Last verified: May 2026
Key takeaways
- The Electric Car Grant gives up to £3,750 off a new EV under £37,000, claimed automatically at the dealer.
- Renters and flat owners can get up to £500 off a home charger install via the EV Chargepoint Grant from 1 April 2026.
- Businesses can claim up to £500 per socket (40 sockets maximum) under the Workplace Charging Scheme.
- The Plug-in Car Grant ended in 2022 and is not active. The Electric Car Grant replaces it.
- Scotland adds an interest-free Used EV Loan up to £23,000 via Energy Saving Trust.
Quick-reference: every active grant at a glance
| Scheme | Maximum amount | Who claims | Apply via | End date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electric Car Grant (ECG) | £3,750 (Band 1) or £1,500 (Band 2) | Buyers of new EVs up to £37k | Dealer at point of sale | 2028/29 |
| EV Chargepoint Grant — renters and flat owners | £500 per socket (75% of cost) | Renters and flat owners with off-street parking | OZEV-approved installer | 31 March 2027 |
| EV Infrastructure Grant — residential landlords | £500 per socket, up to 200 sockets | Residential landlords | OZEV-approved installer | 31 March 2027 |
| Workplace Charging Scheme | £500 per socket, up to 40 sockets (£20k cap) | Businesses, charities, public bodies | OZEV-approved installer | 31 March 2027 |
| Plug-in Van Grant | Up to £2,500 (small) or £5,000 (large) | Businesses and individuals | Dealer at point of sale | Active (review annually) |
| Plug-in Taxi Grant | Up to £4,000 | Licensed taxi operators (purpose-built WAV) | Dealer | 5 April 2026 — verify renewal |
| Plug-in Motorcycle Grant | 35%, up to £500 | Motorcycle buyers (L3 only from Apr 2026) | Dealer | Active |
| Used EV Loan (Scotland) | Up to £23,000 interest-free | Scottish residents | Energy Saving Trust | Active 2025/26 |
The Electric Car Grant (ECG): up to £3,750 off a new EV
The Electric Car Grant launched in July 2025 as the successor to the now-closed Plug-in Car Grant. It offers a direct discount off the purchase price of a qualifying new battery electric vehicle, applied automatically at the dealership with no paperwork required from the buyer.
Amount: Band 1 = £3,750; Band 2 = £1,500. The band your chosen car falls into is determined by its Verified Sustainability Score, a government assessment of the lifecycle emissions of the battery and the manufacturing process.
Price cap: the vehicle's list price must be £37,000 or less. Vehicles above this threshold do not qualify, regardless of battery type.
Eligible vehicles: pure battery electric vehicles only. Plug-in hybrids, mild hybrids, and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles are not covered by the ECG.
How to apply: you do not need to apply. The participating dealer applies the discount at the point of sale and claims the grant back from OZEV. Simply confirm with the dealer that the car is ECG-eligible before purchase.
Geographic coverage: available across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Funding runway: £1.3 billion has been committed through to 2028/29, with an explicit runway to 2030 confirmed in the Autumn 2025 Budget. Source: find-government-grants.service.gov.uk/grants/electric-car-grant-1
EV Chargepoint Grant for renters and flat owners: £500 per socket
The EV Chargepoint Grant (EVCG) is available to people who rent their home or who own a flat, and who have access to private off-street or allocated parking. Owner-occupiers of houses are not eligible under the current scheme.
Amount: 75% of the installation cost, up to £500 per socket, from 1 April 2026. Before that date the cap was £350; the increase was announced by the Department for Transport.
Eligibility conditions:
- You rent a residential property, or you own a flat (including leasehold flats)
- You have private off-street parking, or an allocated parking space, with a legal entitlement to use it
- Written permission from your landlord, freeholder, or managing agent is required where applicable
- The charger must be on the OZEV-approved product list
- The installation must be carried out by an OZEV-authorised installer
How to apply: choose an OZEV-authorised installer and they handle the grant claim on your behalf. You pay the balance above the grant amount.
End date: funded until 31 March 2027. Source: gov.uk/guidance/changes-to-electric-vehicle-chargepoint-grant-schemes-from-1-april-2026
The grant covers 75% of installation up to £500, meaning most renters and flat owners pay only the difference on a smart charger. Choose the right charger first, then let the installer file the grant. Compare home EV chargers to find OZEV-approved models.
EV Infrastructure Grant for residential landlords: £500 per socket
Residential landlords can claim up to £500 per socket installed across their properties, with a maximum of 200 sockets across all sites, from 1 April 2026.
Eligibility: you must be a residential landlord with off-street parking at the property where the charger will be installed. Commercial landlords and the wider Staff and Fleets grants closed to new applications on 31 March 2026; this scheme covers residential lettings only.
How to apply: via an OZEV-approved installer using the new application platform that launched on 1 April 2026. Your installer will guide you through the process and claim the grant back directly.
Note: if you also own the property and live there yourself, you are classed as an owner-occupier rather than a landlord and would not be eligible under this stream. Check with your installer if your situation is mixed-use.
Workplace Charging Scheme (WCS): £500 per socket for businesses
The Workplace Charging Scheme supports businesses, charities and public-sector organisations with the cost of installing EV charge points at their premises.
Amount: 75% of the combined cost of purchasing and installing the charger, capped at £500 per socket, with a maximum of 40 sockets per applicant. The total maximum grant per organisation is £20,000.
Eligibility:
- Registered businesses, charities and public-sector bodies
- The site must have dedicated off-road parking
- If the premises are leased, landlord consent is required
- The charger must be procured and installed by an authorised installer
How to apply: the scheme is voucher-based. You apply online, receive a voucher code valid for 180 days, and your authorised installer uses the code when billing to claim the grant back from OZEV. Source: gov.uk/guidance/workplace-charging-scheme-guidance-for-installers
End date: extended for a final year to 31 March 2027. No extension beyond that date has been announced; apply before the deadline if your installation is planned.
