Would you have an electric car if you had the money for a new car and were in the market for one?

[KungFooBob]

re-introduction of government grants...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn5kpkypxp6o

Up to £3750... but only on cars up to £37,000.

I wonder if the dealers will now reduce the large deposit contribution or 0% PCP schemes a lot of them have been running?

If I can get £3750 on top of the Cupra £7k deposit contribution, I could see a PCP Born in my life.

[MyLittleStudPony]

My first thought is the dealers will suck up as much of that free money for themselves as they can.

[KungFooBob]

My first thought is the dealers will suck up as much of that free money for themselves as they can.

That was my first thought too.

I imagine them reducing any deposit contributions by whatever the government is offering extra.

[Saga Lout]

The government is going to offer grants for people to cut "gullies" across the footpath to take EV charging cables. I don't know if anybody in government has ever lived in a terraced house but when I did, it was a rare occurrence when I managed to park directly outside my house. I felt myself lucky if I got to park three or four houses away. I don't think they've thought this through.

EDIT: Sorry. I said the government would be paying. What I really meant was the taxpayer. Yes, the taxpayer will be subsidising EV owners. Again.

[Mussels]

Grants available for EVs up to £37,500 and the average price of an EV is 50k. It seems like the brief was to make a great sounding offer while being almost useless.

[KungFooBob]

There's quite a few EV's available for well under £37k.

The council spec Renault 5 is £24k, the base model Cupra Born is £35k and a Dacia Spring is £12k.

Most of the MG's are under the threshold too.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Or the new Renault 4, which is £27-35k. Electric Minis are in that range too.

EVs are no longer just Telsas and Taycans. I suspect that average price figure is an older number skewed by what's been available on the market previously.

[Saga Lout]

Seen elsewhere:

"Even if you don’t know that EVs are a bit shit, the fact that the idiots in government are prepared to give a bung to persuade you to buy one might be a clue."

[Mr. Dazzle]

Same reason they pay child benefits to nearly all parents

[Slenver]

Grants available for EVs up to £37,500 and the average price of an EV is 50k. It seems like the brief was to make a great sounding offer while being almost useless.

That's just how mean averages work though, isn't it? As the sky's the limit for the upper end, it's entirely skewed at the lower end. For a start though:

Dogood Zero – from £5,500
Citroen Ami – from £7,695
Dacia Spring – from £14,995
Leapmotor T03 – from £15,995
Micro Microlino - from £17,990
Fiat Grande Panda – from £20,975
Citroen e-C3 – from £21,990
Renault 5 – from £22,995
Hyundai Inster – from £23,495
Vauxhall Frontera – from £23,495
Fiat 500 – from £24,995
GWM Ora 03 – from £24,995
BYD Dolphin – from £26,195
Citroen e-C4 – from £26,295
Renault 4 - from £26,995.00
Vauxhall Corsa Electric – from £26,895
MG4 – from £26,995
Mazda MX-30 – from £27,995
Nissan Leaf – from £28,495
Peugeot e-208 – from £29,950
Seres 3 – from £29,995
Abarth 500e – from £29,975
Fiat 600e – from £29,975
Ford Puma Gen-E - from £29,885
Jeep Avenger – from £29,999
Suzuki e-Vitara – from £29,999
Mini Cooper Electric – from £32,550
MG ZS – from £30,495
Volkswagen ID.3 – £30,850
MG5 – from £30,995
Citroen e-Berlingo from £31,240
Skoda Elroq – £31,500
Mini Aceman – £31,920
Toyota Proace City Verso EV - from £31,995
Smart #1 – from £31,950
Peugeot e-Rifter - from £32,250
Vauxhall Mokka Electric - from £32,430
Renault Megane E-Tech - from £32,495
Volvo EX30 - from £32,850
MINI Countryman Electric - from £33,005
Kia EV3 - from £33,005
Volvo EX30 - from £33,060
Omoda E5 - from £33,065
Alpine A290 - from £33,500
Alfa Romeo Junior Elettrica - from £33,906
Smart #3 - from £33,960
Vauxhall Astra Electric - from £34,130
Hyundai Kona Electric - from £34,500
Peugeot e-2008 - from £35,400
Cupra Born - from £35,690
Vauxhall Grandland Electric - from £36,455
MG4 XPower - from £36,495
Leapmotor C10 - from £36,500
Abarth 600e - from £36,985
KGM Torres EV - from £36,995
Skywell BE11 - from £36,995

[Slenver]

Seen elsewhere:

"Even if you don’t know that EVs are a bit shit, the fact that the idiots in government are prepared to give a bung to persuade you to buy one might be a clue."

Bit like boilers. And insulation. And solar panels. And school uniforms. And heat pumps. And woodland. And...

[Taipan]

re-introduction of government grants...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn5kpkypxp6o

Up to £3750... but only on cars up to £37,000.

I wonder if the dealers will now reduce the large deposit contribution or 0% PCP schemes a lot of them have been running?

If I can get £3750 on top of the Cupra £7k deposit contribution, I could see a PCP Born in my life.

Anyone know what the incentive for the, err, incentive was? Still bad sales figures?

[Mr. Dazzle]

"Steve Catlin, managing director of Vauxhall, told the BBC's Today programme his company welcomed the government's action but increasing consumer demand and creating more charging points were two areas that needed action.

In terms of the amount of electric vehicles sold, he said: "The target this year is 28%. At the moment we're running at 21.6% as an industry."

I wouldn't describe that was "bad sales figures".

The incentive is the same as it was before the Tories scrapped similar schemes in 2022 - reduce emissions as part of overall Net Zero policies. Same reason you can get grants for heat pumps etc etc.

Bit like boilers. And insulation. And solar panels. And school uniforms. And heat pumps. And woodland. And...

And paying farmers thousands to not farm. And not taxing pension contributions or ISA savings. And shared home ownership. And free childcare. And free bus passes. And and and...

Dunno why people have this notion that government incentives are new, or bad.

[KungFooBob]

Iirc, they're not using (other) tax payers money to fund this.

They're applying a discount to the VAT you pay on the vehicle.

[Mr. Dazzle]

They're applying a discount to the VAT you pay on the vehicle.

Ah, just like they do with the VAT on domestic gas

[Saga Lout]

Seen elsewhere:

"Even if you don’t know that EVs are a bit shit, the fact that the idiots in government are prepared to give a bung to persuade you to buy one might be a clue."

Bit like boilers. And insulation. And solar panels. And school uniforms. And heat pumps. And woodland. And...

Quite. The government takes £10 off you in tax pisses £5 up the wall and give you back £5. And you're supposed to be grateful.

Some of those things are good ideas, some are not. Wouldn't it be nice for the people to decide for themselves how to spend their money? After all, government is really, really shit at spending money sensibly. (See HS2 for an example.)

[Mr. Dazzle]

I think the problem mostly stems from the fact everyone has a different view on which £5 was pissed up the wall

[Slenver]

Wouldn't it be nice for the people to decide for themselves how to spend their money?

Sure. That's called 'anarchism'.

[MrLongbeard]

And I thank them for their cheap VED on my diesel car and their foresight to make diesel cars cheap and plentiful for us all.

[Taipan]

And I thank them for their cheap VED on my diesel car and their foresight to make diesel cars cheap and plentiful for us all.

THe polluters must pay!