A survey of 60 dealers suggests an electric car scrappage scheme should cover both new and used EVs, target cars over 10 years old and offer around £4,000.
November’s Startline Used Car Tracker found that 45% of respondents wanted incentives to apply to both new and used electric cars. A further 28% wanted a scheme restricted to new cars, while 27% favoured support focused solely on the used market.
The most popular age threshold was 10 years, selected by 45% of dealers. Some 28% wanted petrol and diesel cars to become eligible after five years, while 27% preferred a minimum age of 15 years.
Paul Burgess, chief executive of Startline Motor Finance, said: “Research we reported last month showed dealers overwhelmingly back the introduction of a government scrappage scheme promoting electric cars, so we decided to find out more about what they want.”
Used EVs included in preferred model
Around 35% of dealers selected £4,000 as the minimum scrappage allowance. Some 28% chose at least £3,000, 20% selected at least £5,000 and 8% opted for a minimum of £2,000.
Almost half, 45%, wanted the initiative to run for 12 months, compared with 40% favouring six months and 15% choosing three months.
More than half of dealers, 53%, said scrappage support should be added to existing government EV subsidies. The remaining 47% wanted it to replace current support.
The existing Electric Car Grant applies only to eligible new EVs priced at £37,000 or below, offering either £1,500 or £3,750 depending on the vehicle’s eligibility.
Including used EVs within a scrappage scheme would therefore extend direct purchase support into a market not covered by the current grant.
Cost may deter government support
Combining the most popular answers would produce a 12-month scheme covering new and used EVs, with £4,000 available when a petrol or diesel car more than 10 years old is scrapped.
However, the research did not examine the overall cost of such a programme or how many buyers might qualify.
Burgess said: “Whether the government can be persuaded to embrace an initiative with these kinds of parameters is open to question – it would be expensive at a time when budgets are tight.
“However, the research does hopefully provide useful pointers about how dealers believe official policy could encourage more people to go into EVs.”
The monthly Startline tracker was compiled by APD Global Research and questioned 60 dealers alongside 301 consumers.
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