EVA England is a group that published a report about EVs in England. The hosts use it to explain why some people can switch to EVs more easily than others.
Westminster is the area in London where the UK government and Parliament are based. The report being launched there suggests it’s meant to influence policy.
Cross-pavement charging is the UK practice of installing EV charge points across or near the public pavement area, typically to serve drivers who don’t have off-street parking. The segment frames it as a “postcode lottery,” meaning access can vary widely by local council and location.
Benefit-in-kind is the tax on non-cash perks from your employer, like a company car. A payrolling change means the tax for that perk may be handled differently through your regular paycheck.
A grant deadline is the last day you can apply for or qualify for a government subsidy. The hosts are warning that June 30th is an important date for EV-related funding.
This is the UK government’s program that gives money off certain electric cars. The key point here is that which discount you get depends on rules about emissions from making and shipping the car, not only what it does while driving.
This means the pollution created to make and transport the car before you ever drive it. The host says the UK EV grant looks at this, not just emissions from driving.
Tailpipe emissions are pollutants produced when a vehicle is driven and burns fuel (or, for EVs, the concept is used as a contrast). The host’s point is that the UK grant considers supply-chain carbon instead of focusing only on tailpipe emissions.
This is a measure of how much climate pollution is created by making and delivering the car. The host says building closer to the UK can lower that number and help a car qualify for a better grant.
A grant ceiling is the maximum price limit for the government discount. If a car costs more than that limit, it may not qualify for the grant even if it’s otherwise eligible.
The EV2 is the smaller Kia EV2 mentioned as being built in Slovakia and expected to qualify for the full UK grant when it arrives later in 2026. The host uses it to extend the same grant logic—manufacturing location and eligibility tiers—into future pricing.
The Kia EV3 is another Kia electric car. The hosts are using it as a comparison to explain why the EV4 might be the better buy for people shopping in a certain price range.
Here, “layered assessment” means the grant isn’t decided by one simple rule. Instead, it’s based on several factors—like where the car is made and what it costs you at the end.
A domestic electricity tariff is the per-kilowatt-hour rate households pay for power, and “under nine pence per unit” is a specific price threshold. The host uses it to explain why some non-driveway households can’t access cheap overnight home charging unless their council permits the pavement cable route.
This is a small channel put into the pavement that lets you route an EV charging cable safely to a car parked outside. It’s meant to be flat with the ground so it’s less likely to cause trips and to make home charging possible for people without a driveway.
Kerbo charge is named as one of the brands offering cross-pavement EV charging gully systems in the UK. In this segment, it’s part of the practical “who’s doing it” list rather than a technical deep dive.
Company
charge gully
“Charge gully” is mentioned as one of the brands providing cross-pavement EV charging gully solutions in the UK. The segment uses it to show there are multiple commercial options for enabling street-side home charging.
Company
pave cross
“Pave cross” is listed as a brand offering cross-pavement EV charging gully systems in the UK. The host is using it to illustrate that multiple vendors are already supplying these installations.
This is a way to install an EV charger where the cable has to go across the sidewalk area, not just inside your own driveway. Because it uses public space, local councils have to approve it. The episode is talking about which areas allow it and which don’t.
A freedom of information request is a formal way to ask the government or a public agency for information. In this case, it’s how the hosts got data about which councils allow certain EV charging installations.
This part of the show explains which local councils allow a certain kind of EV charger installation across the sidewalk, and which don’t. It also talks about the reasons for refusals and why the costs can vary a lot by location.
Public charging is when you charge your EV at charging points that anyone can use, usually outside your home. The hosts say it can cost a lot more than charging at home, which is why these council permissions are important.
Some councils say they won’t allow these chargers because if cables get damaged in public areas, it could be dangerous. They’re worried about electrical safety for people walking nearby.
In some street layouts, councils worry that you can’t reliably guarantee where cars will park. If the charger depends on a particular spot being available, it may become unusable or unsafe when parking changes.
A “postcode lottery” means your chances and costs depend on your local area. In this episode, it’s about whether your council will allow a certain kind of EV charger installation and how much it will cost you.
BIK rate is the percentage the government uses to work out how much tax you owe on a company perk. Here, it’s comparing EVs versus petrol/diesel cars—EVs get a much lower percentage, so the tax bill can be smaller.
