“The government is targeting its incentives where they have the most impact and deliver the greatest value for money. Plug-in grants will continue until at least financial year 2024/25 for motorcycles vans, taxis, trucks and wheelchair accessible vehicles.”
The committee’s report went on to suggest that the government should also consider incentivising the purchase of second-hand EVs with a similar financial measure, but the government does not consider this to be necessary.
“Industry intelligence suggests that some EVs on the used market are now similar in price to their petrol and diesel equivalents,” it said.
“The number of used EVs continues to rapidly increase. Data from the SMMT shows that, in 2023, used EV sales increased by 90.9%, increasing the pool of available vehicles. The government chairs a working group with several stakeholders to ascertain potential barriers to the uptake of used electric vehicles. The government will consider all policy options, to address potential failures in the market.”
The government also said it will not reduce the percentage of VAT applied to public EV chargers, following calls for it to be reduced from 20% to 5%, in line with VAT charged on domestic electricity. Doing this, it said, “would impose additional pressure on the public finances to which VAT makes a significant contribution”.
And the government said it will not introduce ‘totem signs’ outside motorway service stations to show the real-time price of charging an EV there, as is the case with traditional petrol stations. It said a push to improve real-time charger information accessibility using maps and apps will provide the same function.