EV grants, incentives and finance solutions: a round-up
- Monday, August 7, 2023
- Posted By The Growth Company
Cost is a big deterrent for businesses looking to electrify their fleet or company cars, as the initial outlay can be significantly larger than for other vehicles. However, on average, an electric vehicle costs around 11p per mile, or £22.78 per full charge. In comparison, fuelling a traditional petrol or diesel car costs up to 19p per mile, so it could save you a lot of money in the long run.
As the Government deadline to stop manufacturing new petrol and diesel cars more and more individuals and businesses are considering buying EVs. To encourage the take-up and to make the shift far easier for business owners in a challenging economic climate, The UK Government is offering a range of grants and incentives for electric vehicles.
From reduced tax to Government Grants and a whole host of green finance options available, there are many financial incentives to help make the business case for EVs and help you prepare for the inevitable transition even sooner.
To make it easier to digest, we’ve created a round-up of the financial support available for businesses across Greater Manchester.
The EV Infrastructure grant allows landlords, companies owning the freehold of a rented commercial property, public authorities and charities discount on the installation costs for multiple charge point sockets. They can receive up to £30,000 or 75% off the cost of the work depending on the number of parking spaces covered.
Designed specifically for SMEs, the EV infrastructure grant helps to install electric vehicle charging infrastructure in commercial car parks. The grant covers up to 75% of the cost of installing the infrastructure needed to install and operate charge points now and in the future. There is a limit of £15,000 per grant.
The installed infrastructure must support a minimum of 5 parking spaces with at least one working charge point.
The installer will claim this grant on your behalf.
The Workplace Charging Scheme (WCS) is a voucher-based scheme that provides eligible applicants with support towards the upfront costs of the purchase and installation of electric vehicle (EV) charge points.
Open to businesses, charities and public sector organisations, the scheme covers 75% of the total cost of the purchase and installation of EV charge points. It’s capped at 40 sockets across all sites per applicant.
This is separate from the EV Infrastructure grant and therefore businesses can use both.
Certain low-emission vehicles are eligible for a government grant so that they can be purchased more cheaply. The seller includes the grant as a discount on the purchase price, so there’s no need to apply.
Eligible vehicles include motorcycles and mopeds, small and large vans or trucks, taxis and wheelchair-accessible vehicles.
If you offer company cars for employees as a benefit, you’ll be aware of the Benefit-In-Kind (BIK) tax rate, that must be paid if the car is used for non-work-related purposes. Luckily, BIK rates are significantly lower for employees whose employers provide electric vehicles.
Until 2025, electric vehicles can benefit from a 2% Benefit-in-Kind (BIK) tax incentive compared to an over 30% tax rate for petrol and diesel cars.
There is also no taxable benefit if employers offer charging stations at the workplace. It means that as an employee, you will not have to pay for vehicle charging.
EV drivers are exempt from paying the typical Vehicle Excise Duty tax that other road users have to pay every year. Otherwise known as your road tax or car tax, the amount of VED paid depends on the type of vehicle and its age. EV owners pay nothing, which makes a significant saving for businesses and employees over time.
FW Capital can offer debt finance to SMEs with business loans of between £100,000 and £750,000. Available for SMEs that can demonstrate growth potential, this loan can cover hiring staff, purchasing machinery, moving premises as well as energy efficiency and low-carbon tech like Evs.
NatWest’s Green Asset Finance is specifically available for zero-emission vehicles and other assets which may help your business become more sustainable. This includes agricultural machinery, buses, cars, coaches and vans. Loans of between £25,000 and £10m are available to UK businesses.
NatWest Green Loans offer support for businesses looking to fund a range of eligible sustainability projects including electric vehicles, retrofit and low-carbon energy solutions. It offers a range of borrowing options from £25,001.
For businesses with between a £3m - £25m turnover, Lloyds offers discounted lending for projects which reduce emissions, improve energy efficiency, reduce waste, improve water efficiency and support low-carbon transport.
Designed to make investing in sustainable solutions more accessible and rewarding for businesses, HSBC’s Green SME Fund is available to all UK SMEs with a group annual turnover of up to £25m. The loans cover the most commonly used green projects including sustainable transport and energy efficiency.
Barclays Green Loan is helping businesses to future-proof and become more competitive. It allows SMEs to borrow up to £5m to fund green projects including green transport and sustainability projects. To qualify your business must have fewer than 250 employees and a turnover of less than £25m.
To find out about additional Green Finance offerings, Bee Net Zero has created a guide to green finance documenting all of the solutions available to businesses of all shapes and sizes across Greater Manchester.
If you know of any additional green finance options that we haven’t included please contact us to let us know.
To learn more about switching to EVs and how the Bee Net Zero partnership can help, visit our EV campaign page.