Motor Trader The award-winning and longest running UK magazine for car retailing professionals. Your first stop for News, Jobs and Reports for the motor industry.
Discounts on new electric vehicles (EVs) tripled between November 2022 and October 2023 as carmakers cranked marketing to shift units.
Analysis of What Car?’s Target Price mystery shopper data showed that, between the beginning of November 2022 and the end of October this year, the average combined cash and finance discount for fully electric vehicles in the UK increased by 323%, with the average combined discount worth £4,399.
It said by comparison, discounts for petrol and diesel models grew by 122.7% and 122.5% respectively.
The Vauxhall Mokka-e 100kW GS Line was available with the largest percentage saving overall, with discounts worth 23.9% of its list price. This equates to a saving of £9087 on the list price of £38,985 – a 386% increase on the discount available last year.
The discounting trend extended to PCP finance deals, with monthly payments on EV models dropping by an average of 16% over the same period.
What Car commented that next year, car manufacturers will be required by the UK Government’s new ZEV Mandate to achieve a 22% sales mix of EVs, or face heavy fines. That’s a big uplift from the 15.6% achieved so far in 2023, with the low uptake of EVs among retail customers likely to be behind the discounts now being made available.
What Car? top 12 Target Price (TP) EV discounts, ranked by total % saving
| Model | Edition | List price | Total TP Saving (%)
(Saving vs 12 months ago) |
Total TP £ saving
(Saving vs 12 months ago) |
PCP monthly payments
(vs 12 months ago) |
| Vauxhall Mokka | 100kW GS Line 50kWh | £38,985 | 23.90% (386%) | £9,087 (429%) | £392 (93%) |
| Vauxhall Corsa | 100kW GS 50kWh | £34,080 | 19.00% (264%) | £6,305 (288%) | £387 (102%) |
| Fiat 500 | 70kW Red 24kWh | £28,195 | 14.70% (257%) | £4,026 (262%) | £319 (96%) |
| Honda E | 113kW Advance 36kWh | £37,395 | 14.50% (183%) | £5,278 (185%) | £420 (96%) |
| Volkswagen ID 3 | 150kW Pro 58kWh | £37,255 | 12.70% (850%) | £4,637 (852%) | £348 (74%) |
| Nissan Leaf | 110kW Acenta 39kWh | £28,995 | 12.30% (124%) | £3,565 (124%) | £290 (107%) |
| Mercedes EQC | 300kW AMG Line Premium 80kWh | £78,975 | 12.30% (702%) | £9,600 (702%) | £594 (54%) |
| Audi Q4 e-tron | 40 82kWh Sport | £50,630 | 11.80% (1177%) | £5,874 (1193%) | £470 (69%) |
| BMW iX3 | 210kW M Sport 80kWh | £64,165 | 11.60% (421%) | £7,321 (421%) | £509 (60%) |
| MG ZS | 130kW SE EV 51kWh | £30,495 | 11.60% (247%) | £3,478 (255%) | £299 (88%) |
| Renault Megane E-Tech | EV60 Iconic 60kWh Optimum Charge | £41,995 | 10.00% (996%) | £4,106 (1060%) | £418 (99%) |
| BMW i4 | eDrive40 M Sport 83.9kWh [Pro Pack] | £61,765 | 9.10% (455%) | £5,543 (468%) | £590 (72%) |