The £700 Million Grant For UK Electric Vehicles

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There may be a bit of karma in play at the moment in that when Donald Trump was running against President Biden, he bashed electric vehicles and lied about the cost of EV chargers in the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program. The somewhat comical aspect of his deception and negativity toward EVs is that the EV revolution is a global trend and there are over 190 nations on this planet. President Trump cannot stop electric vehicles outside the US, where most of them are, no matter what he does.

I might have missed it, but it appeared to me that we did not cover the fact that the UK government announced a £700-million grant for electric vehicles in the UK. For those of us who are not British, that amount is about $947,898,000 (USD), or nearly $1 billion.

The good old BBC reported, “The cost of some new electric cars will soon be reduced by up to £3,750 under grants being introduced by the government to encourage drivers to move away from petrol and diesel vehicles. The discounts will apply to eligible vehicles costing up to £37,000, with the most environmentally friendly vehicles seeing the biggest reductions, the Department for Transport (DfT) said.”

Everything Electric published the following list of new affordable EVs in the UK:

• Leapmotors T03: £14,495 — manufacturer reduction
• Dacia Spring: £14,995 — no change at time of broadcast
• BYD Dolphin Surf: £18,650 — benefits augmented
• Hyundai Inster: £19,255 — manufacturer reduction
• Citroen e-C3: £20,595 — £1500 Electric Car Grant applied
• Fiat Grande Panda: £20,975 — no change at time of broadcast
• GWM Ora 03: £21,245 — manufacturer reduction
• Citroen e-C3 Aircross: £21,595 — £1500 Electric Car Grant applied
• Renault 5: £22,995 — before £1500 Electric Car Grant applied
• Nissan Micra: £22,995 — before £1500 Electric Car Grant applied
• MG4: £24,495 — manufacturer reduction
• Vauxhall Frontera: £24,895 — before £1500 Electric Car Grant applied
• MG S5 EV: £25,495 — manufacturer reduction
• Fiat 500e: £25,035 — £1500 Electric Car Grant applied
• BYD Dolphin: £26,195 — benefits augmented
• BYD Atto: exact price unknown, car imminent in UK
• Suzuki eVitara: £26,249 — no change at time of broadcast
• Renault 4: £26,995 — before £1500 Electric Car Grant applied
• Skywell BE11: £27,245 — manufacturer reduction
• Smart #1: £28,460 — no change at time of broadcast
• VW ID.3: £29,360 — before £1500 Electric Car Grant applied
• Citroen e-Berlingo: £29,740 — £1500 Electric Car Grant applied
• Abarth (500e equivalent): £29,985 — £1500 Electric Car Grant applied
• Ford Puma Gen-E: £29,995 — no change at time of broadcast
• Mini Cooper Electric E: £30,000 — no change at time of broadcast
• Skoda Elroq: £30,010 — manufacturer reduction
• Fiat 600e: £30,035 — £1500 Electric Car Grant applied
• Volvo EX30: £31,560 — manufacturer reduction
• Vauxhall Corsa: £31,550 — before £1500 Electric Car Grant applied
• Mini Aceman: £31,800 — no change at time of broadcast
• Peugeot e-2008: £32,300 — before £1500 Electric Car Grant applied
• Alfa Romeo Junior Elettrica: £32,405 — no change at time of broadcast
• Leapmotor C10: £32,750 — manufacturer reduction
• Peugeot e-208: £32,400 — before £1500 Electric Car Grant applied
• Smart #3: £32,460 — no change at time of broadcast
• Renault Megane e-Tech: £32,495 — before £1500 Electric Car Grant applied
• Citroen e-C5 Aircross: £32,565 — £1500 Electric Car Grant applied
• Leapmotors C10: £32,750 — manufacturer reduction
• KIA EV3: £32,995 — no change at time of broadcast
• Omoda 5: £33,055 — no change at time of broadcast
• Hyundai Kona: £33,500 — manufacturer reduction
• Alpine A290: £33,500 — before £1500 Electric Car Grant applied
• Vauxhall Mokka: £33,605 — before £1500 Electric Car Grant applied
• Cupra Born: £34,190 — before £1500 Electric Car Grant applied
• KIA EV4: £34,695 — no change at time of broadcast
• Jeep Avenger: £34,800 — no change at time of broadcast
• Abarth (600e equivalent): £36,985 — £1500 Electric Car Grant applied
• KGM Torres EVX: £36,995 — no change at time of broadcast
• Vauxhall Astra: £37,250 — before £1500 Electric Car Grant applied
• Renault Scenic: £37,000+ — before £1500 Electric Car Grant applied

Their list is quite helpful because it clearly and plainly shows electric vehicles don’t all “cost too much.” One of the persistent EV myths is that they are not affordable to most people. Even the BBC’s article cited a source stating that the average new EV in the UK costs almost 50,000 pounds.

Well, don’t buy one for that price then; look at the much cheaper ones and purchase one that is affordable if that’s what you prefer. There are plenty of affordable electric vehicles in the UK — new and used. Another point is that the total cost of some electric vehicles is lower than the cost of comparably priced petrol and diesel vehicles because electricity costs less than petrol or diesel and EVs can have fewer maintenance and repair costs.

Additionally, more public EV chargers are being installed, so range is becoming less and less of an issue. In fact, the number of petrol and diesel stations are decreasing, so it may be that in the future, with fewer fossil fuel stations, it is the drivers of internal combustion engine vehicles that begin to have “range anxiety.”

Improving air quality is great for human health, as one commenter on a different video explained: “I’m Danish and about 70 years old. When a scooter passes me on a bike lane, I can smell it right away, and I can follow the smell of exhaust for minutes before it fades out. I couldn’t have experienced this when I was a child, because back then the air was so polluted that you lost sense of it. The same with noise. I remember people telling me that all this talk about pollution was just left wing propaganda, that would end up ruining us all financially. I’m so glad I can breathe relatively clean air today, thanks to people who stood up against conservatism. A few years ago I went past Katowice in Poland, in the coal mining district, and you could see the sky. 30 years ago the city was covered in smog, people were pale and life expectancy was about 45 years. I was so happy on behalf of the these people, that finally they were able to breathe freely, like I have been for years.”

The cost of air pollution is not reflected in the purchase price of a petrol or diesel vehicle. Though, it should be, because it is quite high. “The RCP has warned that air pollution affects almost every organ in the human body, estimated to contribute to the equivalent of 30,000 deaths in the UK in 2025 and cost more than £27 billion annually.”

By 2040, the annual cost of air pollution could be £30 billion. Add many billions of pounds of costs to the sticker prices of every petrol and diesel vehicle, divided appropriately of course. Tack on even more for the cost of climate change each year. Tragically, there is also the cost of disastrous and small oil spills that can cost into the billions in total.

There might not be that many car, SUV, or truck shoppers who are thinking about disastrous oil spills when they visit a dealership to look at a new vehicle. Fossil fuels have tremendous costs that go far beyond the price at the fuel pump, and they are what internal combustion engine vehicles use. The oil and gas industry is associated with some illness and mortality in its employees. There is a cost in suffering and loss of life that can be examined and estimated, and would need to be reflected in the price of operating a gas or diesel vehicle.

Another climate change impact increases the price tag of each gas or diesel vehicle, or really should. “New research by the Moorland Association reveals that wildfires have already cost the UK over £350 million this year — with more dry months still to come.”