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Here’s the (very small) list of vehicles that qualify, plus the EVs that manufacturers are offering their own discounts on. Obviously there’s zero guarantee that any of this will result in lower APs, as Motability will already be receiving discounts way in excess of these levels;
https://www.fleetnews.co.uk/news/electric-car-grant-which-models-qualify
@ChrisK The rules on scooters are the same. They don’t (in themselves) qualify the user to buy a VAT free car.
The only adaptation we have is a person hoist and that qualifies as it’s bolted in and connected to the cars electrics. I’ve spoken to an adaptations specialist and, once removed, a new buyer would be hard pressed to know that the car had anything. There would just be two small holes in the carpet and anything else is way under the glovebox so out of sight.
The lady that I spoke to could not have been more helpful. It’s worth anyone considering this route to call them and put their mind at ease, as I did re the personal use (not for my wife’s benefit) issue.
The other problem with accompanied test drives (and car sales people in general) is that sales people are often poorly informed about what comes as standard on certain models and what is an optional extra. Many demonstrators are loaded with extras and the sale people don’t always highlight that (if they even know). Some I’ve even had to correct about what is standard and what is optional, as I often find that, having done my research, I know more about the car than the people paid to sell them 🙄
@ajn Just another thought. I don’t know your financial situation, nor would I ask or assume, but if you absolutely love your current car and, if it wasn’t 5 years old, would happily have extended the lease further, is it worth leaving the scheme and buying the same car used? You’d get a car that you know that you’d be happy with and it would most likely work out a fair bit less than getting a brand new (lesser) car through Motability. Just a thought because, with hindsight, we might have been wiser to have done that ourselves last year!I believe quite a few models go live (as it were) today on the grant scheme. I’m not in anyway saying this will have a bearing on APs, merely highlighting an occurrence within the subject!
I‘ve not read them in full, as I’m not in the market for an EV, but a number of articles have been highlighting how few cars actually fulfil the rather complex qualifying criteria!
UPDATE – I have just spoken to an extremely helpful person at HMRC and managed to get definitive answers to my questions, which they are also putting in writing for me. As an aside, you have to call via the specific HMRC Charities Helpline and there is eventually an option for private individuals enquiring about VAT relief on new cars. Answers as follows;
1) Although my wife is the disabled person, can I buy the car with my money? – answer YES.
2) As my wife cannot drive (due to her disability), can I be the registered keeper? – answer NO. My wife has to be the registered keeper and I would be the nominated driver.
3) As I am the only driver and we therefore only need one car, is it acceptable for me to use the car on my own, for purposes that are of no direct benefit to my wife? – answer YES.
This last one was a pleasant surprise, as the guidance rather implies otherwise, but she said that the principle is that the car is permanently adapted so that on the occasions that my wife needs to use it she can but, as the nominated driver, I can use the car for my own purposes. I pressed her about scenarios such as visiting family and friends, day trips etc all of which could be on my own and without my wife, and she confirmed that all such journeys are absolutely fine. This now explains why I got exactly the same answer when I asked Motability all these questions when we retired (and went down to one car). The answers that Motability gave me are therefore in line with HMRC guidance. So, in summary, I could use the car for whatever purpose that I like and need not worry.
She stressed that you must make sure that the dealer applies the VAT exemption at source as it cannot be refunded if applied in error. She also said that dealers are not obliged to partake in the VAT exemption scheme and some Mercedes and BMW dealers are refusing to do so, trying to push people into Motability cars instead (she didn’t say, but I wonder if that’s to try to get their EV targets up?). As I would be looking at a car that was way above what is available on Motability hopefully I wouldn’t have this issue, but I’d need to check first. Thankfully I have a great contact at our local BMW dealers.
@ajn I had an accompanied test drive the other week, but it was a used car, I hadn’t pre-arranged it and it was in a town that I don’t live and the dealership use a predetermined route that covers fast dual carriageway, A & B roads and some town driving. As it was an expensive [£90k when new) used car with an advertised mileage, I felt that this was reasonable.
