2020 budget: The important bits for EVs
Following the UK’s March 2020 Budget announcement earlier this week (on Wednesday 11th March), we thought we would update you with some of the key points which will have an impact the electric vehicle industry, both good and bad.
The Government has announced they will continue to support the UK’s long-term transition into zero emissions vehicles in a number of ways. Incentivising and making it cheaper for the UK to adopt cleaner vehicles with aims to bring forward the phase-out date for new petrol and diesel cars from 2040.
The good news
Support for electric vehicles has been extended in the budget to include the following measures:
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£532m to maintain the Plug-In Car and Van Grants until March 2023.
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Company car tax rates are frozen at 2% taxable benefit for a further 2 years from April 2023.
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Additional funding for more rapid chargers.
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VED (Road tax) now removed from ALL electric cars registered after 1st April 2017 with a cost over £40K, known as the luxury car tax, saving £320 per year from year 2.
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The Government has also kept the grant, recognising that the market for other ultra-low emission vehicles is still at an early stage of development, the government will also provide £129.5 million to extend the plug-in grants for vans, taxis and motorcycles to 2022-23.
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The Government will provide £500 million over the next five years for electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
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The Government Announced that they will invest further into the electric vehicle charging infrastructure to ensure that electric car drivers are never more than 30 miles from a rapid charging station.
The bad news
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The Plug in Car Grant is reduced from £3,500 to £3000 from 12th March 2020, and cars costing over £50,000 no longer qualify. As a result, nearly all quotes will be slightly more expensive. If you are looking to order please be aware that you will need to have your quote updated.
What is the Plug-in Car Grant (PiCG)?
The Plug-in Car Grant is funded by the government. It provides a £3,000 discount on the purchase price of a brand new 100% electric vehicle costing less than £50,000.
How does the Plug-in Car Grant work?
When you receive a lease quote from us the grant has already been taken off the purchase price of the car. This means the initial and monthly rentals in your quote has been reduced accordingly and are accurate figures. You won’t need to do anything to have the grant applied to the vehicle you are ordering, the manufacturer takes care of this on your behalf so it will already be applied to the vehicle.