Electric Vehicle Ownership

Due to their lower emissions, electric vehicles (EVs) are mostly exempt from tax. Fuel Duty and Vehicle Excise Duty do not apply to BEVs as electricity is not subject to Fuel Duty tax and VED is based on CO2 emissions which a fully electric car does not produce. VAT is still payable on an EV however.

The plug-in grant is available when purchasing certain low-emission vehicles. Prior to March 2020, there had been a three-category system in place to determine how much of the grant was available, this was changed to a 6 category system. Cars that had previously been considered 'Category 2' or 'Category 3' no longer qualified for the grant. In March 2021, the 6 categories became 7 and the amount of grant available was altered. From December 15th 2021, the amount of grant available was adjusted for cars, motorcycles, mopeds and vans with a weight less than 3.5 tonnes. The latest update to the grant was on June 14th 2022, support for cars was removed, leaving the qualifying vehicles as;

Wheelchair Accessible Car Plug-in Grant

Between 15/12/2021 and 31/03/2022 there are 250 grants available for cars that have been converted to be wheelchair accessible, and a further 1,000 grants will be made available between 1/04/2022 and 31/03/2023.
To qualify for the grant, cars which are converted to wheelchair accessible must cost less than £35,000, have no tailpipe CO2 emissions and can travel at least 70 miles. Cars which meet the criteria qualify for a grant of 35% of the purchase price up to £2,500.

Plug-In Van Grant Limits

As of 15/12/2021, a new limit was placed on the total number of grants available to each business, organisation or individual through the Plug-In Van and Truck grants.
Each business, organisation or individual can recive up to 1,000 grants per financial year (1 April to 31 March). Orders placed before 15/12/2021 do not count towards the 2021/2022 financial year limit. Limitations are applied to the end customer and not to the lease company used (if applicable).

Figures correct as of 15/12/2021

As BEVs have fewer moving parts than a traditional car, servicing is made much simpler. An internal combustion engine has pistons and other moving parts that are constantly being worn down as they work, and can unfortunately fail. The lack of these parts means there is less to go wrong in an electric car and that you do not require fluids like oil to keep running. This all adds together to a generally lower cost to service the vehicle- Cap HPI conducted a study that found electric vehicle servicing was on average 23% lower than a comparative traditional car. 

At Pentagon Service Centres all of our technicians are trained to manufacturer’s standards and use the latest tools and technology to ensure your vehicle gets serviced correctly. Electric vehicles are not exempt from this so we would be more than happy to service your BEV, HEV or PHEV.

Maximising Mileage in an Electric Vehicle

If you completely run out of charge, your BEV will stop running and will need to be recharged. Electric vehicles show how many miles they have left to run clearly and many feature ultra-power-saving modes to help you eke out as much mileage as possible and limp to a charging point. Services like Zap-Map can help you find your nearest charging point and help plan longer journeys, including charging stops.

You can expect the battery to have a usable capacity for the 100,000s of miles. It is expected that after 8 years of daily use the battery should retain approximately 80% of its original capacity- electric taxis have reportedly kept 75% capacity with over 120,000 miles on the clock. When the battery has degraded to a point, it is no longer usable, they are largely recyclable, with up to 90% of the battery being reclaimed and reused. Schemes are also being tested to look at the possibility of reusing the batteries in other settings as they typically still have around 70% capacity when recycled from the car- due to how big the batteries are this is still more than enough for other uses.

Before You Buy Batteries And Charging Electric Vehicles Available at Pentagon

At Pentagon Motor Group, we’re committed to making your switch to electric vehicles as seamless as possible. That’s why we’ve partnered with Ohme to offer intelligent, easy-to-use home charging solutions designed to save you time and money. Discover how Ohme’s smart technology can make charging your EV effortless and efficient.

Find Out More