With every new car (Motability or private) however, I have always had unaccompanied test drives. Usually if pre arranged they have been full day tests, but if I’ve turned up unannounced they’ve usually been 1-2 hours. In the latter scenario, if I think the car is a definite possibility I will arrange a subsequent full day test. Every new car seems great over an hour or so, but it’s only when you have them for half a day or more that you start to discover things that are less good.
Thanks @kezo I’ve ordered a USB-C to Lightening cable and will see if a wired connection resolves the issue.
IT department (my IT literate daughters) contacted re USB stick. I like the sound of that, as long as the user interface is OK (searching for artists, tracks etc). Anything will be better than what I have now!
Unfortunately I am rather tied to Apple, having an iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad and Mac. I’m able to get 33% off Apple products, hence the brand loyalty 😂 I think the easiest option will be to buy an older car that has a CD player 🤣
Thanks both. It does indeed sound like an issue with the interface between iOS and the car, although admittedly Amazon Music isn’t great. I only have it as it’s free with Amazon Prime 😂 . I just looked to see if I could connect the phone to the USB socket, but it’s a different type of USB socket to the type that charges the phone.
I admit that I’ve not tried to hard to understand the world of digital music, so it’s all a bit bewildering to me, hence my yearning for an in-car CD player. I’m sure that there are millions of older drivers in the same boat. Nowadays it’s digital or nothing, which would be fine if it was dead easy and worked every time 🙄
You raise a good point. My wife reminded me how difficult my 7 Series BMW was to park, not just the width but it stuck out of spaces.
Another, probably more practical option, is to stick with Motability for running my wife around (maybe even an EV) and me buying a ‘fun’ car that gives me more pleasure, but as I now only do 7-8k miles a year two cars seems a bit pointless. None of these thoughts would be going around my mind if the Tucson was as enjoyable to drive as the X1 was 🙄
@kezo I test drove a BMW X5 40d the other day. Nice car and very quiet, even with 22” alloys. It was a used one but still £50k. The guy tried to talk me into a new one, but even with the VAT knocked off it was still almost £70k. I just don’t do enough mileage these days to warrant that sort of outlay (decent cars are just ludicrously expensive these days). Another spanner in the works was that the 40d is more expensive than the new 50e X5 which, although a PHEV (which, as you know, I’m not keen on) has a realistic EV range of around 50 miles and it’s paired with the legendary BMW 3.0 six cylinder petrol engine, giving a combined power output of almost 500 bhp. I’ve since watched a number of YouTube reviews of the 50e and they all say that it’s absolutely superb. Back to the drawing board 😂
@kezo The car was serviced last week and had a software update. It hasn’t fixed the problems 😡
I think it accesses Amazon Music through Apple Car Play. As to whether that’s involving BlueLink I’ve no idea. I get the main menu but when, for example, I select ‘Artists’, I just get this. If I press retry it just sticks with the same message. Sometimes if I get as far as selecting a track it will play something else altogether that isn’t even in my playlist. Hence why I tend to stick with the radio!
Thanks Rene for the reply, agreed the Volvo is 1000s over priced imo, haven’t been to see the Mazda, BMS seem a bit snoop dog to me, again just my aged opinion, hate the outside of the over fussed Tuscan, Audi slopped boot take much needed space… Here’s my choice so far Over priced Volvo prefer to keep mine, can’t, Dacia jogger (Mrs calling it Dogger) or the X2 if I must, X1 great cars but the over sized plastic bits front and back give the impression to me it’s all to big for the size of the X1.. Volvo really need a facelift, love the can’t have Xc60
I think that nowadays, where styling plays such a major part, it’s best to try to ignore the exterior (as best you can) and focus on the interior (which is, after all, where you spend your time). In that respect, the Tucson Ultimate (especially with the pale leather) came closest to our previous BMW and, in terms of interior look and feel, is hard to fault. It also wants for nothing kit wise (apart from a CD player 😂). However, I really don’t like the exterior and agree it’s over fussy. It looks as though the next generation will be more ‘conventional’ in appearance.
