I had a grant that paid 35% of the ap. I told grants team what I wanted after they kept coming back with cars that they thought were suitable, but I didnt. In the end I placed an order for the car I wanted in December whilst I was toing and froing with the grants team. My argument was there could be a price increase between then and q1 January figures, which would have cost me more if the grant wasn’t allowed or the charity more if they agreed the grant in q1. In the end the grant was awarded and I took the paperwork to the dealers for them to ammend the ap.
Given the grants team probably won’t get back to you untill the new year. You could order the car now and use the above argument. If they come back to you and say OK thats geat which is likely. If they say no you can cancel the car you have on order without any problems.