR+
• Toyota Proace City Verso
• Vauxhall Astra Electric
• Vauxhall Combo Life Electric
• Vauxhall Corsa Electric
• Vauxhall Frontera Electric
• Vauxhall Grandland Electric
• Vauxhall Mokka Electric
• Vauxhall Vivaro Life Electric
• Volkswagen ID.3
• Volkswagen ID.4
• Volkswagen ID.5

Plese see our car running costs calculator for details of current qualifying cars and their grant amounts at our car running costs calculator.