MG will continue to offer higher electric vehicle discount after government cuts grant

Buyers of MG’s electric vehicles will continue to receive £3,000 off the full price until the end of the month.

Until this week, anyone buying an electric vehicle worth up to £50,000 would get £3,000 off the price. However, without warning, the government yesterday slashed the limit for the grant to £35,000 and reduced the discount to £2,500.

MG currently sells two electric vehicles, the ZS EV and MG5 EV. Both are still eligible for the grant as their starting prices are low enough, but now the British firm has said it will honour the extra £500 until March 31.

Guy Pigounakis, MG’s commercial director, said: “While we welcome any news that encourages people to buy affordable electric cars, for it to come in the middle of the toughest March trading conditions ever is a blow to customers.

“At MG, we believe in ensuring our customers are as happy as they can be with their new cars and in recognition that many of them will have made the decision to buy an MG EV with the £3,000 grant funding in mind, we have decided to honour that for all purchasers who order a new MG ZS Electric or MG5 EV for delivery before the end of this month.”

MG’s move towards selling affordable electric vehicles appears to be working well. Although its overall market share was tiny in 2020 at just over one per cent, that’s double what it was in 2019.

Sales were up 41 per cent last year, with almost a third of all sales going to the MG ZS EV.