The UK government announced in July 2025 that it would provide a grant of up to £3,750 on certain new electric cars, as a means of helping to improve new EV sales. So far, it’s not going well…
The grants will only be available to eligible cars, and the exact amount offered will depend on a range of factors. These include the car’s price (up to £37,000 on-road, although there appears to be wiggle room in there) and how environmentally friendly the production process is, including not just the cars but the factories that build them.
There are two bandings of grant on offer. The higher band provides “up to” £3,750 for the most eco-friendly cars built by the most eco-friendly factories, while the lower band provides “up to” £1,500. And there will apparently be plenty of EVs that don’t qualify at all. We don’t yet know how much adjustment is hidden within the “up to” part of the grants, but it’s entirely possible and probably likely that there will be variations across both manufacturers and model ranges – so, for example, it’s possible that not only might different Ford EV models get different levels of grant money, but different trims within the same model range could get different grants. We simply don’t know.
The government trumpeted this as a £650 million project, but it remains to be seen how many cars will qualify at all. Car manufacturers are currently eagerly filling in their application forms and waiting to see if they qualify and for how much, but we have no idea how quickly these applications will be processed and when the results will be announced.
In the meantime, sales of potentially eligible new EVs pretty much stopped as soon as the grant programme was announced. Unsurprisingly, customers assumed that any new EV was about to get nearly £4,000 cheaper and so they decided not to go ahead with ordering one at the existing price. To make matters worse for the car companies, customers who had ordered cars were cancelling those orders. After all, who wants to pay full price for a car if they could get the same car for nearly £4K less in a few days or weeks?
As a result, car manufacturers have had to start offering discounts equivalent to the grant amounts simply to get customers back into showrooms. Some brands are hoping that they might be refunded by the government if their applications are approved, while others seem to accept that they’re not going to get anything so they simply have to stump up the discount themselves.
The government appeared to imply that Chinese-made cars would not qualify for the grants on any level, suggesting that Chinese car factories do not meet its sustainability criteria. As a result, Chinese manufacturers were first out of the gate in offering their own ‘grants’ (which are simply discounts equal to the grant amounts), while other manufacturers have started to follow in recent days. Eventually, we expect every brand with EVs priced at under £37K will end up offering similar discounts to stay competitive.
On the surface, it appears to be good news for customers – someone’s giving them a 10%(ish) discount on the price of the car, and it doesn’t really matter whether it’s the government or the car manufacturer. In reality, however, a juicier up-front discount on the car is almost certainly going to mean fewer incentives elsewhere, so you may see fewer 0% finance offers, free home chargers, public charging credits and so on.
New discounts are being offered almost every day, so we’ve pulled together a list of all the brands we currently know about. We’ll keep updating this as more discounts are announced and/or withdrawn, but bear in mind that the information is changing regularly so check with your local dealer or on the manufacturer’s website before placing any order.
We’ve trawled all of the car manufacturer websites to explore the fine print on these offers. The quality of information is mixed, and the terms and conditions vary considerably across different brands. For any brand offering its own ‘grant’ programme, please assume the following unless otherwise stated:
- Many of the offers are branded as ‘grants’ or ‘contributions’, but that’s just marketing bollocks to tie in with the government’s grant programme. They’re just discounts applied to the price of the car.
- Discounts apply to new cars only, not pre-registered cars, dealer demonstrator cars or used cars.
- Discounts only apply to private new car buyers, not fleets or businesses who already have separate pricing.
- Discounts exclude Motability customers, who already have separate pricing.
- The discounts should not be conditional or linked to any finance offers, so don’t be led down the garden path by dealers who insist that you have to take their finance to get the discount. Some brands have separate finance offers unrelated to this offer.
- Discounts can be altered or removed without prior notice, so check with dealers for latest information.
- Discounts may or may not replace any other previously announced offers. Again, check with the dealer.
- Terms, conditions and exclusions will always apply, so read all documents carefully before signing anything.
- All deals will have cut-off dates, which will usually be 30 September but (again) check with the dealer. This means that the discounts will inevitably be limited to vehicles that can be delivered by the cut-off date, which may limit you to existing stock rather than ordering a car that won’t arrive before the offer ends.
Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo is offering a flat £1,500 discount on all Alfa Romeo Junior Elettrica models, even the top-spec Intensa and Veloce models that are priced at more than £37,000 and wouldn’t qualify for the government grant anyway.
Alfa says that this is on top of its existing offers for the Junior range, which include 0% APR finance offers on selected Junior models on specific PCP deals, and a free home charging point with standard installation.
| Model | Previous price | Alfa Romeo discount | New price |
| Junior Elettrica | £33,905 | £1,500 | £32,405 |
| Junior Elettrica Speciale | £35,705 | £1,500 | £34,205 |
| Junior Elettrica Intensa | £38,905 | £1,500 | £37,405 |
| Junior Elettrica Veloce | £42,305 | £1,500 | £40,805 |
GWM
GWM (Great Wall Motors) is offering a discount of £3,750 on all Ora 03 models (the car previously known as the Ora Funky Cat), matching the theoretical maximum amount of the government electric car grant.
This is a substantial discount, amounting to 15% off the price of the entry-level Ora 03 Pure, and is in addition to GWM’s existing 0% APR PCP finance offers on the Ora 03.
| Model | Previous price | GWM discount | New price |
| Ora 03 Pure | £24,995 | £3,750 | £21,425 |
| Ora 03 Pro | £28,995 | £3,750 | £25,245 |
| Ora 03 GT | £32,995 | £3,750 | £29,245 |
Hyundai
Hyundai has gone all-out and has announced discounts across all of its EV models, even those that are priced a long way over the government grant threshold. The best offer is on the new Hyundai Inster city car, which gets a £3,750 discount on all versions (which amounts to 16% off the base model Inster 01), while the rest of Hyundai’s electric models are getting £1,500 off – even the brand-new Ioniq 9 large SUV that starts at £65K.
