The justification for this new rebate lies in last week’s UK government Budget. On November 26th, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced a raft of changes to the UK’s existing EV tax and incentives programme. This saw the total budget for the Electric Car Grant rise up to almost £2 billion, meaning increased subsidies for new EV purchases. Additionally, the Chancellor announced further support for companies operating charging infrastructure and EV fleets.
However, the changes also wrought a new tax for EV drivers: a new pay-per-mile system called Electric Vehicle Excise Duty (eVED) which sees EV drivers pay around 3p extra per mile in addition to existing taxes. The full effects of this remain to be seen as it is due to come into effect in 2028, but it is widely expected to raise the average annual cost of EV ownership by £276. In other words, it means EV drivers now have an equivalent tax to the fuel duty that is paid on petrol and diesel cars.
We’re now beginning to see a response to this from EV companies, with Chery Automobiles being one of them. Omoda & Jaecoo, two Chery EV brands with a significant dealership presence across the UK, are now offering an ‘in-house’ tax rebate to customer. What this amounts to is a rebate equivalent to 20,000 miles worth of driving at 3p per mile, effectively covering between two to three years of motoring (based on an average annual mileage of 8,740 miles per year).
The saving will be applied to EVs purchased under a 48-month finance agreement through the brands’ UK dealership network. EV Powered reports that this rebate will ensure ‘that the value of the rebate remains relevant over the full four-year [finance] term, effectively pre-covering a portion of the future tax burden during the life of the agreement.”
Commenting on the change, Omoda & Jaecoo’s UK CEO Gary Lan said he wants ‘to make the transition to electric driving as smooth as possible for our customers immediately’. Lan said: “Our EV tax rebate for the Omoda E5 and Jaecoo E5 effectively covers the first few years of this new tax, giving drivers the equivalent of thousands of miles of zero-cost motoring.”
evpowered.co.uk, fleetworld.co.uk