Salary sacrifice is when you trade some of your paycheck for a company-provided benefit. With an EV scheme, that benefit is usually a company car lease, and the tax is calculated using a special EV tax rate instead of treating it like normal pay.
This means your employer takes the tax for the company perk through your monthly payroll. Instead of you getting a big tax adjustment later, it shows up on your payslip as it happens.
P11D is a UK tax form employers used to send to report employee perks. The change described here is that employers will handle the tax through payroll instead of relying on the annual P11D process.
BIK tax is the tax you pay on a company-provided benefit. In this case, it’s the tax on the EV perk, and the big change is that it shows up each month on your payslip.
It’s a workplace arrangement where you get an electric car through your employer, and your pay is adjusted so the tax is handled as a special “benefit” rather than normal salary. The host explains that the tax will be taken through payroll each month after the April 2026 change.
Salary sacrifice is when you trade part of your pay for a benefit instead. In this case, it can make the EV lease cheaper each month, so you keep more of your money overall.
The Kia EV4 is an electric car from Kia. In this episode, they’re using it as an example of a car that can get the full £3,750 UK grant if you order within the June 1–June 30 window.
“Grant interaction” here refers to how the UK EV grant is handled when you obtain the car via salary sacrifice. The host explains that the grant is typically passed through as a lower lease cost, which reduces the monthly amount you pay and therefore reduces the salary you sacrifice.
BIK is how the UK taxes certain benefits you get from your employer, like an employer-provided car. The “BIK rate advantage” means the EV can be taxed more favorably, making it cheaper for you overall.
This is the UK government EV incentive that can lower the price of certain electric cars. The host warns that some deals also depend on the car maker’s own time-limited discounts, so the details matter.
A cutoff date is the last day you can qualify for a discount or incentive. Here, June 30 matters because some EV savings only apply if you order by then.
The Dacia Spring is a small, low-cost electric car. Here they’re talking about a deal that can make it cheaper to buy, using a 0% interest finance offer plus extra money from the manufacturer.
A manufacturer top-up deal is extra discount or money from the car brand itself. It can make the car cheaper than you’d expect, but it usually only lasts until a specific deadline.
Off-street parking refers to having a dedicated place to park at home or nearby that isn’t on public roads. The host argues the EV transition has favored people with off-street parking because it makes home charging easier, creating a structural disadvantage for renters and terrace street dwellers.
A charging checker is a website/tool that helps you figure out if you can get the right kind of charging where you live. In this segment, it’s connected to council rules and whether your employer supports salary sacrifice.
National Insurance contributions are taxes connected to payroll in the UK. The host is saying employers may save money when they offer this EV charging benefit through salary sacrifice.
Term
NSUV
NSUV is a type of car shape—basically a crossover that’s not quite a full SUV. It’s designed to give you SUV-like space and position, but in a smaller, easier-to-live-with size.
In car development, a shared platform means multiple models use the same underlying architecture (hard points, mounting locations, and major structural components). The host’s point is that even with a shared platform, the EV3 and EV4 can still feel and fit differently because their body styles and packaging differ.
“Parity with petrol” means EVs should end up costing roughly the same as petrol cars. If that happens, the government incentive is less necessary, which is why the grant is expected to be phased out.
Home charging means plugging your EV in at your house to charge it overnight or whenever you need. The host is saying local rules can affect whether you’re allowed to install or use charging there.
LIVE
Good morning. Hope you've had a good week.
Here's a stat that landed in Parliament this week.
More than 2,400 EV drivers were surveyed.
The finding, the transition is working, but only for people who have driveways.
Above average incomes and access to reliable charging.
If you don't have those things, you're being asked to make the leap without a fair route across.
That's not me yet at all realising.
That's EVA England's words, and in a white paper launched in Westminster on Wednesday.
And it matters because it's the most authoritative summary I've seen of the structural problem
that underpins every conversation we have on this show.
Today we're going to dig into what the white paper actually says,
and why it lands the way it does this week.
We're also covering the key story that surprised me.
The EV4 is now genuinely cheaper than the smaller EV3.
So prices are fluctuating at the moment,
and the reason tells you something interesting about how the government grant actually works.
We've got a deep look at the cross-pavement charging postcode lottery
and a tool we've built to help you check where your own council stands.
Salary sacrifice and what the benefit-in-kind payrolling change means for you guys.
And a June 30th grant deadline you need to know about.
This is Primetime EV Live. Let's get into it.
