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Auto Express
23 minutes ago
- Auto Express
The Electric Car Grant has shot the UK car industry in the foot
Talk about a great way to ruin good news. With electric car take-up growing far more slowly than required to hit the Government's ZEV mandate targets, the car industry has been crying out for incentives to help boost interest in what is still very much new tech to most drivers. Advertisement - Article continues below So it's impressive to do what a whole sector has been calling for but still shoot yourself in the foot with a scheme so complicated that no-one understands how it's going to work, or which cars will be eligible, days after it's announced. It's a shambles, or as one senior UK car industry exec put it to me last week, a 'flipping nightmare'. I also hear that the E-mail address that manufacturers need to use to register their cars wasn't even working when the announcement of the scheme went live. Then there's the issue of cars just over the £37,000 threshold, which is oddly close to, yet not the same as the Government's VED expensive-car cut-off of £40k. Brands will be frantically recalculating to see how many of the 15 or so cars within £3,000 of the £37k line could be reduced in price to become eligible. That's if they jump through the required eco hoops to make the cut for £3,750 or £1,500 grants. Renault's Scenic dropped by £200 within 48 hours of the announcement to be a fiver under the threshold. Provided Renault ticks those secret eco boxes. We've ended up with a scheme seemingly designed with what some might see as the noble aim of helping European brands to compete with Chinese rivals under the guise of environmental credentials. It seems – although any level of actual detail or evidence of a full plan from the Department for Transport would be helpful – that the environmental aspect of the grant is designed to increase transparency and encourage more local production. But because the policy apparently wasn't fully formed when it was announced, we don't really know. That causes a ripple through the market. EV purchases dived through the floor in the days following the announcement as buyers wait, potentially for weeks, to see if their prospective new EV gets a whopping discount. So the Government's move to boost EV sales could have harpooned them in the short term. Which is careless. Buy a car with Auto Express. Our nationwide dealer network has some fantastic cars on offer right now with new, used and leasing deals to choose from... Find a car with the experts Range Rover's secret mid-size EV: Inside its £500m factory Range Rover's secret mid-size EV: Inside its £500m factory We take an exclusive look inside JLR's revamped Liverpool site as the brand gears up for EV production Car Deal of the Day: The Audi A3 Saloon may be posh but not at this price Car Deal of the Day: The Audi A3 Saloon may be posh but not at this price It's posh, well appointed, and refined to drive – the Audi A3 Saloon is our Deal of the Day for July 18 Chinese cars will take over as Britain's best sellers Chinese cars will take over as Britain's best sellers With a dramatic rise in sales, Mike Rutherford thinks it's only a matter of time before Chinese cars outsell all other countries in the UK
Auto Express
23 minutes ago
- Auto Express
Car Deal of the Day: this mid-size French SUV is a steal at £188 per month
Comfortable to drive; hybrid power Spacious interior; well equipped Just £188.50 a month Almost overnight, Renault has gone from having hardly any SUVs in its line-up to offering one of broadest range of high-riders in the business. The Renault Symbioz is the newest of the lot and offers pretty much everything a family buyer could want. One of those requirements is value for money. This mid-size SUV is one of the cheapest of the lot right now, even undercutting such family favourites as the Nissan Qashqai. Advertisement - Article continues below Through the Auto Express Find a Car service, is offering the Symbioz for just £188.50 a month, giving you a lot of bang for your buck. It's a two-year deal that requires a £2,611.94 initial payment, while mileage is capped at 5,000 miles a year. Nudging this up to a more flexible 8,000 a year only costs £14.46 extra a month. This deal gets you a Symbioz in Techno trim. It may be the entry-level model, but it's packed with equipment. The standard list of features includes 18-inch alloys, a 10.25-inch digital driver's display and a 10.4-inch touchscreen with an excellent Google operating system. Powering this Symbioz is a full-hybrid system, comprising a 1.6-litre petrol engine and a 1.2kWh battery. It blends performance and frugality very well, giving a smooth and refined driving experience, plus wallet-pleasing fuel economy of more than 61mpg. The Symbioz isn't a thrilling car to drive, but nor should it be. It offers the type of driving experience that's perfectly in-step with its customers' needs: safe, composed and comfortable driving manners. The interior is a nice place to be, too. It's nicely trimmed and well put together, and it's pretty practical. The rear bench slides forwards, opening up more space in the boot – an impressive 624 litres to be precise. The Car Deal of the Day selections we make are taken from our own Auto Express Find A Car deals service, which includes the best current offers from car dealers and leasing companies around the UK. Terms and conditions apply, while prices and offers are subject to change and limited availability. If this deal expires, you can find more top Renault Symbioz leasing offers from leading providers on our Renault Symbioz page. Check out the Renault Symbioz deal or take a look at our previous Car Deal of the Day selection here…
Daily Mail
24 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
New cheapest electric car in Britain
