Electric Vehicles that are eligible for the UK Government Electric Car grant 2025

These are the EVs on sale in the UK for under £37,000 which are potentially eligible for the new UK Government Electric Car Grant, offering up to £3,750 off a new electric car, available from 16 July 2025. The grant is applicable to personal buyers, and business customers (leasing and salary sacrifice).

Click on the links below to read our independent reviews of these potentially eligible government electric car grant EVs.

See our updated article about which EVs have been confirmed for the Electric Car Grant

In terms of which EVs will be eligible for the Electric Car Grant, the Department for Transport says this: “In terms of the list of manufacturers who will qualify, this will be subject to confirmation through the application process. In terms of manufacturers and models, we’ll publish a list of these on GOV.UK in the coming weeks, adding more models as they qualify.” So there’s no immediate clarification on which EVs will be eligible.

The DfT website says this about the eligibility of EVs:

The Electric Car Grant has two bands: £3,750 for the most sustainably produced cars, and £1,500 for cars that meet some environmental criteria (it’s not clear at the moment what “some environmental criteria” means). This is in recognition of the need to address embedded carbon emissions across a vehicle’s lifetime, as well as tailpipe emissions. Vehicles that do not meet minimum sustainability standards will not be eligible for a grant.

The minimum environmental criterion is for manufacturers to hold a verified science based target. Science based targets are commitments corporate entities make to reduce their environmental impact, in line with the UK’s international climate commitments, which are verified by the independent Science Based Targets Initiative. The amount of grant available per vehicle will depend on the level of emissions associated with production of the vehicle. Emissions from vehicle production are assessed against the carbon intensity of the electricity grid in the country where vehicle assembly and battery production are located.

Jaguar Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Renault and Volvo have had their science-based targets approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). If EVs from only these manufacturers are eligible for the Electric Car Grant (either band), then Jaguar Land Rover and Mercedes-Benz don’t have any EVs that are on sale for under £37,000, and Renault and Volvo only have a few models.

Also:

To be eligible vehicles must meet technical standards including:

be an M1 passenger vehicle (used for the carriage of passengers)
produce 0g CO2/km at the tailpipe
have a minimum battery range of 100 miles WLTP
have a battery or fuel cell, used to drive the vehicle’s propulsion system, with an acceptably low rate of degradation
- Battery electric vehicles (including pure electric, plug in hybrid and range extender vehicles)
  The battery must maintain at least 80% of its initial rated charge capacity for the initial 3 years, and at least 70% of initial rated charge capacity for the initial 8 years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first.
have a warranty that guarantees the following:
- in respect of any traction battery, hydrogen fuel cell stack or hydrogen tank and electric drivetrain, a warranty period of at least 8 years, or a distance of at least the first 100,000 miles, whichever is reached first
- in respect of any traction battery, providing for replacement of the battery if it falls below 70% capacity during the first 8 years
- in respect of any fuel cell, the fuel stack must maintain at least 90% of its rated voltage output for the initial 5 years
- in respect of the remainder of the vehicle, covering a warranty period of at least 3 years, or a distance of at least the first 60,000 miles, whichever is reached first

Manufacturers must hold a verified Science Based Target and the carbon emissions incurred in vehicle assembly and battery cell production locations must be below certain thresholds. It is believed that this criteria will mean that many Chinese EVs won’t qualify for the grant, as well as EVs manufactured in other countries with high emissions from the generation of electricity for their grid.

Funding for the UK Government’s electric car grant is available until the 2028 to 2029 financial year.