Why do so few cars qualify for the £3,750 EV grant?

However, as of today (August 27th) only two models qualify for the headline £3,750 saving – with most cars only eligible for the smaller £1,500 discount.

The scheme aims to make owning and running an electric car more accessible to drivers across the country, with the cap for qualifying vehicles set to £37,000 or below.

There are currently 24 vehicles that have the lower ‘band 2’ price reduction, with that figure set to keep rising. However, up until today (August 27th) no cars were eligible for the £3,750 ‘Band 1’ discount.

Ford has now confirmed, though, that the Puma Gen-E SUV and e-Tourneo electric van are the first electric models eligible for the full Electric Car Grant.

This surprised industry commentators who suggested the new Nissan Leaf would be the first car to qualify. The Leaf, which is yet to officially go on sale, is built at Nissan’s Sunderland plant in the UK as well as in Japan.

How do carmakers qualify for the EV grant?

The scheme provides the manufacturers the ability to apply discounts at the point of sale for new eligible models – but only the ones that are ‘measured against the highest manufacturing sustainability standards’, according to the Government.

Carmakers must complete an application process for their models to be assessed for ECG eligibility.

The bands will be determined by factors such as the level of CO2 emissions during the production process, supply chain emissions, and use of renewable energy sources by the manufacturer.

Emissions from battery production account for 70% of the criteria targets, with vehicle assembly emissions weighted at 30%. The carbon intensity of the electricity grids of countries where this production takes place is also considered.

Band 1 vehicles will need to meet the highest possible standards, and it is expected that only a few models will meet the specifications required initially.

The Government has not officially confirmed why the Ford Puma Gen-E and e-Tourneo are the first models to qualify for the full discount.

However, we know that both cars have electric drive units produced at Ford’s Halewood plant in Liverpool, while the car’s overall assembly is completed in Craiova, Romania.

Both of these plants have had significant investment in the last few years, with Craiova boasting a significant reduction in CO2 emissions thanks to improvements in logistical efficiency and widespread installation of solar panels.

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It is worth noting that the scheme is likely only a quarter of the way through the total number of EVs that will be eligible to apply for the discount.

Some manufacturers have applied for some of their fleets to be included in the scheme but have yet to be announced.

Which cars won’t qualify for the EV grant discount?

It will take time for the Government to process applications from each manufacturer, so we won’t know which EVs don’t qualify for some time.

Only electric vehicles with a list price of under £37,000 qualify. Cars under that figure, but with a higher-than-desired carbon footprint in their production, are unlikely to qualify.

Transport Minister Lilian Greenwood has stated that Chinese-assembled vehicles, such as the BYD Dolphin and MG 4, won’t qualify for the higher grant band – and may not be eligible at all.

This is because the Electric Car Grant’s scoring system penalises countries with carbon-intensive energy grids – for example, those still making extensive use of coal-fired power stations.

Countries such as China, South Korea, Japan, Mexico, Poland and Turkey are all key car manufacturing locations, but all have more carbon-intensive electricity grids than most of Western Europe.

In response, some Chinese and Korean brands have applied their own discounts outside of the Electric Car Grant.

RAC’s head of policy Simon Williams said that it’s “very positive to see other manufacturers that don’t meet the grant’s green production targets lowering their prices.

“Those looking to make the switch now have a wider choice of better value vehicles than ever before. This can only help speed up the transition to electric motoring."