Government Grant cut

All Honda E related discussions
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keithr
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Post by keithr »

It looks like electric cars just became £500 more expensive (unless the manufacturers absorb the cost). :( The following is copied from a TalkTalk news article yesterday:

Grants for new electric cars have been cut in Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Budget.

The maximum grant for motorists who make the switch to an electric car will be reduced by £500 to £3,000 from Thursday.

The Department for Transport said in a statement: “As the uptake of zero-emission cars increases, a small reduction to the grant, as well as excluding cars costing £50,000 or more, will allow more drivers to benefit from making the switch for longer.”

The plug-in car grant has been in place since 2011 to support the uptake of ultra-low emission vehicles.

It was originally set at £5,000 for all eligible ultra-low emission cars, but in 2018 it was cut to £3,500 and hybrids were excluded.

Mr Sunak also announced that the Government will invest £500 million over the next five years to support the roll-out of new rapid charging hubs for electric cars, so drivers are never more than 30 miles away from a rapid charging station.

Figures published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders shows 38,000 pure electric new cars were bought in 2019, more than double the total in the previous year.

These cars now hold a 1.6% share of the new car market.

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rickwookie
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Post by rickwookie »

:evil:

I can't quite work out if it's currently 1.6% or 3.2% of new cars in the UK are now pure EV (both figures quoted here https://www.drivingelectric.com/news/67 ... s-110-jump ), but let's assume that only about 97% of new cars being purchased are NOT pure EV.

Our wonderful government looks at those figures and decides - "Yep, we need to start paring back on this subsidy. Can't have EVs going mainstream now can we. We might be in danger of making inroads to our already woeful 2050 carbon neutral target if we did."

Absolute w@nkers!

Clearly the government needs to do load MORE to encourage EV takeup, not less. Meanwhile in Norway the MAJORITY of new cars are now plug-in.

The government did the same with Solar subsidies. As soon as they started to see them getting popular, they killed the FIT. The result? https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... bsidy-cuts
Joolsdc
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Post by Joolsdc »

I’m sure Honda will reduce the price of the e so we end up paying the same overall price.....🤔 not
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keithr
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Post by keithr »

My order is with the dealer, not with Honda, so maybe the dealer will honour the price on the order form? (I'm sure that they won't though!) However, as I'll be part-exchanging my current car they can just offer me £500 less for that, so overall I expect it'll end up £500 more expensive for me, even if the price for the Honda remains the same! Unless I can sell my current car elsewhere for more money. Or I could save thousands of pounds and just keep my current car, but where's the fun in that!
tcg68
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Post by tcg68 »

My understanding is that there is a government portal where orders for EVs have to be registered in order to qualify for the grant. If you ordered before the end of budget day AND your dealer registered the order on the portal you would still be eligible for the £3500 grant. I paid a deposit for the car a couple of weeks ago so i would expect that at the very latest they registered the order on the poral then. If they didn't I am going to expect them to honour the price as it was well within their power to do this.
Joolsdc
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Post by Joolsdc »

Well tcg68 I paid my deposit on Oct. But the dealership seems so disorganised, I doubt they have done what you suggest.
We shall see
But don’t hold your breath
The reductions in over £40k EV tax charges in years 2-5 will drive business to Tesla. It will be interesting to see how Honda responses. I/we can take our business elsewhere
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rickwookie
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Post by rickwookie »

A couple of thoughts:

Neither the Honda UK website nor my local dealers site have updated their advertised prices for the e or e Advance. They also list the price without any (*) caveat throughout. Only in the smallprint at the bottom of one page does it state
Prices for the Honda e include the Government Plug-in Car Grant discount, worth £3,500 at the current level. The value of this Grant is subject to formal approval by the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV), which we anticipate will be received in February 2020. OLEV reserve the right to alter or withdraw the Plug In Car Grant at any time. Any changes in the Plug in Car Grant will be reflected in the overall Honda e price. All figures are correct at time of publication but may be subject to change.
However, while I do remember this in the Ts&Cs for the reservation deposit. I do have to wonder what the legal situation is once an official order has been placed. Surely the contract of sale has then taken place, and therefore, the price agreed. If, as mentioned by tcg68, those ordered must be logged on the OLEV portal, that's up to Honda to do, not us.
Joolsdc
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Post by Joolsdc »

I wrote to my dealer last night. Will let you know what they say
Joolsdc
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Post by Joolsdc »

Well I take it back
My dealer has replied and I will get the £3500 grant as they had registered my order
Thank you Honda Worcester
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keithr
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Post by keithr »

rickwookie wrote: Mon Mar 16, 2020 8:52 am Neither the Honda UK website nor my local dealers site have updated their advertised prices for the e or e Advance.
I just checked the Honda UK website, and they have increased the price of the car by £500.
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