Plug-in vehicle grants: vans, trucks, taxis and motorcycles
Several plug-in grants remain active for commercial and specialist vehicles. All are applied at the point of sale by the dealer.
Plug-in Van Grant
35% of the purchase price, up to £2,500 for small vans (up to 2.5 tonnes gross vehicle weight) and up to £5,000 for large vans (2.5–3.5 tonnes). Applies to both new battery EVs and certain hydrogen vehicles. Available to businesses and private individuals. Source: GOV.UK.
Plug-in Truck Grant
Available for heavier commercial vehicles: up to £16,000 for N2 small trucks (3.5–12 tonnes), and up to £25,000 for N3 large trucks (over 12 tonnes). Intended to accelerate fleet electrification in logistics. Source: GOV.UK.
Plug-in Taxi Grant
Up to £4,000 off a purpose-built wheelchair-accessible ultra-low-emission taxi (up to 50g/km CO2 and a minimum zero-emission range of 70 miles). The scheme ran to 5 April 2026. Verify the renewal status directly with OZEV or your dealer at time of purchase, as extensions are announced annually. Source: GOV.UK.
Plug-in Motorcycle Grant
35% of the purchase price, up to £500. From April 2026 the scheme is limited to L3 motorcycles only; L1 and L2 mopeds and light quadricycles were removed from eligibility. Applied at the point of sale. Source: GOV.UK.
EV support in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
Scotland
Scotland has the most developed devolved EV support. The Used Electric Vehicle Loan from Energy Saving Trust offers up to £23,000 interest-free over six years, enabling Scottish residents to buy a used EV without paying interest on the loan. The Switched On Taxi Loan and Used Low Carbon Vehicle Loan programmes were also active in 2025/26 with a combined budget of £20 million. The Domestic Chargepoint Fund is currently fully allocated; register interest with Home Energy Scotland for the next funding round. Sources: Energy Saving Trust; Transport Scotland; Home Energy Scotland.
Wales and Northern Ireland
There are no separate devolved EV purchase grants in Wales or Northern Ireland in 2026. However, all UK-wide schemes apply equally: the Electric Car Grant, EV Chargepoint Grant, and Workplace Charging Scheme are all available to eligible applicants in Wales and Northern Ireland on the same terms as in England.
Tax incentives that behave like grants
Three HMRC and DVLA policies reduce the effective cost of owning an EV without being labelled as grants, but their financial impact is comparable.
- Benefit-in-Kind tax: at just 4% on EVs in 2026/27 versus up to 37% on petrol and diesel equivalents, the BIK saving is worth thousands of pounds per year for company car drivers and salary sacrifice users. See our guide to Benefit-in-Kind tax on electric cars.
- Vehicle Excise Duty: EVs lost full VED exemption in April 2025 and now pay the standard rate of £195 per year. This is still significantly lower than the rates for higher-emission vehicles, and the Expensive Car Supplement threshold was raised to £50,000 for zero-emission vehicles from 1 April 2025.
- Salary sacrifice: for employees, salary sacrifice can reduce the effective monthly cost of a new EV by 20–50% through avoided income tax and National Insurance. See our guide to salary sacrifice electric cars.
Source: HMRC company car tax tables; GOV.UK VED guidance.
Grants that have ended: don't waste time chasing these
Several well-known grant schemes have closed and are not coming back in their original form. Confirm you are not researching these before approaching a dealer or installer.
- Plug-in Car Grant (PiCG): closed 14 June 2022. Not being reinstated as PiCG. The new Electric Car Grant is the replacement, with a different eligibility structure.
- Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS): the original scheme that helped homeowners with charger installation has ended. It has been replaced by the EV Chargepoint Grant, which is now limited to renters and flat owners. Owner-occupiers of houses are no longer eligible for a chargepoint grant.
- On-street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS): the ORCS for local authorities has been folded into the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) fund, administered by National Highways and Innovate UK. Individual residents cannot apply directly.
Source: GOV.UK closure notices.
Claim the chargepoint grant, then pick the right charger.
The £500 grant only pays toward an OZEV-approved smart charger, and 75% of the install cost is still your bill if it tops £667. Choose a reliable smart charger first, then let the installer file the grant. Compare models on performance, app quality and smart-charging compatibility before committing.
Compare home EV chargers →Frequently asked questions
- Is there still a grant for electric cars in the UK?
- Yes. The Electric Car Grant launched in July 2025 offers up to £3,750 off new EVs priced at £37,000 or less, funded through to 2028/29. A separate EV Chargepoint Grant of up to £500 is available for renters and flat owners installing a home charger.
- How much is the Electric Car Grant in 2026?
- Band 1 = £3,750 (the most sustainably manufactured EVs). Band 2 = £1,500. The grant applies automatically at the dealer; no application form is needed. The vehicle must be priced at £37,000 or less and be a pure battery EV.
- Who is eligible for the £3,750 EV grant?
- Anyone buying a qualifying new battery EV under £37,000 from a UK dealer. There is no income test and no application form; the discount is applied at the point of sale by the participating dealer.
- Can I get a grant to install a home EV charger?
- Only if you rent or own a flat (not a house) with off-street parking. Up to £500 per socket is available from 1 April 2026 via the EV Chargepoint Grant, covering 75% of the install cost.
- What grants are available for EV vans and taxis?
- Plug-in Van Grant: up to £5,000 for large vans, £2,500 for small vans. Plug-in Taxi Grant: up to £4,000 for purpose-built wheelchair-accessible vehicles (verify renewal status for 2026/27). Plug-in Truck Grant: up to £25,000 for N3 heavy trucks.