Andy Burnham has been urged to make a crucial rule change that would affect every electric car owner in the UK without a driveway, with calls to extend five chargepoint grants beyond the current deadline.
Matt Galvin, Managing Director of Polestar UK, has urged the new Prime Minister to extend the five electric car chargepoint grants and to close the gap facing drivers who lack off-street parking.
“The new administration must now extend the five chargepoint grants for households without off-street parking beyond the March 2027 deadline and abolish VAT on public EV charging, which continues to unfairly penalise drivers without a driveway,” he said.
Grants for drivers without driveways
The Government offers grants to help with the cost of installing electric car charging plugs, with help awarded to road users without access to their own driveways. EV owners without a driveway can struggle to top up their vehicles, often relying on public plugs, which cost a lot more than domestic charging.
The grants were set to end this year, but were extended by Rachel Reeves until next Spring. This April, the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) extended its home and workplace chargepoint grants for one final year.
It means that five chargepoint grant schemes are still available for customers to take advantage of until March 31, 2027.
The five schemes still available
- The electric vehicle chargepoint grant for renters and flat owners: up to £500 towards a plug for those who own and live in a flat or rent and live in any residential property with an off-street parking space.
- The electric vehicle chargepoint grant for households with on-street parking: £500 to install equipment such as a charging gully.
- The electric vehicle chargepoint grant for landlords.
- The workplace charging scheme: up to £500 per EV plug at businesses.
- The workplace charging scheme for state-funded education institutions: grants of up to £2,000 per socket.
VAT cut already delivered
Mr Burnham has already issued a massive win to motorists who do have their own driveways, with VAT on domestic electricity rates cut from 5% to 0%.
Experts at Andersen EV have predicted most electric car owners could save around £25 per year under the new VAT cut, with high-mileage road users set to see their bills cut by up to £40 per annum.