So the UK EV transition 2026.
EVA England published a white paper this week calling Putting the Driver First.
And I want to spend some proper time on it because it's the kind of report that crystallizes something
the industry talks about without quite saying directly.
The finding, the EV transition is gathering pace,
but it will not succeed if it only works for drivers with driveways,
higher incomes, new car budgets, and easy access to reliable charging.
That's a structural problem and it's backed by survey data from 2,400 drivers,
not a manufacturer's press release.
Let me give you the three things the report is asking government to act on
because they're worth knowing.
First, the cost of public charging.
Drivers without home charging are paying substantially more per mile than drivers who plug in overnight.
I got a comment on one of my shorts this week saying that
we had someone paying under 3p per kilowatt hour for home charging.
We've covered the numbers before, but the public charging UK cost 2026.
This gap is not closing.
And EVA England is putting it directly to ministers ahead of the government's
upcoming public charging review.
If you rely on public infrastructure, you are paying a premium for the same electricity
your neighbour gets at home for a fraction of the price.
Second, the second hand EV market.
The white paper identifies a specific problem.
Lower income households can't access the new car grants and the used EV market
hasn't matured enough to offer reliable, affordable options at the price points that matter.
The transition is being different driven by new car buyers.
The 60% of drivers who will next buy used are being largely left out of the policy conversation.
And third, the practical barriers for renters and non driveway households.
This is the one that connects most directly to the rest of today's show.
So we'll come back to it in detail in segment three.
But the short version, roughly 40% of UK homes don't have off street parking.
For those households, whether they can charge cheaply at home depends entirely on their local council.
And there is no consistent national standard.
That is the definition of a structural barrier.
What I find interesting about this report is the framing.
EVA England isn't anti EV.
This is not a backlash document.
It's a pro transition document that is making the argument that the transition will fail unless it becomes fairer.
And I think that's the right argument to be making.
The report is also well timed.
It's landed ahead of the government's public charging review, which is by mechanism by which which is the mechanism by which prices and reliability standards on the public network could actually be addressed.
If ministers take the finding seriously, there are levers to pull the question will be whether they pull them.
Big arguments around VAT on public charging still at 20% and home charging at 5%.
So plenty to sort out there.
My read is that the report lands as a useful corrective to the dominant narrative, which is that the EV adoption is, which is the EV adoption is accelerating and the problems are being solved.
But some are, but EV access inequality UK is real.
It's measurable and it's getting harder to ignore now that there's 2400 driver evidence backing the argument.
I'd expect this white paper to get quoted in the public charging review, whether it changes policy is another question.
One thing I want to flag before we move on is that the white paper is publicly available.
It's co-sponsored by Auto Trader, Zapmap and EVCI, which gives it credibility across the industry.
If you want to read the full findings, I'll put a link in the description.
This EVA England's putting the driver first white paper.
I've actually got a graphic here that I will show you just with some of the stats on it.
Let me just change to that stage and I'll switch to a full screen so you can see or just put me down there.
EVA England's putting the driver first white paper launched in Parliament on 3rd of June, 2026.
It warns that the UK EV transition risks leaving millions of drivers behind.
Back by evidence from 2400 drivers, it finds that without action on public charging costs,
second hand access and home charging barriers, the transition will create a two tier system.
One Britain for driveway owners, another for everyone else, and this is important.
Okay, on to segment two, so I will now switch that back to the rolling rates.
You can see that we've got the rolling rates come up and they've just been refreshed this morning just before the show.
So you should be able to see on this tab, still get my head around a little bit of this, bear with me.
Let me remove that and share that and I'm with you again, hopefully.
Hmm, doesn't want to come up.
Anyway, we'll continue without that for now because I can't find out how to add my rolling rates back on, which is annoying.
Let me just try one more time.
Okay, so that's that.
Okay, I'm now with you.
You see that marvellous.
We've got home tariffs.
I'm going to squeeze it down a little bit so you can see it better.
We've got lease deals.
We've got AC charging rates and we've got home chargers just been updated.
We've got lease deals.
We've got AC charging and we've got DC charging fast or rapid DC charging on there as well.
So I'll leave those running for a while so you can watch the rates and look for yourself and see where the best rates are at the moment.
But as I said, someone sent me a 3p overnight rate at the moment.
So there are lots of deals going on out there still for people who are charging at home.
