Not quite sure i understand the issue here. There’s plenty of petrol/PHEV/diesel to get on the scheme, did something change overnight? Out of over 900 models/trims, exactly 200 are electric.
Doesn’t seem particularly off to me, not quite sure how there’s a discrepancy. Car manufacturers are offering EVs cheaper than ICE vehicles to the scheme. If they stop making “special terms” for EVs, the only thing that’s going to change is that EVs are going to be priced the same way as ICE cars. Not that ICE cars magically come down in price.
Are prices too high? Yeah, absolutely. I’d love a PHEV 3series, would much prefer it to the electric i4. But trying to turn EVs into some kind of scapegoat isn’t just nonsense, but counterproductive too – it obscures the actual problem that Motability is overcharging for cars.
No, we’re not “being pushed” to EVs, they’re just cheaper. If you don’t want one, just don’t buy one. That doesn’t have anything to do with dealer offers, i don’t think there’s any dealer offers for EVs on the scheme – there certainly are dealer offers for ICE cars. Manufacturers on the other hand offer EVs with preferential rates to fleet customers – which they have to do to meet targets set by the government. Otherwise they’d be simply the same price (or, likely more) as the equivalent ICE variant.
As an example, the i4 being £5500, and the 330e being £8000, despite being lower trim and lower in the model range. If the EV targets go away magically tomorrow, the 330e will be £8000, and the i4 £8999.
It’s what it is, nobody is entitled to a particular manufacturer. We’d love the 3series, as mentioned, but are priced out. Sucks to be me, is what it is – i’ll continue looking around until i find a PHEV (or maybe EV) that suits us (and more importantly, our wallet).
Just, to point this out again. 200 out of 916 cars are electric. 52 are diesel, and the vast majority (512) is petrol, with PHEV/Mild hybrids filling the rest, so choice certainly is there.
Prior: SEAT Ateca Xcellence Lux 1.5 TSI DSG MY19, VW Golf GTE PHEV DSG MY23
Current: Hyundai Ioniq 6 Ultimate
Next: we'll see what's available in 2028.