Scotland interest free loans for used EVs

[anonymous-user]

"The interest-free Used Electric Vehicle Loan, funded by Transport Scotland (an agency of the Scottish Government) and administered by Energy Saving Trust, offers eligible drivers in Scotland an interest-free loan of up to £20,000 to cover the cost of purchasing a used electric car, or up to £5,000 for the purchase of a used electric motorcycle or moped. The loan has a repayment term of up to five years."

For individuals

https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/scotland/grants-l...

and businesses

https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/scotland/grants-l...

[marcella]

I'm really intrigued by this. I am wanting to make the jump to EV and this seems like the best way surely?

I am currently spending £400 a month on a diesel volvo and that's without maintenance (its over 70k miles now). I only really use my car for a 14 mile each way commute.

Just had a quick look at what I could get under 20k, BMW I3 and new style Nissan Leaf seem like they'd do the job for me.

I would be interested to hear if anyone has taken this offer and how it went?

[sjg]

They've been doing it on new cars (up to £35k) for a while, the recent change is to extend it to used.

It's a good scheme if you need/want an EV and qualify for it.

[Phunk]

Think I'm going to jump on this, probably picking up a 30kw Leaf which would cost naff all on 0%

[bernie_eccle]

Anyone taken up this loan yet? I called the Energy Saving Trust yesterday to enquire and was encouraged to provide an awful lot of personal information before I even got to my enquiry.

I was specifically looking to find out if a BMW i3 Rex would be eligible. The lady I spoke to went away to check with a better informed colleague who confirmed that it wasn't eligible for the Used Electric Vehicle Loan. I do kind of get that, but I wasn't overly convinced by the confidence in the answer.

It seems that the Trust simply require an invoice from the participating dealer/garage and then the loan proceeds are paid direct to the applicant rather than to the dealer, which surprised me.

I was surprised that there is no "flag" placed against the car in similar way to a car purchased via HP. I get the impression you could buy the car one week, sell it the following week and keep the loan going.

Probably my biggest concern would be the time taken to process the loan and receive the proceeds, I couldn't quite work out how long that would be but 10 days was quoted on the website.

I would be interested to hear of anyone's experience if they have applied either successfully or unsuccessfully.

[hiccy18]

I figured if we bought a new MG5 for her ladyship with a 0% load with the difference in running costs taken into account if the car retained 30% of its value after six years it would have effectively cost us nothing. With a seven year warranty I suspect I'd rather go down that route than a secondhand Leaf, Zoe or possibly i3.

[Phunk]

I applied two weeks ago, got my approval by email last Tuesday.

I've now filled out some additional forms and I'm told I'll have the funds in 10 working days. Looks like around a month overall for the full process.

Picking up a 30kw Tekna leaf, working out at £166/month over 5 years.

[bernie_eccle]

Phunk said:

I applied two weeks ago, got my approval by email last Tuesday.

I've now filled out some additional forms and I'm told I'll have the funds in 10 working days. Looks like around a month overall for the full process.

Picking up a 30kw Tekna leaf, working out at £166/month over 5 years.

Thanks for sharing that. This was one of my fears that it could take a month. Not sure all dealers would be happy to wait for a month although they may be happy to take a deposit, which is permitted under the scheme.

[Phunk]

bernie_eccle said:

Phunk said:

I applied two weeks ago, got my approval by email last Tuesday.

I've now filled out some additional forms and I'm told I'll have the funds in 10 working days. Looks like around a month overall for the full process.

Picking up a 30kw Tekna leaf, working out at £166/month over 5 years.

Thanks for sharing that. This was one of my fears that it could take a month. Not sure all dealers would be happy to wait for a month although they may be happy to take a deposit, which is permitted under the scheme.

The dealer I used (Frasers) was more than happy, they actually suggested the loan to me before I suggested it. Only caveat being that If that I'm not approved for the loan then the deposit is not refundable.

[mclwanB]

Thread resurrection alert!

Just looking into this, now up to 30k for a used ev on 0%, likely to be doing this next year.

Any more experience?

TIA

[codenamecueball]

mclwanB said:

Thread resurrection alert!

Just looking into this, now up to 30k for a used ev on 0%, likely to be doing this next year.

Any more experience?

TIA

Yes, just bought an Ioniq 38kWh and my FIL got an MG5.

It takes ages. The paperwork is unnecessarily complicated. They want everything both digitally and in paper. They take 2 weeks to reply to emails with simple questions. If you get the wrong person on the phone, you're fobbed off. If you get the right person, they sort it straight away.

Still, £30k at 0% is an offer only getting better. Only issue I had was dealers which had well priced stock not willing to hold onto it until the cash comes in, which can take a week from them giving you an invoice. I found a local dealer willing to go through the hassle of finding me the right car and I'm very happy in the end, but it's quite a lot of work. If you have the offer and are able to pay using savings you can speed up the process somewhat.

