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"Charging is the elephant in the room" as 6 electric car models added to government grant scheme

ended 28. August 2025

SIX new electric vehicle models have been added to the UK Government’s Electric Car Grant (ECG) scheme, bringing the total to 28 eligible models, it was announced today. But automotive experts have said that, “even with the discount, the price of an EV is still out of reach for many” and that “charging is the elephant in the room”.

Drivers can now get £3,750 off 2 new Ford electric cars from today, as the Ford Puma Gen-E and Ford e-Tourneo Courier, as well as 4 other models, become eligible for the government’s Electric Car Grant (ECG) scheme.

The Ford models are the first to offer the maximum savings available, with 28 electric vehicles (EVs) now eligible for grants of either £3,750 or £1,500. The ECG is part of a £650 million investment meant to make EVs more affordable and accelerate economic growth under the government’s Plan for Change.

Matas Buzelis, Car expert at vehicle history platform, carVertical, said only time will tell if this translates into wider EV takeup but that electric cars could still be too expensive for many: "Price has always been one of the main barriers to EV adoption and expanding the grant scheme will go some way to addressing this problem. Whether the reported surge in demand for cars qualifying for the grant actually translates into sales, only time will tell.

"Even with the discount, the price of an EV is still out of reach for many. Also, price isn’t the only hurdle; charging is the elephant in the room. Consumers still doubt the network can handle a mass switch to EVs. Buyers want to know they can find a working rapid charger on a long trip, pay a fair and predictable rate if they can’t charge at home, and rely on coverage in rural areas and dense on-street neighbourhoods.

“Until that feels routine, many will hesitate. Grants must go hand in hand with a faster rollout of high-uptime rapid hubs, expanded kerbside and workplace charging, simple, transparent cross-network payment, and quicker grid connections where delays are longest. Deliver that and adoption will really accelerate.”

But Samuel Mather-Holgate, Independent Financial Adviser at Swindon-based Mather and Murray Financial, said a lack of awareness was the main barrier: “This is great news for consumers on the national journey to net zero, however few people actually know about this scheme. The roll out and publicity of how this works and why it’s beneficial has been dismal. If you asked 100 people if they knew about the government grant, maybe 4 or 5 would. That’s not going to shift the needle when the charging infrastructure is still the major barrier.”

Keith Budden, Managing Director at Liss-based Ensurety, said range anxiety remains: “The addition of more models to the discount scheme is welcome, however I think that while this may help with the price deterrent of going electric, the other issue of range anxiety still exists. While, admittedly, there are now around 25% as many electric charge points as there are diesel and petrol pumps around the country, the difference is that a diesel or petrol pump could serve up to 12 vehicles per hour, the electric charge point probably 2 or 3 at most.”

Meanwhile, Debbie Porter, Managing Director at Bakewell-based Destination Digital Marketing, said there were other challenges: "I don't have a drive at my house, and the road is on a different level, some 5ft lower than the bank upon which my house is built.

"We live in a tourist honeypot village, and so can rarely park outside our house when the tourists come, even if we were able to trail a 30ft cable down the garden, across the pavements, down the bank and onto the road, and there are only 10 lampposts in the whole village, all of which get turned off at night by the council. Electric is never going to make sense for us in our rural village.

“My mum lives in an ex-mining community village, where I grew up, where the terrace houses are not as wide as a car is long. No one can ever park outside their own home, and so electric cars are never going to make sense for them either. Infrastructure is a barrier, yes. But for politicians who have never lived in a two-up, two-down terraced house, it's a different kind of infrastructure than they imagine.”

4 responses from the Newspage community

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Matas Buzelis
Car expert at carVertical
Price has always been one of the main barriers to EV adoption and expanding the grant scheme will go some way to addressing this problem. Whether the reported surge in demand for cars qualifying for the grant actually translates into sales, only time will tell. Even with the discount, the price of an EV is still out of reach for many. Also, price isn’t the only hurdle; charging is the elephant in the room. Consumers still doubt the network can handle a mass switch to EVs. Buyers want to know they can find a working rapid charger on a long trip, pay a fair and predictable rate if they can’t charge at home, and rely on coverage in rural areas and dense on-street neighbourhoods. Until that feels routine, many will hesitate. Grants must go hand in hand with a faster rollout of high-uptime rapid hubs, expanded kerbside and workplace charging, simple, transparent cross-network payment, and quicker grid connections where delays are longest. Deliver that and adoption will really accelerate.
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Samuel Mather-Holgate
Managing Director & IFA at Mather and Murray Financial
This is great news for consumers on the national journey to net zero, however few people actually know about this scheme. The roll out and publicity of how this works and why it’s beneficial has been dismal. If you asked 100 people if they knew about the government grant, maybe 4 or 5 would. That’s not going to shift the needle when the charging infrastructure is still the major barrier.
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Debbie Porter
Managing Director at Destination Digital Marketing
I don't have a drive at my house, and the road is on a different level, some 5ft lower than the bank upon which my house is built. We live in a tourist honey spot village, and so can rarely park outside our house when the tourists come, even if we were able to trail a 30ft cable down the garden, across the pavements, down the bank and onto the road, and there are only 10 lampposts in the whole village, all of which get turned off at night by the council. Electric is never going to make sense for us in our rural village. My mum lives in an ex-mining community village, where I grew up, where the terrace houses are not as wide as a car is long. No one can ever park outside their own home, and so electric cars are never going to make sense for them either. Infrastructure is a barrier, yes. But for politicians who have never lived in a two-up, two-down terraced house, its a different kind of infrastructure than they imagine.
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Keith Budden
Managing Director at Ensurety
The addition of more models to the discount scheme is welcome, however I think while this may help with the price deterrent of going electric, the other issue of range anxiety still exists. While, admittedly, there are now around 25% as many electric charge points as there are diesel and petrol pumps around the country, the difference is that a diesel or petrol pump could serve up to 12 vehicles per hour, the electric charge point probably 2 or 3 at most. So yes we need more electric charge points (and yes I know most new-build houses now have one), but that still leaves masses of existing properties that don't. I was talking to someone about this on my estate (approximately 300 houses built mainly in the 1950s). My guess at the moment, probably less than 30 have an electric charge point. If this was extended to every house, I doubt the infrastructure could cope, but at least the heat from those underground cables would remove the need to salt the roads in winter.