Nearly 50% of UK car dealers view Electric Car Grant as “useful boost”
Almost half of car dealers (48%) who took part in a recent Startline Used Car Tracker survey said that they found the UK Government’s Electric Car Grant – or ECG – to be a “useful boost” for UK-wide EV adoption.
The Electric Car Grant initiative was announced in July this year, and is intended to stimulated the EV market be offering automatic discounts of £1,500 to £3,750 on brand new, fully-electric vehicles costing up to £37,000.
Further positive news came from the September edition of the Startline Used Car Tracker came when it reported that 43% of dealers said they felt that anything that makes EVs more affordable is a step in the right direction. Reflecting the views of several leading voices in the EV industry, including Stuart Masson – editorial director of The Car Expert – 27% of those asked said that it would be useful if the government introduced a scheme similar to the ECG for used cars.
Following the publication of the September Used Car Tracker survey, Paul Burgess, the CEO of Startline Motor Finance who oversees the monthly used car survey commented: “Our research shows that around half of dealers generally see the Electric Car Grant initiative as a positive, probably in the sense that anything aiding electrification is a good thing, especially when it comes to promoting affordability.
“However, there is some quite widespread scepticism, and it is especially notable that around a quarter of our respondents think similar funding is instead needed for electric used cars, suggesting they believe prices need to fall more in that part of the market.”
In the context of getting petrol and diesel drivers to make the transition to electric, Cinch recently found that for the first time ever, it sold more used EVs than second-hand diesels in August 2025, with electric cars selling on average 34% and 29% faster than their diesel and petrol counterparts. It also found that the price of used EVs has dropped 3% year-on-year to just below £16,000.