[Greenmantle]

codenamecueball said:

mclwanB said:

Thread resurrection alert!

Just looking into this, now up to 30k for a used ev on 0%, likely to be doing this next year.

Any more experience?

TIA

Yes, just bought an Ioniq 38kWh and my FIL got an MG5.

It takes ages. The paperwork is unnecessarily complicated. They want everything both digitally and in paper. They take 2 weeks to reply to emails with simple questions. If you get the wrong person on the phone, you're fobbed off. If you get the right person, they sort it straight away.

Still, £30k at 0% is an offer only getting better. Only issue I had was dealers which had well priced stock not willing to hold onto it until the cash comes in, which can take a week from them giving you an invoice. I found a local dealer willing to go through the hassle of finding me the right car and I'm very happy in the end, but it's quite a lot of work. If you have the offer and are able to pay using savings you can speed up the process somewhat.

So what you are saying is that the money comes directly to you rather than to the seller. If thats the case what checks are in place to make sure its spent on an EV?

[codenamecueball]

Greenmantle said:

So what you are saying is that the money comes directly to you rather than to the seller. If thats the case what checks are in place to make sure its spent on an EV?

You send them a copy of the invoice as well as, and I wish this was a joke, a copy of your bank statement to prove you paid the money to the dealer.

[Hill92]

codenamecueball said:

You send them a copy of the invoice as well as, and I wish this was a joke, a copy of your bank statement to prove you paid the money to the dealer.

I think they also do checks with the dealer. At least they did on the new car loan scheme last year.

I also echo the comment about cash flow. They can be slow to get it paid across at the last minute, which can be a problem if the dealer wants to move quickly. Some dealers are patient/understanding, others will expect you to front up the cash yourself until the loan comes through or cancel the sale. At least that was the case with Tesla's quarter ended push - if you couldn't pay, you went to the back of the queue for next quarter and they sold your car to someone who buy it before quarter end.

No loan repayment in first month. Kicks in the following month with a larger month 1 payment (maybe 1.5 months?). Beyond that haven't heard from them since.

[OverHonda]

codenamecueball said:

It takes ages. The paperwork is unnecessarily complicated. They want everything both digitally and in paper. They take 2 weeks to reply to emails with simple questions. If you get the wrong person on the phone, you're fobbed off. If you get the right person, they sort it straight away.

This in spades...

Went through the process for a new car loan 2 years ago. In addition to the slow processing and endless requests for documentation, they managed to set my application up as for an eBike.

Got there in the end though...

[mclwanB]

codenamecueball said:

mclwanB said:

Thread resurrection alert!

Just looking into this, now up to 30k for a used ev on 0%, likely to be doing this next year.

Any more experience?

TIA

Still, £30k at 0% is an offer only getting better. *Only issue I had was dealers which had well priced stock not willing to hold onto it until the cash comes in, which can take a week from them giving you an invoice*. I found a local dealer willing to go through the hassle of finding me the right car and I'm very happy in the end, but it's quite a lot of work. If you have the offer and are able to pay using savings you can speed up the process somewhat.

This seems to be it, even though the dealers have loads and loads of non moving (700 ioniq EVs on the various sites...) few of them will allow you to use the EV loans.

So far dealer that will:

Peter Vardy CARZ (Glasgow) but need a £500 deposit. Need to see if that's refundable if the loan is refused

Refused

Motorpoint
Cazoo

Trying the others when a suitable car comes up

[Phunk]

Frasers in Falkirk do it, they actually encouraged me to use it. Asked for a £500 deposit though.

Great experience with them 👍

[CSLM3CSL]

Can you use any car dealer in GB or is it Scotland only?

[codenamecueball]

mclwanB said:

This seems to be it, even though the dealers have loads and loads of non moving (700 ioniq EVs on the various sites...) few of them will allow you to use the EV loans.

So far dealer that will:

Peter Vardy CARZ (Glasgow) but need a £500 deposit. Need to see if that's refundable if the loan is refused

Refused

Motorpoint
Cazoo

Trying the others when a suitable car comes up

Some relevant news, you don't need to have found a car to get the loan offer. At the point of purchase you must have a loan offer, but not waiting on the invoice. So if you have £30k cash hanging around, you can apply, get accepted, then buy the car, then do the car-specific paperwork after with the invoice etc. They confirmed this over the phone to me.

Avoid Vardy like the plague - they make up the admin fees as they go along and most of their Ioniq's are ex-London minicabs.

CSLM3CSL said:

Can you use any car dealer in GB or is it Scotland only?

Any

[Terminator X]

Pretty much no one wants EV so govt prop it all up with cheap loans subsidized by the taxpayer. Quell surprise.

TX.