Electric motorbike manufacturers Zero and Harley-Davidson have announced that they will discount their bikes by £1,500 into 2022 after the Government reduced the sums on offer via its plug-in grant scheme and excluded e-motorcycles priced over £10,000.
Previously, all new electric motorbikes received a price reduction of £1,500 or 20 per cent – whichever was smaller.
Electric motorbikes priced up to £10,000 now receive 35 per cent off, up to a maximum of £500, while mopeds get 35 per cent off, up to a value of just £150.
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The maximum grant available for cars has also been cut from £2,500 to £1,500.
Pedal-assist e-bikes are still ineligible for grants.
“The market is charging ahead in the switch to electric vehicles,” said Transport Minister Trudy Harrison. “This, together with the increasing choice of new vehicles and growing demand from customers, means that we are refocusing our vehicle grants on the more affordable vehicles and reducing grant rates to allow more people to benefit, and enable taxpayers’ money to go further.”
MCN reports that Harley-Davidson has confirmed it will continue to offer a £1,500 subsidy for its £28,995 LiveWire until January 31, 2022.
It’s currently unclear what will happen after that as the firm’s electric motorcycle division is due to be spun off ahead of the new LiveWire model’s European launch next year.
Managing Director of Zero Motorcycles Europe, Umberto Uccelli, said his firm would also continue to offer a £1,500 price reduction until January 31:
"We were stunned to hear of the withdrawal of the Office of Zero Emission Vehicles’ grant on Wednesday, which came completely out of the blue," he said.
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Commenting on the impact of the changes on e-moped sales, chief executive of the Motorcycle Industry Association (MCIA), Tony Campbell, said: "£150 is 10 per cent of what the previous grant was, so they've taken 90 per cent away.
"It's purely spreadsheet politics. It's not about decarbonisation, it is about the fact that they've probably overspent on other sectors and now we're clearly paying the price as well.
He continued: "The moped category this year will probably end up with around 10,000 vehicles – half of which will be fully electric.
“If you look at the 50 per cent it looks like a fantastic success story, but this is only the tip of potentially what the iceberg could look like. Therefore it's ridiculous at this point to change the grant when it has been so successful."
