Grants reduced for people buying electric cars
The Government has come under fire for slashing grants for new electric cars by 40% in the run-up to the ban on new petrol and diesel cars in 2030.
The maximum amount of motorists can claim towards the cost of a plug-in car has been cut from £2,500 to £1,500 – with The Department of Transport saying this will "enable taxpayers' money to go further".
Cars eligible for the grant must now cost less than £32,000 – down from £35,000.
The DfT said the changes will allow "the scheme's funding to go further and to help more people make the switch to an electric vehicle" and added that the Government's investment in the transition to EVs "remains unchanged".
Transport minister Trudy Harrison said: "The market is charging ahead in the switch to electric vehicles.
"This, together with the increasing choice of new vehicles and growing demand from customers, means that we are re-focusing our vehicle grants on the more affordable vehicles and reducing grant rates to allow more people to benefit, and enable taxpayers' money to go further.”
AA president Edmund King, AA president, said: “Many drivers and fleets will be recalculating to see if they can still afford their chosen EV now that the grants and threshold have been cut.
"With ambitious targets heading into 2030, it seems counterintuitive to reduce incentives although we accept that those purchasing the lower value EVs probably have greater need for assistance. The most effective method of encouraging mass electric car adoption would be to scrap the VAT.”