Car manufacturers start offering their own discounts in response to new electric car grant

Car makers are starting to offer discounts on electric cars in response to the government’s new electric car grant. Under the new scheme, EV buyers could get up to £3,750 off their new car, although it’s still not completely clear which cars will be eligible.

We know that this grant will apply to cars costing less than £37,000, however there is some uncertainty on whether Chinese brands, which offer some of the most affordable electric cars on the market, will be included.

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Chinese brands fight back against electric car grant by offering their own discounts

Rather than waiting around for the government to decide whether Chinese models can be included, Great Wall Motors, Skywell and Leapmotor have launched their own discounts which match the government grant. MG is also giving customers £1,500 off a new S5 EV or MG4.

GWM offers offers £3,750 off the Ora 03

Great Wall Motors (GWM) has launched what it calls the Green Grant, which gives customers £3,750 off a new Ora 03. This can be used towards the total cost of the car, or it can be used as part of the deposit on a PCP finance package.

The Green Grant is available on all versions of the Ora 03, including the sporty GT model. It also brings the cost of a basic version down to just £21,245. That’s around £10,000 less than a Volvo EX30.

Toby Marshall, GWM’s UK managing director, said: “We don’t believe our customers should have to wait for the government to decide which vehicles qualify for the EV grant. So, we’ve taken matters into our own hands and matched the £3,750 saving, available to everyone, right now, on our ORA 03 range.”

The Ora 03 is a funky-looking little electric car which comes with loads of kit as standard. It may not be the most practical, and some of the tech is fiddly and annoying to use, but it’s easy to forgive these drawbacks with a price this low.

Leapmotor launches the Leap Grant

Newcomer Leapmotor also isn’t going to wait for the government to make up its mind on the EV grant, because it’s offering up to £3,750 off the C10 SUV. This brings it down to £32,750, which is still more expensive than a Skoda Elroq.

The tiny T03 city car has also been discounted by £1,500, so it now costs £14,995. That’s exactly the same as a Dacia Spring, but the Leapmotor comes with much more standard equipment.

Commenting on the launch of the new Leap Grant, Leapmotor’s managing director Damien Dally said: “Our mission is to help make the leap to electric cars easy for UK drivers. We’ve decided to act now because we want to give customers clarity, confidence, and immediate savings – and make the switch to electric a simple choice”

Skywell to match government grant on new BE11

Skywell is a new entrant to the UK market, and it’s launched with the BE11 electric SUV. It was already offering a £6,000 deposit contribution on this car, but now it’s also giving customers an additional £3,750 off to match the government grant.

These two offers combined bring the starting price of the BE11 down from £36,995 to £27,245.

MG offering £1,500 discounts

You can now get a £1,500 discount on a new MG S5 EV or MG4 electric car, and that’s on top of any other offers available from the brand.

Guy Pigounakis, Commercial Director for MG, said: “MG has been a key contributor to the EV sector, consistently recognising the economic and environmental benefits of introducing a wide range of affordable, electric-only models. Today’s announcement underlines this commitment and in addition to this, we will also seek to work constructively with the Government to further increase the sale of EVs.”

The MG4 is a former Carwow Car Of The Year, and this discount brings the price down to a very competitive £25,500. That’s over £5,000 less than a Volkswagen ID3. As for the MG S5 EV, that will start from just £27,000 with this offer applied.

Other brands also getting in on the action

It’s not just Chinese brands which are cashing in on the new electric car grant, because Kia, Hyundai, Volvo and Alfa Romeo have all announced discounts to tempt buyers towards their EVs.

Save £1,500 on a new Volvo EX30

Volvo is the latest brand to launch a new discount in response to the government’s electric car grant, giving customers £1,500 off a new Volvo EX30. This applies to all versions of this stylish small SUV, whether that’s the basic single-motor or the ballistically fast Performance model.

We’re actually running a Volvo EX30 for six months to see how it fares as a daily driver, and you can find out more in our long term report.

Get £3,750 off a new Kia EV3

Kia is giving customers a £3,750 discount on a new EV3 Air, the most basic model in its lineup. This is up from their previous £1,000 contribution, according to EMG Motor Group. This offer is available until 30 September 2025.

Hyundai offering £3,750 off a new Inster

Hyundai is offering its own electric grant which gets customers £3,750 off a new Inster, bringing the price of this funky little car down to just £23,500.

It’s also giving customers a £1,500 discount on all of its other electric models, from the Kona Electric all the way up to the new flagship Ioniq 9.

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