The Government has extended the £500 grant for buyers of new electric scooters and motorcycles for another year, as part of a package which saw support for electric vans and taxis also continued. The grant’s future was in the balance, having been cut from a maximum of £1500 in 2021 and ended for 50cc-equivalent two-wheelers in April last year. But buyers of electric A1 (125cc-equivalent) and bigger electric bikes up to £10,000 will continue to receive £500 off the retail price into 2026.

The move is a recognition that the electric motorcycle and scooter market needs encouragement to expand. Sales of electric off-road bikes and moped equivalents are developing, but remain tiny for larger road machines. Another factor could be that the sector now has its own homegrown electric bike, in the UK-made Maeving.

Gareth Hughes, UK general manager at Vmoto, told British Dealer News: “It’s great news for us that the Government has decided to extend the e-grant for another year…The extension is a big boost for growth and stability in this fast-changing market.”

Jim Freeman, chair of the BMF welcomed the move. “The small E Bike market is a success, but bigger Electric Motorcycles need all the help they can get. Whatever one thinks of Electric Motorcycles, as with Electric 4 wheelers, if the government wants people to switch from ICE bikes there does need to be some sort of incentive, a case of ‘putting your money where your mouth is’. We’ll see how effective it is.”

Written by Peter Henshaw

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