SEAI grant changes in March

WattsUp

Are there any upcoming changes to the SEAI grant for PHEVs in March ?

Below is from the Volvo website.

Plug In hybrid XC40 models are eligible for the €5,000 SEAI grant if ordered before the 31st March 2021.

KCross

That is interesting.

AFAIK there hasnt been any public statements about the PHEV grant being removed but inevitably it will happen in the short-medium term and maybe Volvo have some insight to upcoming government policy.

The next few years are going to be a slow steady removal of (PH)EV incentives.
The VRT relief for hybrid and PHEV ended last year. The next step will be the removal of the SEAI grant for PHEV and then finally the VRT relief and grant for BEV.

carsfan2

There is nothing on the seai website to indicate any changes and there’s been no publicity about it. You would think car dealers would be trying to encourage sales by saying if the grants were going as will instantly put up prices.

WattsUp

WattsUp wrote: »

Plug In hybrid XC40 models are eligible for the €5,000 SEAI grant if ordered before the 31st March 2021.

The grant is given when the car is registered, not ordered. Volvo are just trying to boost sales.

KCross

Deleted User wrote: »

The grant is given when the car is registered, not ordered. Volvo are just trying to boost sales.

Possibly.

The fine print does recoginise that

"Terms & Conditions: Plug In hybrid XC40 models are eligible for the €5,000 SEAI grant if ordered before the 31st March 2021. Vehicles must be registered within 4 months of grant approval."

Its either a sly attempt to boost sales or they know that the grant is being reduced and they want the orders before April to give them time to get the cars built, shipped and registered in time... maybe before the next budget with a month or two to spare.

slave1

Sales Pitch, car dealers are indeed a distasteful bunch, never encountered what I would call a fair sales pitch, they just have to throw something in to rush a sale.

carsfan2

https://www.seai.ie/grants/electric-vehicle-grants/dealers-ev-grant-scheme/Grant-Flow-Process-Rev-02.pdf

According to this the dealer gets grant approval when car ordered, and payment after delivery.
Possibly Volvo trying to boost first quarter sales?

zg3409

The standard rate of VAT has reduced from 23% to 21%, effective from 1 September 2020 to 28 February 2021. This was announced on 23 July 2020 under the July Jobs Stimulus Package.

The current standard rate of VAT is 21%.

From
https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/money_and_tax/tax/duties_and_vat/value_added_tax.html#:~:text=VAT%20is%20charged%20at%20every,rate%20of%20VAT%20is%2021%25.

Assuming the rate rate returns / increases as planned I assume prices of cars will rise from that date. Not exactly relevant to this thread, but something to consider if buying new

KCross

For interest I sent off a query to Volvo and asked if the grant was available after March and this is what I got back

"I have had a look into this for you and I can confirm that the SEAI Grant will not be available after March 31st 2021."

We can only take them at their word on that. I didnt get any other details, like is it just PHEV's.

So, it does look like there are changes to the grant coming.... probably as a result of the budget a few months ago and new funding/regulations being put in place.

tweek84

KCross wrote: »

For interest I sent off a query to Volvo and asked if the grant was available after March and this is what I got back

"I have had a look into this for you and I can confirm that the SEAI Grant will not be available after March 31st 2021."

We can only take them at their word on that. I didnt get any other details, like is it just PHEV's.

So, it does look like there are changes to the grant coming.... probably as a result of the budget a few months ago and new funding/regulations being put in place.

There was changes in the budget last year effecting EVs i don't know how it wasn't picked up by more people.
https://www.irishtimes.com/business/transport-and-tourism/end-of-the-road-for-electric-car-grant-for-company-cars-1.4044986

WattsUp

tweek84 wrote: »

There was changes in the budget last year effecting EVs i don't know how it wasn't picked up by more people.
https://www.irishtimes.com/business/transport-and-tourism/end-of-the-road-for-electric-car-grant-for-company-cars-1.4044986

Thanks. The key line is Meanwhile, there has also been changes to the grant systems for hybrids. From October 23rd, the €5,000 SEAI grant will only apply to plug-in hybrid vehicles with CO2 emissions below 50g/km and that can travel on fully-electric mode for a minimum of 50km

The WLTP range of the Volvo is 47km so must be losing the grant

Casati

WattsUp wrote: »

Thanks. The key line is Meanwhile, there has also been changes to the grant systems for hybrids. From October 23rd, the €5,000 SEAI grant will only apply to plug-in hybrid vehicles with CO2 emissions below 50g/km and that can travel on fully-electric mode for a minimum of 50km

The WLTP range of the Volvo is 47km so must be losing the grant

Good to see that it’s continuing for some PHEV’s
I’m sure Volvo will make a slight change to increase the range, I dunno fit 16in wheels or something?

KCross

KCross wrote: »

Possibly.

The fine print does recoginise that

"Terms & Conditions: Plug In hybrid XC40 models are eligible for the €5,000 SEAI grant if ordered before the 31st March 2021. Vehicles must be registered within 4 months of grant approval."

Its either a sly attempt to boost sales or they know that the grant is being reduced and they want the orders before April to give them time to get the cars built, shipped and registered in time... maybe before the next budget with a month or two to spare.

Interestingly Volvo have updated the wording...

"Terms & Conditions: Plug In hybrid XC40 models are eligible for the €5,000 SEAI grant if ordered before the 30th June 2021. Business and fleet purchases do not apply. Vehicles must be registered within 4 months of grant approval."

So, looks like it was a sales tactic after all!

Patser

RTE reporting some big changes from July, with:

PHEV grants being cut to €2,500 and more importantly the grant for EVs being restricted to cars costing less than €60,000

https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2021/0402/1207562-grant-electric-cars/

I can kind of see the point that if you can afford to pay €60k plus for a car, should you really be given extra money towards it while funding is looking tighter and tighter, but at the same time the article mentions that EV sales are still way below what was hoped and anything that suggests EV supports may go may make buyers more wary of buying.

I am expecting to see some very curious 'Paddy spec' cars to come onto the market, magically priced at €59,999

Mickeroo

The car prices will change as the grant changes. The after grant prices are the real RRP imo, everything else is just a bonus for the car companies out of the tax payer's pocket.

WattsUp

KCross wrote: »

Interestingly Volvo have updated the wording...

"Terms & Conditions: Plug In hybrid XC40 models are eligible for the €5,000 SEAI grant if ordered before the 30th June 2021. Business and fleet purchases do not apply. Vehicles must be registered within 4 months of grant approval."

So, looks like it was a sales tactic after all!

There was a change planned for end March as a PHEV had to be 50km electric capable to get any grant. It impacted other PHEVs too like Kia, not just Volvo.

Maybe Volvo got a further derogation until end of June now when the PHEV grant will reduce to €2500 for 50km+ models and will be 0 for any PHEV that cannot do 50km WLTP. More expensive PHEVs or BEVs of 60k before grant will not now get grant at all from July

Patser

Patser wrote: »

RTE reporting some big changes from July, with:

PHEV grants being cut to €2,500 and more importantly the grant for EVs being restricted to cars costing less than €60,000

https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2021/0402/1207562-grant-electric-cars/

I can kind of see the point that if you can afford to pay €60k plus for a car, should you really be given extra money towards it while funding is looking tighter and tighter, but at the same time the article mentions that EV sales are still way below what was hoped and anything that suggests EV supports may go may make buyers more wary of buying.

I am expecting to see some very curious 'Paddy spec' cars to come onto the market, magically priced at €59,999

If the grant is there to encourage buyers to change to EVs, surely you want to encourage those drivers buying cars which pollute most as well as the small 1lt’s?