Four more EVs are available for the discount as the top band of the Electric Car Grant (ECG) expands again today (3 December 2025) to include the Mini Countryman, Renault 4, Renault 5 and the Renault Alpine A290. The other four vehicles already covered are the Citroën ë-C5 Aircross Long Range, Ford E-Tourneo Courier, Ford Puma Gen-E and the Nissan LEAF.
This means that drivers can now get £3,750 off eight models across some of the most popular brands.
The government has also gone further to make it cheaper and easier to choose electric with an extra £1.5 billion at the Autumn Budget including £1.3 billion to increase available funding and extend the ECG for a further year, meaning more drivers will be able to save thousands when making the switch, alongside £200 million to accelerate the rollout of chargepoints across the country.
The grant is helping to tackle upfront costs – traditionally one of the biggest barriers to EV uptake – and has already helped over 40,000 drivers choose electric since its launch in July.
September and October saw record EV sales with 1 in 4 new cars sold in the UK now being electric, whilst interest in some eligible vehicles doubled.
“Our Electric Car Grant has already supported over 40,000 drivers to choose electric, and this latest expansion doubles the number of models available for the top discount – putting thousands of pounds back in more families’ pockets” said Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander. “We’re doubling down on our drive to help people buy EVs, extending the grant to push down costs and boosting charging access with a further £200 million to expand the charging network across the UK.”
The additional £200 million to support the rollout of more chargepoints across the country will build on the £381 million to help councils deliver over 100,000 new public chargers.
This is on top of a £25 million scheme to make it easier for residents without driveways to install home chargers, enabling them to access cheaper electricity rates and charge up for as little as 2p per mile.
The government is also making it easier for people to install home charging solutions such as cross pavement charging with proposals to cut red tape and removing planning permission requirements. This could speed up residents’ applications and save drivers up to £250 in application fees.
There are almost 87,000 chargers already live across the country, with the fastest growth happening outside London in places like Yorkshire, Wales, the West Midlands, and the East of England, and rural chargepoints in England up 26 percent overall on the year.
The government has also launched a review into the cost of public electric vehicle charging, looking at the impact of energy prices, wider cost contributors, and options for lowering these costs for consumers.
Overall, the government is investing £7.5 billion to accelerate the transition to electric and to maintain the UK’s leading position as having the largest EV share of any major European market from January to October this year.
“It’s encouraging to see the Government pressing ahead with the Electric Car Grant, and to see more and more models becoming eligible” added Vicky Edmonds, Chief Executive of EVA England. “This is a welcome boost for those drivers who buy new, helping to bring down upfront costs and widen choice. But if the transition is going to work for everyone, we also need to see a growing pipeline of affordable new electric models and real support for the used EV market. Only then will all drivers be able to benefit from the switch to electric.”
In general, the upfront costs for EVs in the UK are falling and the price gap with fossil fuel cars is narrowing. The number of new EV models available for under £30,000 has increased, with over 40 of these covered under the ECG, which has been extended until 2030.
Increased competition from manufacturers outside the UK, particularly in China, is helping to reduce prices by incentivising UK manufacturers to lower upfront costs and the average APR for EV finance deals is significantly lower than that for fossil fuel models. Furthermore, sharp price falls have been seen in the used EV market, making second-hand electric cars much more affordable.
Although EVs are still more expensive than fossil fuel vehicles, the lower running costs means that the total cost of ownership is often cheaper than that for a traditional vehicle.
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