Find out more about the UK government grants for electric cars

Wanting to switch to an electric car but at a loss about how do it and where to even start? Well, a great place to begin is to know more about what help is available from the government, for anyone wanting to switch to electric vehicles (EVs).

The good news – there is a specific office in the government called OZEV (Office for Zero Emission Vehicles), and they provide a range of EV grants to help with the purchase of an EV and installing chargepoints.

What schemes are there for buying an EV?

The plug-in grant has been set up to provide a discount on the price of brand new low-emission vehicles. You, the buyer will not need to do anything if you want to buy one of these vehicles – the dealer includes the value of the grant in the vehicle’s price, up to £2,500 for cars. There are other additional loans and grants available in Scotland and Northern Ireland exclusively, that might also be worth investigating if you live in those locations.

And don’t forget that there are other incentives like the fact that you don’t pay road tax on pure EVs if it costs less than £40,000 and there are discounted and free parking options as well.

Do you have an EV and want to charge at home?

If so, then the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS) might be just what you need. While newly built homes are increasingly likely to be built with chargepoints installed already, if you live in an older home then you will need to get something installed. This scheme is designed to help plug-in vehicle owners offset some of the upfront costs they face.

Essentially if you have off-road parking and an eligible EV then you can get up to £350 off of the cost of buying and installing a chargepoint – so why not find out more in our FAQs or our home installer information page.

What about charging at work?

The Workplace Charging Scheme (WCS) provides financial support for the initial costs of buying and installing EV chargers for businesses, charities and public sector organisations.

It’s like the home charger grant and can cover up to 75% of the cost of buying and installing EV chargepoints. It’s voucher-based and valued up to a maximum of £350 per unit, up to a maximum of 40 installations.

This is a great discount for businesses installing EV chargers at the work premises and any business, charity or organisation can apply for funding across all the sites they operate. Vouchers are issued when the businesses application is approved, and the voucher code is valid for four months from the date it’s issued.

As with the home car charge point grant scheme, there are some guidelines that you need to be aware of, including using an approved installer, like ourselves.

And charging on the go?

There are now more than 14,400 public electric car charging point locations in the UK and that number is growing all the time.

Why not have a chat with one of our team or arrange a site visit to understand more about EV chargepoints and what Go Car Charge can do for you.