Much as I loved our previous BMW X1, I think that the styling of the new one isn’t as good and the interior quality seems to have taken a step backwards (as was also the case with the VW Tiguan – the new one is a definite step backwards in quality from the ones that we’ve had in the past).
Ultimately, we all have different priorities. Understandably, for many Motability users the priority is low running costs, hence the popularity of EVs. For others it’s the kit that comes as standard. For me, it’s a combination of practicality (for my wife’s hoist and wheelchair) and driver enjoyment. We had both with the X1 but Motability wouldn’t let us fit a hoist to the car and insisted we ordered a new car. The Tucson is certainly practical but lacks driver enjoyment. Like BMW drivers, Volvo drivers tend to be quite loyal to the brand, so if you can get a Volvo that ticks all your boxes that might be the way to go. Alternatively, if you are able, leaving the scheme and buying a used XC60 could be a good option?
There’s a lot to be said for familiarity. We all find brands that we prefer. Mines BMW and, having moved away from them, I wish that we hadn’t. Having driven a few EVs I didn’t want one and the iX1 and iX2 were the only BMW choices at the time. In hindsight, we should have left the scheme at that stage and bought an ICE BMW privately.
The other thing I have learned is that whilst I really like some modern technical features (blind spot assist etc), I really dislike others, especially when accompanied by incessant bings and bongs, which I find to be far more distracting than the issues that they are trying to prevent. Unfortunately we chose a Hyundai, a brand which absolutely loves bings and bongs, including some that you have absolutely no idea whatsoever what they are telling you 🤬
The other thing that I miss is a CD player. I just loved the system on my 2015 BMW 5 Series where it had a 20GB hard drive and when you played a CD you could add it to the hard drive. I had all my favourites on there and could call them up without any issues at all. No connectivity issues, not reliant on your mobile phone, no error messages – all of which blight our current car and mean that I now listen mostly to the radio!
I am currently finding myself browsing the used car market for a nice BMW that predates some of this rather annoying ‘progress’ 😂
@kezo The Tucson was serviced in the week and had a software update. Unfortunately it hasn’t resolved any of the many things that irritate me about the car;
Still no option to change the parameters of the Speed Limit Warning so that it doesn’t bing four times for just going 1mph over the speed limit 🤬
Turning off the above with a long press of the right rocker switch still often mutes the radio (or active phone call) instead (or as well) 😡
I’m still getting bings (higher pitch than the speed limit ones) that I have absolutely no idea whatsoever what they are for, as no message or warning flashes up with them 🤬
I still get error messages when trying to use Amazon Music, so am still pretty much restricted to just using the radio 😡
On the positive side, at least the car came back clean (well, the outside was, they didn’t bother to vacuum the inside) 😂
My Tucson PHEV (registered August 2024) came with Bluelink Pro, but it expires on 02/10/25, which is just under 14 months. Very odd timescale. I find it pretty useless, so barely use it, but some of that is probably down to user incompetence, although there are lots of glitches.
Like @kezo one frustration is that range (particularly EV range) sometimes shows in km rather than miles, even though both the app and the car are both configured as miles.
Sometimes, like @Rhodgie if I’ve had my phone switched off, it doesn’t connect with the car when I next get in it (with the phone back on), but it seems to have sorted itself out the next day without me doing anything?
My biggest bugbear with the car (other than all the ruddy bings and bongs) is that I use Amazon Music and it is beyond hopeless in the Hyundai. It almost never works as it should. The car was serviced last week and had a software update. Sadly, it did not help this issue. As to whether that’s down to Bluelink, Amazon Music or Apple Car Play (or a combination) I have absolutely no idea, but I end up just listening to the radio and wishing that the car had a CD player!
