Grant for electric vehicles to be cut this summer

Grants for private electric vehicles are set to be cut by €1,500 in July, it has been confirmed. 

Those planning to purchase electric cars have just over two months to avail of the higher grant currently available. 

Zero Emission Vehicles Ireland (ZEVI), an office within the Department of Transport, has confirmed the maximum private vehicle car grant will be set at €3,500 for applications from July 1, 2023, down from the current maximum of €5,000. 

Administered by the Sustainable Authority of Ireland (SEAI), the grant has been in operation since 2011, supporting the purchase of over 40,000 electric vehicles in that time.

The private vehicle grant provided early adopters with an incentive to switch to an EV, with almost €200 million in funding granted for the purchase of privately owned vehicles over the past 12 years. 

Many elements of the EV grant system remain unchanged, according to ZEVI.

Vehicle incentives for business stay the same and SEAI will continue to administer the commercially bought EVs and large panel vans grants at current levels. The small public service vehicles (SPSV) grant for taxi and hackney drivers administered by the NTA was renewed in February, while the Alternatively Fuelled Heavy Duty Vehicle Purchase Grant Scheme, managed by Transport Infrastructure Ireland, has also remained unchanged. 

In addition, there is no change to the existing VRT relief which is available to a maximum of €5,000 to purchasers of electric vehicles up to the selling price of €40,000, with a reduced scale for vehicles up to the selling price of €50,000. 

ZEVI says Ireland has a buoyant demand for electric vehicles; 2022 saw an 81% increase in registration of EVs compared to the previous year (CSO). As of end December 2022, there were 73,574 electric vehicles on Irish roads. This year we are also seeing the arrival newer EV models on the Irish market that are lower in cost.

Government investment strategy for electric vehicles will begin to rebalance towards supporting EV charging infrastructure. This change aligns with similar polices in European nations, where countries including Norway, Germany and France have begun to curb vehicle subsidies and government investment in EVs is moving towards infrastructure. 

Earlier this year, ZEVI published Ireland’s first EV charging infrastructure strategy, shortly followed by the launch of a Shared Island Sports Club EV Charging Scheme which will provide €15m in funding for fast EV charging in sports clubs around Ireland. Over 600 sports clubs applied for grants to install EV chargers during the submission acceptance period. This initiative and others coming later this year will support communities nationwide, providing necessary charging infrastructure for current and future EV owners.