The UK Government just hit all potential EV and Plug In Buyers with a wet fish to the head. What are they thinking?
As from today – no warning or discussion:
Plug-in car grant drops from £3k to £2.5k
Eligibility upper limit reduced from £50k to £35k
Electric cars are already expensive and adding more to the price is a dead certain to slow down the ramp. Rather than peanilise drivers doing the right thing the Government should have added a few pence to a litre of Petrol and Diesel at the recent budget. This was a golden opportunity to nudge consumers off ICE power. Instead they have done the opposite and nudged consumers away from electric cars.
Read the groveling statement on the UK Gov site.
Note the quote from Transport Minister Rachel Maclean
We want as many people as possible to be able to make the switch to electric vehicles as we look to reduce our carbon emissions, strive towards our net-zero ambitions and level up right across the UK.
Rachel Maclean was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Transport on 14 February 2020. She was elected Conservative MP for Redditch in 2017. You can contact her via:
Let her know your feelings on slashing the grant with no prior knowledge. – If you are collecting your Tesla Model 3 EV tomorrow you will be liable for £3,000 more. Crazy indeed.