The only areas where I find Bluelink to be remotely useful are the alerts when the car has finished charging and if I’m going somewhere new the next day I look it up on the map function on the app and ‘send’ the destination to the cars sat nav. I find that works well.
I suspect that with an EV there are extra functions that might be more useful, but I won’t be paying for anything after 2nd Oct, I’ll just use whatever it defaults to.
@Glos Guy You could be right on the money there Glos, but only time will tell I guess.
Either way, I’m delighted for you Joss. I have moved away from BMWs a number of times (including at present) and am always glad to get back to them. Sadly, when we changed last year there was only the iX1 and iX2. We didn’t want an EV, but had to change the car to get a person hoist, so had to hand back the petrol X1 (that I enjoyed driving) for a Tucson PHEV (which I don’t) 😔
Not only had I missed the fact that a petrol X1 and X2 had joined the scheme and the PHEV had been removed, but I’d also missed the fact that the iX1 and iX2 had been removed. Given the pressure that manufacturers are under to shift EVs, I wonder if there’s a temporary supply issue with the iX1 and iX2 and the entry level petrol versions have been added as a temporary substitute, potentially to be removed once the EVs return? Just a wild guess.
Oh I didn’t realise that, I thought everyone was buying them and they were the favourite choice
Even now, only one in four new car private buyers is choosing an EV. As far as the used market goes (which is by far the biggest segment) EV take up amongst private buyers is even less, with only around 6% of buyers choosing an EV.
EVs are far more popular on this forum than in the market in general. As Motability customers we are shielded from the biggest negatives aspects of EV ownership (high up front costs, crippling depreciation and higher insurance premiums) plus, of course, we can have a home charger fitted free of charge. If you have the ability to charge at home and would rarely need to use public chargers, the cost savings can be significant, so we can benefit from the biggest advantage of an EV whilst being shielded from the things that are stopping private buyers from getting them. I’d better stop now as I’m talking myself into getting one 😂
Without the ability to charge at home I fear that you could regret your decision. Whilst fast chargers can make public charging a bit less of a faff (time wise), use of them could well end up costing you more per mile than running an ICE car (which would take you 5 minutes to fill from empty and give you a far better range).
My nephew got an EV two and a half years ago. He cannot charge at home and convinced himself that public charging wouldn’t be an issue. At first he got on OK with it, but the novelty of having to kill time at places whilst it recharged soon wore off and he now finds it to be a real pain. In the last year he’s also moved house and has a fairly long round trip to go back to see his parents. He can’t do the round trip on one charge and he can’t charge at his parents either. He has 6 months left on his lease and he cannot wait to ditch the EV and go back to a petrol car.
Anything is of course possible but, personally, the furthest I’d go if I couldn’t charge at home would be a self charging hybrid.
I think I will definitely look at doing a longer test drive luckily I haven’t got it booked yet, as every time I went to book it I got too nervous and didn’t. I feel a lot better about it though now, thank you everybody
Keep in mind that dealerships are under a lot of pressure to sell EVs, as the majority of private buyers don’t want them so, even though you are a Motability customer, it’s in their interest to bend over backwards for you. I always say that I have to live with the car for 3 years, so can’t possibly make an informed decision without a decent unaccompanied test drive, ideally 24 hours (so I can test it in the dark) but a full day otherwise.
I like to drive cars on my most frequent journeys, on the motorway, check them in my garage and, of course, drive them ‘keenly’ to see what the performance is like! Most cars that I test drive are ICE cars, so I always reset the fuel computer when I pick the car up to see what the mpg is like when I’m driving. EVs obviously express economy differently, but keep an eye on the range. The first EV that I drove was a BMW iX1 30e and I was staggered at how the remaining range plummeted (versus the actual miles driven) during the day and I actually took it back early as I think it was going to run out of puff and I didn’t want the faff or cost of charging it on a fast charger. I sense that you might be quite a cautious driver, so this will be less of an issue for you!
