Electric Car Grant Expands Again: Kia EV4 and Renault Scenic E-Tech Land the Full £3,750
Source: KIA
The UK's Electric Car Grant has expanded again, and two of the most-shopped family EVs of 2026 are now on the top-tier list. Kia's EV4 hatchback (in 'Air' and 'Motion' trims) and the Renault Scenic E-Tech have both been certified for Band 1, the £3,750 discount, alongside cars like the Nissan LEAF, Ford Puma Gen-E, Renault 5 and MINI Countryman Electric. For anyone weighing up an electric car salary sacrifice deal through The Electric Car Scheme, the maths just got more interesting.
What changed
The Kia EV4 'Air' Standard Range (58.3kWh) and 'Air' Long Range (81.4kWh), plus the newly introduced 'Motion' grade, have moved from the £1,500 Band 2 incentive into Band 1 at £3,750. That makes the EV4 the brand's first model to land the maximum discount and the 11th car overall to clear the top-tier criteria. Entry-level pricing on the EV4 Air now drops to £30,995 on-the-road. The grant does not apply to 'GT-Line' or 'GT-Line S' variants, which sit outside the £42,000 price cap that covers higher-spec versions of the same model line.
The Renault Scenic E-Tech has also picked up Band 1 certification, joining Renault 4 E-Tech, Renault 5 (52kWh) and the Renault Alpine A290 in the brand's £3,750 lineup. The Scenic is one of the longest-range family EVs in its price bracket and a genuine alternative to the Volkswagen ID.4 and Nissan Ariya for buyers who need a five-seat SUV without the saloon premium.
Both updates flow from the Vehicle Certification Agency completing checks on manufacturer sustainability data. To qualify for Band 1, a carmaker must hold fully validated Science Based Targets covering Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions; Band 2 requires an approved commitment with interim milestones. The VCA has cut typical processing time to roughly two to three weeks, which is why the eligible list keeps growing month by month.
The current Band 1 line-up
After the EV4 and Scenic additions, the cars qualifying for the full £3,750 discount span everything from a £22,995 supermini to a £41,995 SUV. The table below lists the Band 1 models as they stand in June 2026, with starting prices before and after the grant.
| Vehicle | RRP from | After £3,750 grant |
|---|---|---|
| Renault 5 (52kWh) | £22,995 | £19,245 |
| Nissan Micra (52kWh) | £25,995 | £22,245 |
| Renault 4 E-Tech | £26,995 | £23,245 |
| Ford Puma Gen-E | £29,995 | £26,245 |
| Kia EV4 Air (58.3kWh) | £34,695 | £30,945 |
| Renault Alpine A290 | £33,500 | £29,750 |
| Ford E-Tourneo Courier | £33,690 | £29,940 |
| Renault Scenic E-Tech | £37,195 | £33,445 |
| Citroën ë-C5 Aircross Long Range | £39,000 | £35,250 |
| Nissan LEAF | £28,995 | £25,245 |
| MINI Countryman Electric | £41,995 | £38,245 |
Band 2 still covers the bulk of the eligible-car list, with around 45 models in total receiving either £3,750 or £1,500 off. The £1.3bn extension confirmed in the November 2025 Autumn Budget keeps the scheme funded into the 2028-29 financial year.
What the grant looks like through salary sacrifice
The Electric Car Grant is applied at the point of sale, so the £3,750 comes off the vehicle price before the lease is calculated rather than landing as a one-off cash payment. Spread over a typical 36-month salary sacrifice scheme, £3,750 reduces the headline monthly figure by around £104. The lower lease then flows into a smaller pay reduction, which compounds the tax and National Insurance savings you make on every sacrificed pound.
For pure EVs, Benefit-in-Kind is charged at just 4% of the car's P11D value for the 2026/27 tax year. That small charge is the only tax giveback against an otherwise tax-free benefit, which is why the realistic employee saving from salary sacrifice lands in the 20-50% range. Any provider quoting a saving of 60% or more is folding the employer's National Insurance saving into the employee's headline number; the figure for the driver alone, after Income Tax, employee NIC and BiK, does not exceed 50%.
A worked example: Kia EV4 Air for a higher-rate taxpayer
Take a Kia EV4 Air Long Range, priced at £34,695 before the grant. With £3,750 deducted, the lease is structured against a vehicle price of around £30,945. Through The Electric Car Scheme on a 36-month, 10,000-mile-per-annum agreement, indicative pricing for the EV4 starts at roughly £340 a month all-in, including insurance, maintenance, tyres, breakdown cover and a manufacturer warranty.
