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Grants to incentivise sales of electric cars are set to return as part of a tier system that will award bigger subsidies to UK-made vehicles, according to The Telegraph.

The report claims that £640 million in taxpayer cash will be used to fund the move as part of new plans to boost retail sales of EVs. 

Official details of the fund will be fully announced on Tuesday by the government, transport secretary Heidi Alexander told The Telegraph. An extra £60m will also be announced to fund the building of more public chargers.

She said: “We do know that the high upfront purchase cost of EVs is something that people are wary about.

“I think we’ve got to be honest and say there are a lot of people out there who think that EVs are just for the very wealthiest.

“We also want to really move away from people having range anxiety to people having range awareness and knowing that they’re going to be able to make the journeys that they want to make.

“It’s right that the government thinks in the round about what we can do to tackle both of the issues, on charging and on the upfront cost of purchase.”

This echoes the previous Conservative government’s Plug-in Car Grant, which was pulled in 2022 and took £1500 off the price of a new EV, but one important difference with the new set-up is that it will incorporate a tier system, effecting the amount of grant given.

The report claims that this will favour UK-made cars, such as those manufactured at Sunderland by Nissan, which this year will begin building the new Leaf EV and next year the Juke EV.

The grant is also expected to apply only below a certain price band, meaning the most expensive and more premium EVs will not be eligible.

The news comes as car makers are struggling to hit the UK’s Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate, which this year requires them to achieve an EV sales mix of 28% or be fined £12,000 per non-compliant vehicle. So far this year, just under 25% of all new cars sold in the UK have been fully electric.

The motor industry is concerned that EV sales are being heavily propped up by fleet sales, given the fleet sector already has incentives via benefit-in-kind tax reliefs, which is why retail customers are now set to receive support.

The grant is part of a wider move by the government to increase the appeal of EVs. On Sunday it announced Drive35, a £2.5 billion fund “supporting projects which help the transition to zero-emission vehicle manufacturing”.

This includes cash for manufacturing, R&D, jobs, upskilling and more to “help ensure the UK remains at the forefront of zero-emission vehicle development”, said the government. 

Business and trade secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: “Economic growth is our number-one priority, and by funding our world-leading auto sector, we are creating the right conditions for increased investment, bringing growth, jobs and opportunities to every part of the UK.”  

The announcement was welcomed by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders’ chief executive, Mike Hawes, who called it “further evidence of the sector’s importance to economic growth”.

He added: “The importance of a long-term, cross-government strategy with specific measures for automotive cannot be understated, given the challenges facing the sector amid geopolitical uncertainty and fierce global competition.”

The Hyundai Ioniq 9, the firm’s largest, most luxurious and longest-legged electric car yet, has gone on sale from £64,995.

This entry price makes it £20,000 cheaper than the Volvo EX90 and half that of the Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV, its closest rivals. It is the same price as the Kia EV9, its mechanical twin.

Hyundai's new flagship tops out at £77,595 in Calligraphy form, taking the brand into unprecedented territory. Deliveries will begin later this summer. This also comfortably outprices the Santa Fe to make it the most expensive Hyundai yet.

Offering up to 421bhp and a maximum range of 385 miles, the EV shares its E-GMP platform with the Ioniq 5 crossover and Ioniq 6 saloon.

The Ioniq 9 was revealed at the 2024 Los Angeles motor show, which is indicative of Hyundai's prevailing focus on the American market, where much of the car's development has taken place.

As the firm’s most overtly premium-focused model, the Ioniq 9 has a significant role to play in attracting custom to Hyundai from established upmarket brands like Audi and BMW. Design boss Simon Loasby is confident it can serve this purpose, telling Autocar that the Ioniq 9 is emblematic of Hyundai’s drastic shift in positioning and perception in recent years.

“For the amount of money you’re spending, you’re getting an incredibly premium car," he said. "People would argue that Hyundai isn’t premium, but when you see what you get, and the quality of execution and the technical content, even the [new entry EV] Inster is a premium car. Hyundai has gone from being a white goods manufacturer, as one journalist said of the Ioniq 6, to one of emotional, desirable, attractive, high-quality vehicles.”

Loasby even went so far as to suggest there is potential for the Ioniq 9 to make a dent in the full-bore luxury segment. When asked if he expects even Range Rover owners to be tempted into making the switch, he said: “Absolutely. I could see a big band of people being tempted, and I can see a band of people saying absolutely not, as well. That’s okay.”

Hyundai Ioniq 9 powertrains

The Ioniq 9 will be available from launch with three choices of powertrain. The 215bhp, rear-driven Long Range car is the most efficient and has a claimed 385-mile maximum range figure, while the 303bhp dual-motor car returns 376 miles per charge and the top-rung 429bhp AWD Performance model manages 372 miles. They get from 0-62mph in 9.4sec, 6.7sec and 5.2sec respectively, and top out at 124mph.

As with Ioniqs 5 and 6, the large new SUV is in line for a hot N variant.

Each variant is equipped with an 800V, 110.3kWh (usable) battery. It’s rated to charge at speeds of up to 354kW, though as with other E-GMP-based EVs currently on sale, Hyundai suggests the real-world maximum will be closer to 220-230kW.

The battery can also be used to charge external devices with the 230V vehicle-to-load function, and Hyundai has made some subtle improvements to “address common EV customer concerns”, such as improving the consistency of the battery’s performance, providing more detailed energy usage information and enhancing the inbuilt EV route planner.

