Electric Car Grant

Private individuals and businesses can buy or lease an eligible car directly from a dealer or manufacturer. Only new cars at first registration qualify; a model or version must already be approved for the scheme.

• Car requirements: it must be a passenger car in the M1 approval category, with zero tailpipe CO₂ emissions and at least 100 miles of range under the official WLTP test. Approved cars must meet the scheme's technical, safety, warranty and manufacturing criteria; an electric car is not eligible just because it meets the price limit.
• Warranty protection: from transfer of ownership, the car must have at least three years or 60,000 miles of cover, whichever comes first. The battery and electric drivetrain—the parts transmitting power to the wheels—must have at least eight years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first; the battery warranty must provide replacement if capacity falls below 70% during the first eight years. You must also be offered a further two years of battery and electric-drivetrain warranty, which may cost extra.
• Registration and VAT: the car must be registered in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland and licensed for use on UK roads, and UK VAT must have been paid. The Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey are excluded, as are purchases under the personal-export and direct-export schemes. The new-means-of-transport scheme is also excluded: these are special VAT arrangements for new vehicles moving between Northern Ireland and the EU, not ordinary domestic new-car purchases.
• Overseas personnel: British armed forces members abroad can use a British Forces Post Office postcode. British diplomats abroad and foreign diplomats in the UK also remain eligible. Diplomatic vehicles and vehicles with export plates need manual validation by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). For a diplomatic vehicle claim, the seller should notify ZEVehiclegrants@dvla.gov.uk.
• End customer: since 17 July 2026, orders must be registered to a named individual, the end customer. Cars registered to a dealer or manufacturer are excluded, including demonstration, employee buy-back and salary-sacrifice cars registered that way. Internal manufacturer sales for the company's own use or trials are not eligible.
• Leasing: the dealer must record the actual lease customer, not the leasing company, and cannot change that customer's name once the order is created. Using a linked finance company does not make that company the end customer.
• Linked business orders: companies count as one business if one holds a majority of another's voting rights, can appoint or remove most of its board, or has a right to exercise dominant influence under a contract or its governing rules. Majority voting control through an agreement with other shareholders also counts. These links through a person or people acting together also count when the businesses operate wholly or partly in the same or adjacent markets. The dealer must check the combined orders against the annual cap, not count each linked company separately.

Two different price tests apply. Eligibility price uses the recommended retail price (RRP), not a negotiated discount. The lowest-priced version of each distinct combination of battery capacity, drivetrain configuration and maximum power must have an eligibility RRP no more than £37,000. Higher-priced versions can qualify up to £42,000, but the exact version must be approved alongside the qualifying version with the same battery, drivetrain and maximum-power option. The approval can allow small differences in tested range and energy use; it does not make every version of a listed model eligible. For example, a model's lower-capacity battery option starting at £35,000 can qualify while a larger-battery option starting at £40,000 does not.

Eligibility RRP includes VAT even if a business can reclaim it, the battery cost even if the battery is leased, mandatory delivery and administration charges, and options that change battery capacity, drivetrain or maximum power. It excludes other optional extras, disability or emergency-service modifications, extra warranties beyond the mandatory cover, insurance and service packages, first registration and first-licence costs. Dealer discounts and rebates cannot bring an otherwise ineligible RRP under the limit.

The separate purchase-price limit is £42,000 before the grant, after commercial discounts. This calculation includes VAT even if reclaimable, the battery cost even if leased, mandatory administration charges, number plates, the first licence, paint and fitted extras such as tow bars. It excludes delivery, first registration, insurance, warranties, disability or emergency-service modifications, and separate purchases not fixed to the car, such as charging cables or chargepoints. The dealer must apply the scheme's calculation, not simply compare the final bill with the cap.

Status

lukker 31. mar. 2030

Lukker

31. mar. 2030

Vilkår for ansøgningsrunden

• The published scheme closing date is 31 March 2030. Grant levels and eligibility criteria may change without notice; a dealer claim is not guaranteed until validated.[^c23][^c24][^c16]

Choose an approved car using the official list, then arrange the purchase or lease with a dealer or manufacturer. Confirm the exact version, grant band and itemised discounted price. The seller handles the claim; buyers do not need a portal account.

The dealer should start the grant order as soon as the customer contract is agreed. It must successfully save the order on the grant portal before DVLA registration, on an earlier day: saving and registering on the same day is not allowed. A grant is not guaranteed until the vehicle passes portal validation.

To retain the grant level advertised when the order was placed on the portal, the car must be registered and delivered within nine months of that entry date. Within that period the order must also show as completed, awaiting payment or awaiting audit. OZEV may change this delivery window without notice. Audit documents must be supplied within 28 consecutive days of the request; orders are cancelled if that deadline is missed or completion is more than 28 consecutive days overdue.

A later move into a higher grant band does not increase the grant for an earlier purchase: the purchase date controls that change. Do not cancel and resubmit an older order to obtain newly available eligibility or a higher band; such orders are refused.

Claims after registration are exceptional and discretionary, not a normal buyer reimbursement route. OZEV will not consider claims or appeals older than three months and will consider only one per dealership across the scheme's lifetime except in the most exceptional circumstances, without guaranteeing it will succeed. The manufacturer must raise the request with OZEV first; a dealership request will not be reviewed until its manufacturer confirms it. Supply evidence explaining why registration preceded the saved order, or why cancellation should not apply. Separate orders cannot be bundled into one claim or appeal.

Manufacturers seeking approval for a new model must first request a reference number from ECGApplications@ozev.gov.uk, then submit the application and supporting evidence through the Vehicle Certification Agency's upload link and notify OZEV when the upload is complete. Accepted applicants must sign and return the scheme's legal agreement. This vehicle-approval process is separate from a customer's purchase.