Those considering an affordable electric car in the UK are in for some bad news- the government has terminated the £1,500 plug-in car grant that was available for EV cars that were under £32,000.

After the immediate end of the scheme was announced, transport minister, Trudy Harrison, defended this move by saying that the government has invested over £2.5 billion in the transition to EVs from 2020, and has now set new dates within which sales of diesel and petrol vehicles will be phased out in major countries. He also added that government funding is best invested in sectors that have the highest impact.

car grant

Harrison also said that since they had now successfully revved up the EV market, they now wanted to apply the plug-in grants to other types of vehicles, for example, delivery vans and taxis, to ease the transition to zero-emission travel.

Running since 2011, the plug-in grant scheme has supported the sale of about 500,000 EVs on UK shores. However, the grants were repeatedly cut down, dropping to £1,500 for items less than £32,000 in December 2021.

Now that the provision of the grant has come to an end, the government claimed that it will now direct its efforts toward expanding the public charge port network. However, as of now, it seems that there has barely been any addition to the previously committed £1.6 billion that had been set aside to build new chargers by 2030- 300,000 new charges to be exact.

Another statement by the government says that £300 million in grants will be redirected towards extending plug-in grants that are meant to boost the sales of plug-in taxis, vans, trucks, motorcycles, and wheelchair-accessible vehicles.

What do you think of the news? Is it good or bad for the public? If you have already bought an EV, do not worry as all existing applications will be honored. Furthermore, any cars that have been sold within the two working days before the announcement was made will be eligible for the plug-in grant in the vent that an application has not been made yet.