Plug-in Car Grant scrapped EARLY after demand spikes

The scrapping of the plug-in grant for hybrid electric cars, due to end on 9 November, has been ended early after demand for plug-ins spiked.

A couple of weeks ago we reported that the government is ending the grant for plug-in cars, and reducing the grant for EVs from £4,500 TO £3,500.

When we first reported the change, the grants were due to end on 12 November, but within hours of the announcement that had been changed to 9 November, with a warning that if sales spiked because of the impending scrapping of the grant then it could be sooner. Which they have.

Following sales of three times the number of plug-ins normally expected after the announcement was made, the government officially pulled the plug on the grant with effect from 00.01 on Sunday (21 October).

The good news is that as long as you placed your order before last Sunday, and your dealer notified OLEV, then you have nine months in which to take delivery. If you don’t, the grant will expire.

The early scrapping of the Category 2 and Category 3 grants – basically plug-in hybrids – means there are currently no plug-ins available which meet the Category 1 criteria, so the only option, if you want a grant, is to buy a BEV.

That could change if car makers respond to the changes by delivering plug-in hybrids with bigger batteries and greater range, but they’ll need to be able to do at least 70 miles as an EV and have official emissions of less than 50g/km.

Currently, the only car we know is on the way which should qualify for the Category 1 grant, despite being a plug-in, is the Polestar 1.