I personally think that for standard non adapted cars that there is a bountiful choice of vehicles up to £1000AP. There in even just under 60 which have zero AP. Remember grants are there to assist you into obtaining transport to which they deem meets your needs, not you wants. A £1500 AP is only saving just under a £1.50 a day for the duration of your lease. Electric will be the norm very shortly, 2030 is only 57 months away. I also believe that by 2028, that Motability choice will be nearer 80% Electric , as manufacturers wind down all petrol and diesel, inc standard hybrid models. All current plug in hybrids and diesels are all over £2000AP. Financial suicide to develop and bring a new model into production for a very short period of time. Driving Electric just takes a bit of journey planning.
What’s the point of Motability foundation offering to assist someone with a car which is deemed to meet the disability, only then for the applicant to state, this one suits me better and I want that one. If they are giving someone say £1000 for certain cars and you I prefer one with an additional AP of £800 and you are willing to pay that, I would question the given grant and reduce it £800, as you have found the mechanism to find more funds. We cannot be expected to get everything handed on a plate to us and also this is probably the cheapest lease scheme in Europe, by far. There is and never have a compulsion to use the scheme. If it doesn’t suit for any reason, buy a used car using your given benefit. Just because you can, does not mean we must.
Some of your points I agree with however I believe you are being a bit harsh and insensitive, unfortunately there has to be a cut off point, unfortunately not in their favour, not everyone understands the system, if they did they would not post asking for advice. Have you considered a Mazda CX-5 large SUV, plenty of room for a hoist automatic transmission.
My thoughts exactly, it is definitely difficult to say what you have because a lot of people will react in the moment and the thread could become a bit personal. But in the round the thinking behind the way the grants work is sound (oops that rhymes!!)