Four more electric vehicles became eligible for the maximum £3,750 discount under the Electric Car Grant on 3 December 2025, the Department for Transport and the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles announced. The additions are the MINI Countryman, Renault 4, Renault 5 and Renault Alpine A2901.
The expansion doubles the number of models qualifying for the top reduction, from four to eight. The government said buyers can now get £3,750 off eight models across some of the most popular brands, including Ford, Vauxhall, Citroen and Nissan, whose LEAF is set to be built at the company's Sunderland plant1.
The change sits alongside an extra £1.5 billion announced at the Autumn Budget. Of that, £1.3 billion increases available funding for the grant and extends it to 2030, described in the announcement as extending it for a further year, and £200 million is for accelerating the rollout of chargepoints across the country1.
"The expansion doubles the number of EVs eligible for the maximum reduction under the grant, meaning drivers can now get £3,750 off 8 models"
The government said the grant has already helped over 40,000 drivers choose electric since its launch in July. It reported record electric sales in September and October, with one in four new cars sold in the UK now electric, and said interest in some eligible vehicles doubled, with the number of people viewing grant eligible models on Autotrader increasing by over 100% in some instances1.
On charging, the announcement said the £200 million builds on £381 million to help councils deliver over 100,000 new public chargers, and on 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. It said there are almost 87,000 chargers already live across the country, with rural chargepoints in England up 26% overall on the year1.
The government also said it is proposing to cut red tape and remove planning permission requirements for home charging solutions such as cross pavement charging, which it said could speed up residents' applications and save drivers up to £250 in application fees. It has 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, it said it is investing £7.5 billion to accelerate the transition to electric1.
Why it matters for households
For a household weighing up an electric car, the grant reduces the upfront price of the models in the top band by £3,750, and the extension to 2030 gives a longer window in which that discount is expected to be available. The announcement does not set out grant rates by nation, and no devolved variation is reported1.
Charging at home is where running costs are lowest. The government's figure of 2p per mile applies to charging on cheaper electricity rates, which in practice means off-street parking and a home charger. Households without a driveway depend on public chargepoints or on schemes such as the cross pavement charging proposals, and the £200 million for chargepoint rollout and the review into public charging costs both bear on that group. The Electric Vehicle Chargepoint Grant for renters and flat owners and the grant for residential landlords cover some of those without a private driveway; the older Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme is closed. Whether a home charger affects a property's value is a separate question, covered in our guide to whether electric car chargers increase your home's value.
What happens next
The grant now runs to 2030 under the extended funding. The government has launched a review into the cost of public electric vehicle charging, and has proposals to remove planning permission requirements for cross pavement charging. No dates for the conclusions of the review or the planning proposals have been reported1.