@BrokenDude Both are true! The AP remains the balancing figure between total leasing costs and sacrificed benefits over 3 years, and the reason that they can jump so much (up and down) is primarily down to short term deals that manufacturers will offer (and then withdraw). There may be a month when it suits a manufacturer to encourage orders on a particular model (so the AP drops) and the next month it may suit them to discourage orders, but they don’t want to remove the car from the scheme (so the AP rockets). There will undoubtedly also be some profiteering going on as well. If a manufacturer thinks that they can hike the AP and get away with it, they will.
However, your second point is correct. The main reason that APs have risen across the board is because of the increasing exposure that Motability Operations now have to the used EV market. EV residual values are on their knees, as demand from private buyers isn’t there. As Motability are under pressure to push EVs to assist with government targets, and so as not to kill off demand for them through the scheme, they have taken the decision to absorb this hit by increasing APs across the board to all cars, including ICE cars.