For a 40% (higher-rate) taxpayer in England and Wales, that figure is met from pre-tax pay. The Income Tax and 8% employee NIC saved on the sacrificed amount, set against a 4% BiK charge on the P11D value, lands the effective monthly cost at roughly £205 to £220. Compared with the same car on personal contract hire at the post-grant price, the salary sacrifice route saves around £120 to £140 per month, or £4,300 to £5,000 across a three-year term, without the driver having to find a deposit. Scottish income tax bands shift the number slightly, which is why we recommend running your own figures through the salary sacrifice calculator.
Why this matters for employers
Adding the EV4 and Scenic to Band 1 widens the family-sized end of the best EV deals list, which is where most employer demand sits. The Renault 5 and Nissan Micra have anchored the entry-level end of Band 1 since spring; the Ford Puma Gen-E covers the small-SUV slot; and the MINI Countryman Electric has been the premium option. The EV4 and Scenic fill the gap between them, both with usable range (over 380 miles WLTP on the EV4 Air Long Range) and the kind of practical interior that converts hesitant first-time EV drivers.
For HR and reward teams running a salary sacrifice scheme for companies, the practical upshot is that more employees can hit a sub-£250 effective monthly cost on a genuinely capable family car. That moves the conversation from "is this affordable?" to "which trim?". The Electric Car Scheme passes the full grant straight through to the quoted price and protects the employer with Complete Employer Protection from Day 1, so there are no exclusion periods for resignation, redundancy, illness or parental leave, no excess to pay, and no service interruption when life events happen. Most competitor providers run a three-month exclusion window during which the employer carries early-termination liability themselves.
The scheme is offered at £0 set-up cost and is already in place at named enterprise clients including Holland & Barrett, Leeds Bradford Airport, Millwall FC, TopCashback and Time Out Group PLC. It was recognised as EV Salary Sacrifice Provider of the Year 2026 by SME News and named Best Salary Sacrifice Provider by Car Sloth in both 2024 and 2025.
Timing: why act now
The Electric Car Grant runs through to the 2028-29 financial year, but eligibility is reassessed when manufacturers reapply or revise pricing, and not every variant in a given model line qualifies (EV4 GT-Line and GT-Line S sit outside the cap, for example). Order books on the freshly upgraded variants are already moving, and lead times on the most popular Band 1 cars have started to extend as fleet demand catches up. Locking in a used or new EV through salary sacrifice at today's grant level removes the risk of the certification status changing during a future contract.
BiK on pure EVs is also still at its 2026/27 rate of 4%. The rate steps up by one percentage point a year to 9% in 2029/30, so the tax position on a 36-month agreement signed in 2026 is materially better than one signed in 2029. The grant amplifies the effect rather than replacing it.
Bottom line
The Kia EV4 (Air and Motion) and Renault Scenic E-Tech joining Band 1 is straightforward good news for UK EV buyers. The £3,750 discount applies automatically at the point of sale, flows through into salary sacrifice pricing on a like-for-like basis, and stacks with the 4% Benefit-in-Kind rate to deliver 20-50% off the effective monthly cost compared with personal contract hire. With more than 45 models now eligible across Band 1 and Band 2, the question for most drivers is no longer "is there a deal worth taking?" but "which car?"
To see a live, post-grant monthly figure on the EV4, the Scenic or any other eligible model, run a quote through the instant quote tool. Employers exploring how to roll out a scheme can start with the employer guide.
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Last updated: 01/06/2026
Our pricing is based on data collected from The Electric Car Scheme quote tool. All final pricing is inclusive of VAT. All prices above are based on the following lease terms; 10,000 miles pa, 36 months, and are inclusive of Maintenance and Breakdown Cover. The Electric Car Scheme’s terms and conditions apply. All deals are subject to credit approval and availability. All deals are subject to excess mileage and damage charges. Prices are calculated based on the following tax saving assumptions; England & Wales, 40% tax rate. The above prices were calculated using a flat payment profile. The Electric Car Scheme Limited provides services for the administration of your salary sacrifice employee benefits. The Electric Car Scheme Holdings Limited is a member of the BVRLA (10608), is authorised and regulated by the FCA under FRN 968270, is an Appointed Representative of Marshall Management Services Ltd under FRN 667174, and is a credit broker and not a lender or insurance provider.
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