Plug-in Car Grant CUT to £2,500, and now only for cars UNDER £35k

The plug-in car grant (PiCG) is cut from £3,000 to £2,500, and the price cap for eligibility reduced from £50k to £35k.

In the UK, the government has been subsidising the purchases of cars with a plug to try and drive sales of EVs with the plug-in car grant (PiCG) and other incentives for the last decade.

But as EV sales rise, and cost for car makers, especially batteries, reduce, the government thinks it’s time to cut the PiCG once again.

Last cut in the budget in March 2020 (and long-since excluding plug-in hybrids) the grant for buyers of EVs was limited to £3,000, and only cars with a list price of under £50k were eligible. But now that’s being reduced further.

From today (18 March 2021), the grant is cut from £3k to £2.5k, and will only be available for cars with a list price of under £35k.

Transport Minister Rachel Maclean said:

The increasing choice of new vehicles, growing demand from customers and rapidly rising number of chargepoints mean that, while the level of funding remains as high as ever, given soaring demand, we are refocusing our vehicle grants on the more affordable zero emission vehicles – where most consumers will be looking and where taxpayers’ money will make more of a difference.

The governments rationale is that if drivers can afford a car over £35k they really don’t need a subsidy, and limiting the grant in this way will make the funding go further and be more targeted.