The £14,995 Dacia Spring is no longer Britain's cheapest electric car... for the time being, anyway. It has lost its crown to a Chinese newcomer, which today announced it is slashing its model prices in response to the Government's new Electric Car Grant. Leapmotor - which recently agreed a deal with Stellantis to stock its Chinese-made EVs in the European giant's network of UK showrooms - has knocked £1,500 off the price of its T03 city car. which has a range of 165 miles on a full charge. This has slashed the price to £14,495 - undercutting Dacia's bargain battery model by £500 - to make it the most affordable new EV sold in Britain. Leapmotor's only other model sold in the UK, the C10 family SUV, is also being discounted by £3,750 with immediate effect. The size of these two price cuts matches the minimum and maximum discount being offered through Labour's new Electric Car Grant announced on Monday. However, while Leapmotor claims the 'Leap-Grant' is being offered to customers now to avoid delays waiting for the Government scheme's arrival, reports suggest it and other Chinese brands are unlikely to qualify for the taxpayer-funded subsidies at all. The Electric Car Grant (ECG) - announced by Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander this week - is the Government's new big hope to reignite demand for EVs, as it continues to steer towards outlawing sales of new petrol and diesel cars in 2030. However, it won't be available with immediate effect. This is because manufacturers need to apply to be eligible for the scheme, which could take weeks, experts have hinted . Leapmotor UK says this is why it is, 'taking a proactive leap forward to help electric car buyers save up to £3,750 immediately, by launching its own self-funded EV grant, effective from today'. It adds: 'This initiative makes Leapmotor the first car manufacturer in the UK to offer such a grant since the Government announced its own EV grant scheme, which won't kick in for consumers until next month.' For the Government scheme, only cars up to £37,000 qualify, which rules out premium models, including every Tesla on sale. No Audi, BMW or Mercedes EV will be eligible either. This might sound like good news for Leapmotor and its budget-friendly model offering, but reports have suggested it - and other Asian brands - will fail to meet a secondary stipulation put in place by government to qualify for the ECG. In order to be eligible, manufacturers must meet specific sustainability criteria, based on the Science-Based Target (SBT). This is an industry-wide green standard providing scores for companies reflective of the carbon impact of manufacturing products - in this instance, electric cars and their batteries. Only the greenest companies will receive the full £3,750 grant subsidy, while those considered to only meet a lower band will be issued £1,500 discounts, the DfT has confirmed. However, vehicles that don't meet a minimum threshold - which is yet to be divulged - will not receive a grant at all. Reports have suggested that Chinese EV makers could fall foul of the emissions-based rules. As could other Asian manufacturers, including those from Korea and Japan, according to Autocar . Speaking on the BBC's Today programme on Wednesday (16 July), Transport Minister Lilian Greenwood said she did not expect any cars that are produced in China to be eligible. 'The grant is restricted to those manufacturers that reach minimum environmental standards,' she said. 'And, frankly, if you generate a lot of the electricity that powers your factory through coal power stations, then you are not going to be able to access this grant.' According to The Telegraph , the Chinese embassy has hit hack and the scheme's stringent requirements. It has called on the UK to follow World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules and create a 'non-discriminatory environment for investment'. WTO rules stipulate that members must not give favourable treatment to one country over another when it comes to trading goods and services. An embassy spokesperson added: 'The Chinese side is closely following the situation and will resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies.' China's - and the world's - biggest EV maker, BYD, has informed the DfT of its intention to apply for eligibility for the Electric Car Grant and said it looks forward to being 'part of it'. Leapmotor says, like consumers, it is 'still waiting to learn which vehicles will qualify, how much financial support will be available, and when the grants will take effect'. Its terms and conditions say discounts are subject to orders placed between 18 July and 30 September 2025 from authorised Leapmotor retailers. However, if it fails to qualify for the Government grant on sustainability grounds, it might be forced to extend the deals. That said, Dacia's Spring - which costs from £14,995 and has been Britain's cheapest EV for the last 12 months - is also produced in China. In fact, it's manufactured in Covid-originating Wuhan by Dongfeng Renault - a joint venture between Dacia's parent company Renault Group and Dongfeng Motor Group. Whether it will qualify for the Government's £1,500 to £3,750 grants is yet to be seen. For the next two months at least, the T03 is being knocked down from £15,995 to just £14,995 with a £1,500 discount applied. Those using Personal Contract Purchase (PCP) finance can pick one up before the end of September for £169 per month and £169 deposit on 0 per cent APR for four years. The bigger C10 SUV is slashed by £3,750 to £32,750 or on a 0 per cent four-year PCP contract for £319 per month and £319 deposit. 'Our mission is to help make the leap to electric cars easy for UK drivers,' said Damien Dally, managing director at Leapmotor UK. '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.' Both cars come with a four-year warranty, while their batteries are covered by a separate eight-year guarantee. Chinese rival Great Wall Motor (GWM) has also since launched its own £3,750 'Green Grant' for the Ora 03. 'The initiative follows the recent announcement that the UK Government's electric vehicle grant includes will focus on a specific set of vehicles, leaving many customers confused and waiting to see if models like Ora 03 will qualify,' the company said. It means the entry-level Ora 03 PURE now starts from £21,245.