Listing every version here would take up too much space, so we’ve just listed the entry-level version for each model.
| Model | Previous price | Hyundai discount | New price |
| Hyundai Inster | £23,505 | £3,750 | £19,755 |
| Hyundai Kona Electric | £32,400 | £1,500 | £30,900 |
| Hyundai Ioniq 5 | £39,910 | £1,500 | £38,410 |
| Hyundai Ioniq 5 N | £65,010 | £1,500 | £63,510 |
| Hyundai Ioniq 6 | £47,050 | £1,500 | £45,550 |
| Hyundai Ioniq 9 | £64,995 | £1,500 | £63,495 |
Leapmotor
New Chinese brand Leapmotor was first out of the blocks with its own discounts, following the government’s confusing grant announcement and convoluted criteria calculations. The company is offering £1,500 off the T03 city car and £3,750 off the C10 large SUV.
In addition to the discounts, Leapmotor is offering 0% APR PCP finance, but separate terms and conditions apply so check with the dealer to make sure this finance offer meets your needs.
| Model | Previous price | Leapmotor discount | New price |
| Leapmotor T03 | £15,995 | £1,500 | £14,495 |
| Leapmotor C10 | £36,500 | £3,750 | £32,750 |
MG
MG is offering a £1,500 discount on its MG 4 (including the high-performance MG 4 XPower version) and MG S5 EV models, which it says will be over and above any other incentives being offered by its dealers, including its ‘test drive voucher’ offer of £1,000 on selected models which can be claimed from the MG website.
Sadly, the MG Cyberster sports car is not included…
| Model | Previous price | MG discount | Existing discount | New price |
| MG 4 SE | £26,995 | £1,500 | £1,000 | £24,495 |
| MG 4 SE Long Range | £29,495 | £1,500 | £1,000 | £26,995 |
| MG 4 Trophy Long Range | £32,495 | £1,500 | £1,000 | £29,995 |
| MG 4 Trophy Extended Range | £36,495 | £1,500 | £1,000 | £33,995 |
| MG 4 XPower | £36,495 | £1,500 | £1,000 | £33,995 |
| MG S5 SE | £28,495 | £1,500 | £1,000 | £25,995 |
| MG S5 SE Long Range | £30,995 | £1,500 | £1,000 | £28,495 |
| MG S5 Trophy Long Range | £33,495 | £1,500 | £1,000 | £30,995 |
Skywell
New Chinese car brand Skywell only has one model on sale in the UK at the moment, the Skywell BE11 mid-sized electric SUV. The good news is that Skywell is offering a £3,750 discount, equivalent to the maximum government grant, on both the Standard Range and Long Range versions.
In addition to the new discount, Skywell is offering a £6,000 deposit contribution (basically a discount) if you take certain finance offers. The Skywell UK website does not explain this very clearly, so speak to your local dealer if you’re interested.
| Model | Previous price | Skywell discount | New price |
| Skywell BE11 Standard Range | £36,995 | £3,750 | £33,425 |
| Skywell BE11 Long Range | £39,995 | £3,750 | £36,245 |
Smart
Smart is offering an additional £1,500 off its #1 and #3 electric models, over and above its existing discounts of £2,000 on the #1 and £1,000 on the #3. The upcoming #5 electric SUV is not included in the offer. The current 0% APR PCP offers are apparently still available as well.
At time of writing, this offer has just been announced and Smart has not been clear about which trim levels are eligible, as not all would fall under the government’s £37K threshold. We’ll update this if necessary, once we have more information.
| Model | Previous price | Smart discount | Existing discount | New price |
| Smart #1 Pro | £31,960 | £1,500 | £2,000 | £28,460 |
| Smart #1 Pro+ | £35,960 | £1,500 | £2,000 | £32,460 |
| Smart #1 Premium | £38,960 | £1,500 | £2,000 | £35,460 |
| Smart #1 Brabus | £43,460 | £1,500 | £2,000 | £39,960 |
| Smart #3 Pro | £33,960 | £1,500 | £1,000 | £31,460 |
| Smart #3 Pro+ | £37,960 | £1,500 | £1,000 | £35,460 |
| Smart #3 Premium | £40,660 | £1,500 | £0 | £39,160 |
| Smart #3 Brabus | £46,460 | £1,500 | £1,000 | £43,960 |
Volvo
Volvo is offering £1,500 off the price of all EX30 models, even those like the new EX30 Cross Country that significantly exceed the government’s £37K threshold. None of Volvo’s other electric models would qualify under the government’s £37K threshold and are not currently offered with an equivalent discount.
Selected EX30 models are also available with 0% APR PCP finance agreements, but this offer is currently limited to EX30 Plus and Ultra models, not the entry-level Core model.
| Model | Previous price | Volvo discount | New price |
| Volvo EX30 Core | £33,060 | £1,500 | £31,560 |
| Volvo EX30 Plus | £35,160 | £1,500 | £33,660 |
| Volvo EX30 Ultra | £43,360 | £1,500 | £41,860 |
| Volvo EX30 Cross Country | £47,060 | £1,500 | £45,560 |
This article will be regularly updated as more deals are announced, amended and withdrawn. Last update: 30 July 2025.