As governments across the globe increase their efforts to reduce their carbon footprint and take action to mitigate the effects of climate change, many have introduced financial incentives to encourage increased ownership of electric vehicles.
Republic of Ireland
Purchase Grants
A grant of up to €5,000 is available for privately purchased Battery Electric Vehicles. For commercial vehicles the maximum grant available is €3,800 for a Battery Electric Vehicle.
VRT Discounts
Discounts of up to €5,000 for vehicle registration tax (VRT) are in place for BEVs registered before 31st December2021. For more information click here.
Home Charger Grant
A grant of up to €600 is available to install an EV charging station at home. Since July 2022 this grant is available to home-owners whether they are an electric vehicle owner or not. Eligibility criteria:
- The EV must be parked on an off-street parking location associated with the home and the charger must be connected back to the home of the applicant (please refer to your electrician for the best installation approach).
- The Meter Point Reference Number (MPRN), which you can find on your electricity bill, will be used to confirm the location of your home.
- The property cannot be associated with a previous EV home charge point grant payment. Additionally, it cannot have availed of the free ESB Ecars home charger pre 2018.
- Applicants must not not commence any work before the start date on your Letter of Offer otherwise this expenditure will be deemed ineligible and you will not receive grant support for it.
Apartment Charging Grants
In July 2022, Zero Emission Vehicles Ireland (ZEVI) announced that apartment residents and owners can now apply for grant support towards the installation of charging points. The grant is designed for the bulk installation of chargepoints at a single location and supports all associated installation costs.
UK
Purchase Grants
The UK Government announced the removal of support for the Plug-in-car grant scheme on 14th June 2022. The scheme had previously offered support of up to £1,500 on electric vehicles priced at £32,000 or less. The government plan to refocus support on other areas including the development of electric taxi fleets and electric vans.
Home and Workplace Charging Schemes
From April 2022 the Electric Vehicle Home Charge Scheme (EVHS) will no longer be available to homeowners (including people with mortages) who live in single-unit properties such as bungalows and detached, semi-detached or terraced housing. The scheme will remain open to homeowners who live in flats or people in rented accommodation (flats and single use properties).
The Workplace Charging Scheme will similarly provide a maximum grant of £350 per socket and applicants can available of this support to install up to 40 sockets on their property. Charging stations of between 3.5kW and 22kW are eligible. For more information click here.
Road Tax
Battery Electric Vehicles costing less than £40,000 are exempt from annual road tax. Electric Cars valued over £40,000 will have to pay £325 per year road tax for the first five years. Plug in hybrid vehicles with C02 emissions less than 100g/km may pay between £0 and £135 per year depending on their emissions. For more information click here.
Benefit in Kind Taxation
From April 2022, drivers who use a company car for personal use will see an increase in the BiK rate of 1% (except for those driving cars already within the 37% BiK band – like some models of Aston Martin, Porsche, Land Rover, Subaru, Jeep and Audi). This means electric car drivers will pay 2% in BiK – still a fraction of the amount of tax drivers of petrol, diesel and hybrid cars pay.
Capital Allowances
Cars with C02 emissions of less than 50g/km (BEVs and some PHEVs) are eligible for 100% first year capital allowances therefore the purchase cost of the vehicle can be deducted from pre -tax profits. On a vehicle costing £40,000 this could amount to relief of up to £7,600 in the first year of ownership.