Drivers Offered up to £3,750 Discount to Buy Electric Cars
The cost of some new electric cars will soon be reduced by up to £3,750 under grants being introduced by the government to encourage drivers to move away from petrol and diesel vehicles.
The BBC news service is reporting that the discounts will apply to eligible vehicles costing up to £37,000, with the most environmentally friendly vehicles seeing the biggest reductions, the Department for Transport (DfT) said. Carmakers can apply for funding, with the RAC saying discounted cars should start appearing at dealerships “within weeks”.
But some drivers have previously told the BBC that ultimately, the UK needs more charging points to spur people to buy electric vehicles (EVs).
The government has pledged to ban the sale of new fully petrol or diesel cars from 2030.
Under the scheme, discounts will range between £1,500 and £3,750. Manufacturers apply for individual models to be considered eligible for funding, which is allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.
Once models are approved, the company will then take the money off the price of the car, so customers will just see a reduced price in dealerships and will not have to do anything themselves to get the discount.
It is understood the government will publish a list of eligible vehicles soon.
The grants to lower the cost of EVs will be funded through a £650m scheme, and will be available for three years.
There are around 1.3 million electric cars on Britain’s roads but currently only around 82,000 public charging points.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said the government would invest £63m to fund EV charging points.
How much do EVs cost to buy and charge?
The up-front cost of EVs is higher on average than for petrol cars. According to Autotrader, the average price of a new battery electric car was £49,790 in June 2025, based on manufacturers’ recommended prices for 148 models.
The equivalent for a petrol car was £34,225, although it is important to remember that the averages cover a broad range of prices.
EVs can be also cheaper to run and a number of lower-priced models have recently come onto the market.
Charging an EV on the public charging network cost an average of 15p per mile for a slow or fast charger in June, and 23p per mile for a rapid or ultra-rapid charger, according to figures collected by charger locator business Zapmap.
Charging an EV at home is generally cheaper. According to research by car finance company Carmoola, the average cost per mile using a slow or fast charger at home is between 6p and 9p per mile for a 60kWh battery car, depending on the efficiency of the car.
