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The UK’s £500 plug-in motorcycle grant (PiMG) scheme came to an end on April 5, having received a one-year extension in early 2025 as part of a £120million Government funding boost to support the increase of electric vehicle uptake.
“This grant supported over 15,000 riders to switch to electric, but we need to focus funding on vehicles that have the highest impact to our environment,” a spokesperson for the Department for Transport (DfT) confirmed to MCN late last week.
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Initially launched back in 2016, the PiMG incentive first offered a price reduction of £1500 on all road-registered battery bikes, or 20% – whichever was smallest at the point of sale. This had since dropped to a 35% discount up to a maximum value of £500 for electric motorcycles priced at £10,000 and under.
According to the DfT spokesperson, the Government has now invested almost £10million into the scheme since its inception, and has supported the purchase of over 15,000 electric motorcycles.
Customers had until April 5 to benefit from any kind of incentive, with key industry figures now urging Ministers to reconsider their position.
The Motorcycle Industry Association (MCIA) have now commissioned research company WPI Economics to look into the decision, with the firm forecasting a £50million loss (around 6500 bikes) to the UK’s electric motorcycle market by 2030.
MCIA CEO Tony Campbell confirmed to MCN that discussions are already ongoing to look at fresh incentives for electric motorcycle uptake.
“We’d had meetings with OZEF (Office for Zero Emission Vehicles), which is a sub-department of DFT, earlier in March,” Campbell explained.
Although considered a blow, Campbell admits that the outgoing scheme had limited benefits, adding: “The plug-in grant as it was… just wasn’t meaningful. The maximum threshold for the retail price is £10,000. Mopeds hadn’t been included since 2024, and it was only for L3 Electric Motorcycles motorcycles.
“There has to be a more complete approach if you genuinely want to incentivise people,” he continued. “We’re now doing a load of work ahead of the [autumn] budget to lay down on the table a much more thorough, 360-degree plan of what needs to happen to really truly incentivise our sector.”
MCIA data showed just 250 EV motorcycles of all capacities were registered in the UK across the first two months of the year – down from 299 in 2025.
The MCN take
It seems an odd decision for the Government to remove the grant when electric motorcycle sales are still clearly struggling in the UK. It will be interesting to see how the MCIA’s more rounded approach will play out later in the year.
