PLUG IN GRANT CHANGES CONFIRMED FROM 1^ST MARCH 2016

A long-term extension to the UK Government’s Plug-in Car Grant (PiCG)was confirmed in December, guaranteeing it until the end of March 2018. The 400 million fund will benefit over  100,000 plug in motorists.

The Department for Transport has made some changes to the PiCG. The maximum available discount on the overall purchase price drops from £5,000 to £4,500, with a weighting towards pure electric cars.

The grant is now linked with the Office for Low Emission Vehicles’ vehicle categories released earlier this year.

• Category 1: CO2 emissions of less than 50g/km and a zero emission range of at least 70 miles
• Category 2: CO2 emissions of less than 50g/km and a zero emission range between 10
  and 69 miles
• Category 3: CO2 emissions of 50-75g/km and a zero emission range of at least 20 miles

On Tuesday 1st March, two different grant rates will be available, focusing on supporting those buying the greenest vehicles. Category 1 vehicles will benefit from the full £4,500 grant while Category 2 and 3 vehicles will receive £2,500. This sees a huge drop in support for the growing number of Plug In Hybrids now taking off in the UK.

A price cap will also be put in place to encourage everyday motorist’s uptake of plug-in cars. Category 2 and 3 models with a list price of more than £60,000 will not be eligible for the grant for the likes of the Porsche Panamera Hybrid S which will now go up by £5000.

So good news generally for further
commitment from the gove
rnment ending months of speculation of what would happen after Phase 1 of the OLEV fund ran out. Not so good however if your next car was going to be a plug in hybrid.

There is however a silver lining. Under current rules which don’t expire until 29^th February all plug in hybrids that are under 75gm C02 KM and that have an electric range of 20 miles still qualifies for the full grant. There is then a nine month window for the dealer to deliver the car in that time.

The upshot is that if you are considering one of these this year you can order before March and still get the full grant. Ifyou wait until after 1^st March though then you will be spending and extra £2500 for your car.

In leasing this means your average 6+23 2 year contract hire deal will go up by over £90+VAT per month!!

ORDER YOUR NEW PLUG IN HYBRID NOW!! – 0330 123 1366

As experts in the running of these kind of cars please get in touch with any questions on living with these, adding them to your fleet, charging, company car tax questions or even if they won’t work for your fleet we can tell you completely impartially and independently. So get in touch now.

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ORDER YOUR NEW PLUG IN HYBRID NOW!! – 0330 123 1366