SMALL businesses who want to encourage their staff to go green and drive electric can point their company car drivers to a useful £500 grant for installing a homecharge point.

The government has announced a grant for green drivers of up to 75% or £500 cap towards the installation of a charging point under its recently announced electric homecharge scheme. The grant is per household and eligible car.

How do I qualify for the electric homecharge scheme?

• You must be the primary user of electric vehicle that is eligible – that means you own it, lease it, are named as the primary user or have an electric vehicle on order
• The vehicle must be eligible. A full list of eligible vehicles can be found at https://www.gov.uk/plug-in-car-van-grants/eligibility
• The grant can only be claimed by installers authorised by the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV)
  The installation date must not be more than four months ahead of the date of delivery or start date of vehicle use.

There are some restrictions to claiming the grant. For example, occasional use of a company electric vehicle doesn’t mean you qualify; if you lease an EV for fewer than six months;  or only have access to an EV through a car club.

But otherwise the grant is a useful addition to small firms and SME businesses wanting their drivers to go green, whether they drive an electric company car or are thinking of buying one privately.

Where can I read more about the electric homecharge scheme?

You can visit the OLEV page by clicking this link.