Other important upgrades for the Ioniq 9 are the introduction of a higher gear ratio at the rear for increased torque at lower speeds, and a two-stage power inverter that is said to improve efficiency.

Hyundai Ioniq 9 design

Hyundai refers to the Ioniq 9 as an ‘aerosthetic lounge’, coining a phrase that reflects the design team’s simultaneous focus on desirability, aerodynamic efficiency and interior refinement.

In keeping with Hyundai’s ‘chess piece’ approach to differentiating each of its models, it is only subtly visually related to its electric range-mates - chiefly through the liberal use of ‘parametric’ pixel lighting designs, which frame the tailgate and wrap around the front end, though as full-width headlights are banned in the UK, cars in this country will have two separate headlight clusters.

Loasby says its “Teutonic” silhouette (influenced by aircraft fuselages) is “not typical for an SUV”, acknowledging the similarities with traditional estate car designs - notably in the bluff rear end and relatively flat roof and window line.

Impressively for a car of this size and shape, the Ioniq 9 touts a drag coefficient of as little as 0.259 - far more slippery than its Kia sibling and Volvo rival and on a par with even some low-slung saloons. The rounded front end, minimalist surfacing and various air-channelling design elements are key contributors, but Hyundai highlights the Ioniq 9’s unusual tapered ‘boat-tail’ rear end as a defining design characteristic.

The Ioniq 9 also has a dual-motion active air flap in its undertray to manage air passing underneath – a first for Hyundai – along with new wind-cheating wheel designs and ‘hidden’ antennae to minimise obstructions.

The overhangs are minimised and the A-pillars are placed as far forward as possible for maximum cabin space in all dimensions, resulting in a 3130mm wheelbase that outstrips the Land Rover Defender 110.

Hyundai Ioniq 9 interior

Available either with seven seats or a pair of swivelling middle-row armchairs in the VIP-focused six-seater, the Ioniq 9’s cabin aims to serve as what Loasby calls a “natural lounge” – “a furnished, relaxed, caring space”, majoring on airiness and functionality.

It has the longest wheelbase of any Hyundai yet, at 3130mm, allowing it to offer highly competitive levels of leg room in all three rows – Hyundai quotes up to 2050mm for the second and third rows combined – and for the optional middle-row armchairs to fully recline.

The cockpit is familiar from the other Ioniq models, with a one-piece panoramic curved panel mounted atop the dashboard for the driver display and infotainment screens, but a healthy smattering of physical buttons and switches left in place for key controls.

The Ioniq 9’s centre console – dubbed Universal Island 2.0 – has a ‘hidden’ 12.6-litre storage cubby underneath the 5.6-litre top tray, and the whole unit slides back and forth to free up space in the front of the cabin and give rear passengers easier access.

At the back, the Ioniq 9 offers to 908 litres of boot space with the third row folded flat and 338 litres with seats up. In addition, it has one of the largest frunks of any EV in the UK, with up to 88 litres of space beneath the bonnet (or 52 litres in the AWD car).

Hyundai Ioniq 9 chassis

The Ioniq 9 has been tuned for an optimum blend of long-distance refinement and smooth, predictable handling, claims Hyundai, emphasising the lengths to which its engineers have gone to minimise weight, and touting the dynamic benefits of full torque vectoring and a new suspension system that has been “designed specifically for EVs and SUVs”.

The Ioniq 9 has multi-link suspension at each end, self-levelling twin-valve dampers to keep the body flat in corners and hydro-bushing components to reduce vibration on the move. It does not have rear steering like some other cars of this size but is expected to match the EV9’s 12.4m turning circle, which is only slightly wider than that of the much smaller Hyundai Tucson.

With sound-absorbing foam in the tyres, acoustic glass, reinforcement of key structures and an active sound control system that can “isolate noise at the source”, the Ioniq 9 has NVH levels in keeping with its premium billing, says Hyundai, and in line with some bona fide luxury cars.

Skoda has launched a new van variant of its Enyaq electric SUV that trades its back seats for an expansive cargo area.

Developed with specialist Strongs Plastic Products, the conversion brings a flat plastic load bay with tethers and removable dividers for securing loose items, and a plastic bulkhead with a small window into the cockpit. The Enyaq Cargo’s rear windows are tinted black to hide anything stored inside from prying eyes.

The conversion costs £1815 plus VAT and is aimed at fleets. It is based on the Enyaq 85, which is priced from £44,310, inclusive of VAT and registration charges. The model packs a single rear-mounted 282bhp motor and a 77kWh battery pack, yielding a range of 359 miles. It can be recharged at up to 135kW, allowing a 10-80% refill in 28 minutes.

It can also be had in 85X form, which adds a motor up front for four-wheel drive. Its total power output is unchanged from 282bhp but its range is reduced to 332 miles. To compensate, its peak charge rate is boosted to 175kW.

Skoda has told Autocar that Enyaq Cargo does not qualify for the government’s plug-in van grant, which discounts the price of small electric vans by up to £2500.

The Enyaq Cargo was born out of a partnership with the National Grid, which has ordered 70 examples. National Grid Energy Distribution currently runs more than 300 electric vans and 600 electric company cars, according to Skoda.

The Enyaq Cargo will be offered exclusively to fleet buyers through area fleet managers in Skoda’s dealer network.