Car owners to be offered €8.5k electric vehicle grants in new State scrappage plan

People with petrol and diesel cars that are more than 13 years old are to be eligible for grants of €8,500 to purchase a new electric vehicle (EV) under a State scrappage scheme.

Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien is to brief Wednesday's Cabinet meeting about the pilot scheme and updates to the existing EV grant scheme, according to The Irish Times.

The price cap under that scheme, which provides a €3,500 grant to those purchasing an EV, is set to fall from €60,000 to €50,000 from July 31st.

The Department of Transport is keen to promote the purchase of small and medium-sized vehicles, rather than larger and more expensive models.

A sharp uptick in the numbers of EVs being purchased this year will exhaust the existing grant scheme, so an additional €30 million is to be allocated to it from the State’s Climate Action Fund.

The scrappage scheme will be operated on a pilot basis from July and will continue until a €10 million fund is exhausted, The Irish Times reports.

Owners of petrol and diesel cars aged 13 years and above will be able to secure grants of €5,000 for scrappage and a further €3,500 towards a new EV. It will operate on a first-come, first-served basis until the fund runs out.

A source with knowledge of the scheme said if it proves popular, it is hoped that a broader scheme would be introduced next year.

It is understood that 65 per cent of the scheme’s resources will be ring-fenced for rural areas, where there is a higher dependency on cars owing to a lack of public-transport options.

Just 35 per cent of the fund – or €3.5 million – will be available to residents of the cities of Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford.