Published 28/09/2026 · Updated 28/09/2026 · By Voldt® product team

UK buyers can get up to £3 750 off a new electric car priced at or under £37 000, and renters and flat owners can claim up to £500 towards a home charge point. Since April 2025 EVs also pay vehicle tax, with a supplement above a £50 000 list price. We found no UK scheme that pays households for the electricity they charge at home, while the Netherlands and Germany have one.

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countries with an open purchase grant, 28/09/2026

The Electric Car Grant takes up to £3 750 off the price of a new electric car in Band 1, or up to £1 500 in Band 2, as long as the car costs no more than £37 000 (GOV.UK). The band is set per model, so check it before you choose between two cars at a similar price, because the difference can be £2 250.

Elsewhere the amount depends more on the buyer. Germany pays €3 000 to €6 000 towards a new battery-electric car, depending on household income and children (Bundesregierung, May 2026). France indicates €3 500 to €5 700 by income, plus up to €2 000 for a European-made battery (economie.gouv.fr, December 2025).

Spain's Auto+ pays up to €4 500 until 31 December 2026 or until its €350 million budget is used (Spanish Ministry of Industry, August 2026). Sweden gives rural households on lower incomes SEK 1 300 a month for 36 months, for new and used EVs alike (Naturvårdsverket, June 2026).

Since 1 April 2025, electric cars pay vehicle tax like other cars. An EV registered from that date pays £10 in the first year and then the standard rate of £200 a year in 2026/27. If its list price is above £50 000, the expensive car supplement adds £440 a year for five years, starting in the second year (GOV.UK).

Elsewhere, EVs still get tax breaks. Norway charges no VAT on the first NOK 300 000 of the price, Denmark charges 40% of the calculated registration tax in 2026, and Finland and Poland charge no car tax or excise on EVs (Norwegian Customs; Danish Tax Agency; Finnish Ministry of Finance; Polish Excise Duty Act). Germany exempts pure EVs from vehicle tax until 2035 at the latest, and the Netherlands charges 70% of the petrol-car rate (Bundestag; Belastingdienst).

The chargepoint grant for renters and flat owners covers 75% of buying and installing a charge point socket, up to £500 since 1 April 2026. You need your own off-street parking, an eligible car and an OZEV-authorised installer, and funding is confirmed until 31 March 2027 (GOV.UK). Households with only on-street parking can get up to £500 when they install a cross-pavement solution.

Sweden takes 50% of labour and material off the installer's invoice, up to SEK 50 000 per person a year, and France's tax credit ended with spending in 2025 (Skatteverket; impots.gouv.fr). In every scheme we checked the money goes to installed equipment, so a portable charger bought on its own does not qualify.

Dutch households can register the electricity they charge at home as emission reduction units (EREs), which fuel suppliers buy to meet their obligation. It needs a charging point with a built-in MID-certified meter, the grid connection in the owner's name and a booking service provider, and the regulator sets no price (NEa, April 2026).

Germany pays per car. The Federal Environment Agency certifies a flat annual estimate for each registered battery-electric car, and private traders sell it on to fuel companies before paying the owner, so the charger used at home makes no difference (UBA). Sweden's electricity credits cover public charging only (Swedish Energy Agency, 2025).

The Voldt® 3-pin portable charger plugs into a standard UK socket, charges at 8 to 13 A, up to 2,8 kW, and its app logs the kWh of every charge per user. That record helps if your employer repays home charging: our reimbursement rules for 12 countries cover company car drivers. Nothing is installed, so it moves house with you.

• Plug the charger straight into a sound, earthed 3-pin socket, never an extension lead or adaptor.
• Use the 13 A setting only on a socket on its own circuit that an electrician has checked.
• Where your car's manual differs from this guide, follow the manual.

Voldt® cables and portable chargers are CE and UKCA marked and TÜV certified, with a 3-year warranty; terms and exclusions are on the warranty and complaints page.