- Stellantis-backed Chinese EV manufacturer Leapmotor has launched its new ‘LEAP-GRANT’, skipping the newly-announced Electric Car Grant, with Leapmotor providing the equivalent discount themselves.
- The Leapmotor C10 electric SUV will see a £3,750 cut, bringing its base price down to £32,750 OTR, whilst the Leapmotor T03 electric city car has been given a £1,500 ‘grant’ to bring its price down to £14,495 – making it the cheapest five door electric car on the UK’s new car market.
- The move puts Leapmotor in a unique position, as other OEMs scramble to see whether any of their models will be eligible for the official grant, due to the number of environmental and technical criteria that need to be met.
Leapmotor launches its in-house EV grant scheme
Leapmotor’s significant discount has also come before any other OEMs have announced their potential eligibility for the official Electric Car Grant, putting it in a strong position when it comes to its new pricing against the competition. Crucially, the Leapmotor T03’S new £14,495 base price (with £1,500 discount) allows it to undercut the Dacia Spring on paper, which starts at £14,995. The C10’s new base price of £32,750 also grants a significant saving over EV rivals such as the Skoda Enyaq.
With the official Electric Car Grant only being announced last week, it remains to be seen which electric cars, from which manufacturers, will qualify. As well as the main requirement for the EV in question to be priced at or below £37,000, there are a number of other factors which must be met. Cars must score low on carbon emissions during production, whilst the manufacturers must hold a verified Science-Based Target. Last week, Minister for the Future of Roads Lilian Greenwood suggested that this criteria means EVs manufactured in China – which includes Leapmotor’s lineup, alongside models from brands such as BYD and MG, won’t be eligible for the grant. We’ll have to wait for confirmation on the manufacturers in question on whether that is the case, but Leapmotor’s move to discount their cars in-house is a strategy we could see mirrored by other OEMs, in response to the more selective ECG.
Damien Dally, Managing Director of Leapmotor UK, commented:
“Our mission is to help make the leap to electric cars easy for UK drivers. We’ve decided to act now because we want to give customers clarity, confidence, and immediate savings – and make the switch to electric a simple choice.”
