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Tesla still isn't in the UK Electric Car Grant. Here's why waiting won't fix that

By Priya Nair · Filed 3 August 2026 · Updated 5 August 2026

Tesla Model Y photographed from the passenger side at an investor conference — Daniel.Cardenas — Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

Neither the GBP 3,750 nor the GBP 1,500 band of the UK Electric Car Grant applies to a Tesla, and the reason has nothing to do with the price of the car.

As of 3 August 2026, Tesla remains excluded from both bands of the UK Electric Car Grant — Band 1 (GBP 3,750) and Band 2 (GBP 1,500). The position hasn't moved. Worth being precise about why, because it's easy to assume this is about price and it isn't.

The actual blocker

The scheme carries a manufacturer requirement: a maker needs a verified Science Based Target for emissions to qualify, and Tesla doesn't have one. That's a corporate-reporting hurdle, not a vehicle-spec one. It's why the Model Y — the UK's best-selling EV — doesn't qualify, and why the Model 3 is shut out too, despite otherwise meeting the grant's technical criteria.

For context on the scheme itself: cars priced over GBP 37,000 — or GBP 42,000 with options — don't get the full grant under either band regardless of manufacturer. But that price rule isn't why Tesla misses out; Tesla is excluded on the manufacturer test alone, so a cheaper Tesla wouldn't suddenly qualify.

Does this change your order timing?

Not on today's evidence. The position is explicitly unchanged as of this update, and nothing in the current reporting points to Tesla resolving the Science Based Targets requirement on any particular timeline. If you've been holding off ordering in the hope that a government grant might apply to a Tesla soon, there's no basis in what's known right now to expect that. The only saving that's actually available today, for a UK Model 3 or Model Y order, is the referral link's 650 free Supercharging miles — a separate mechanism from the government grant, and one that doesn't depend on manufacturer emissions reporting at all.

Don't conflate the two: a "Tesla government discount" is not a real, currently-available thing, in the same way a manually-typed voucher code isn't. The referral link is.

Background: what is and isn't a real Tesla saving in the UK.

Sources

Electric Car Grant guide — Honest John
Which cars are eligible for the UK's Electric Car Grant — Autocar

Checked against Tesla’s own en_gb pages on 5 August 2026. UK programme terms differ from the US and change often — re-verify at tesla.com/en_gb before you rely on any figure here.

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