Okay, Kiri VU4 UK price 2026.
And I want to explain why this is more interesting than it looks because on the surface it's just a car getting cheaper.
But underneath it tells you something about how the electric car grant actually works that most people don't know.
The EV4 hatchback is qualified for the top tier of the UK government's electric car grant, Band 1.
Meaning that it now gets the full £3,750 off.
That brings the entry level air trim to £30,995.
Fine, good price for a family hatchback with 273 miles of range and 201 brake horsepower.
But here's the bit that surprised me.
The Kiri EV3 with the smaller car with the same platform, the same basic battery and motor only gets £1,500 off under Band 2.
So the EV4 is now £560 cheaper than the EV3, despite being a physically larger car with more range.
Just bear that in mind.
When you're looking at a new electric car, keep a close eye on what the grants are doing because a more expensive car and the list price might actually qualify for a better discount and you'll end up getting it cheaper.
So that's now the Kiri EV4 is now cheaper than the smaller EV3 in the UK because it qualifies for the full £3,750 government electric car grant, while the EV3 receives only £1,500.
The reason is that the EV4 is built in Slovakia while the EV3 is built in South Korea.
The UK grant factors in supply chain emissions, shipping from East Asia disqualifies cars from the top brand.
So that's interesting, I think.
But why does this build location matter?
Because the UK electric car grant 2026 takes into account the carbon emissions from the vehicle supply chain, not just the tailpipe.
A car built in Slovakia, close to the UK, has a lower supply chain carbon footprint than the same car shipped from South Korea.
The grant bans reward that.
It's not arbitrary.
It's a deliberate policy choice to incentivize domestic or near European manufacturing.
The EV4 Fastback, the sleeker sloping roofline version, doesn't get the grant at all because its price puts it above the grant ceiling and the EV3's situation may change.
Kiri's smaller EV2, also built in Slovakia, is expected to qualify for the full £73,750 grant when it arrives later this year, potentially bringing it to around £24,245.
What does this mean practically?
Well, a few things.
If you're shopping in the 30 to £35,000 bracket and Kiri's on your list, the EV4 is now arguably the better buy than the EV3 on price alone.
Before you factor in the exercise and the range, £30,995 for 273 miles is competitive.
The long range version at £33,245 with 388 miles of range is also interesting.
That's the kind of range that takes the anxiety out of longer journeys, we hope.
More broadly, this story is a window into how the electric car grant UK eligibility 2026 system actually works.
It's not simply a car, it's not simply is this car electric.
It's a layered assessment of where the car is built, what the supply chain looks like, and what the final price is.
Manufacturers who build closer to the UK have structural advantage in the grant system.
That's by design, and it's creating some unexpected pricing outcomes like a larger car undercutting a smaller one from the same brand.
I'd expect other manufacturers to take note of this.
If building in Slovakia gets you band one, that's a £2,250 difference in the consumer's pocket versus band two.
It's not an irrelevant number when you're trying to move volume in a competitive market.
Okay, we're going to go on to story three and give you an update on what we've been building actually.
I'm going to switch to this tab instead, and I'm going to switch me smaller so you can see it better.
Okay.
This story connects directly to the EVA England report that we opened with because one of the specific barriers the white paper calls out,
home charging access for non driveway households is the thing we've actually built something to address.
Let me give you the context first.
About 40% of UK households don't have off street parking.
That's roughly 11 million homes.
For those households, the route to cheap home charging, plug in overnight, domestic tariff under nine peer unit isn't available unless their council permits a cable gully across the pavement.
Across pavement EV charging gully UK for anyone new to this is a recess channel set in the pavement that lets you run your charging cable safely from your home to your car on the street.
Flush with the surface, no trip hazard, self closing.
The brands doing this in the UK include Kerbo charge, gully, charge gully and pave cross.
There are some good systems out there.
In 2026, 42% of UK councils, 56 out of 134 surveyed in a freedom of information request by voxel, either permit or plan to permit cross pavement charge UK EV charging gullies.
But 58% have no confirmed scheme.
Some have explicitly blocked it costs for installation vary from free to over 1000 pounds depending on the council with no national standard.
The data comes from freedom of information research by voxel covering 134 councils.
Those councils are in England, Scotland and Wales and we've already had several searches coming through in the last couple of days.
We've had Leicester, Stephen Edge, we've had London many times.
There's a lot of people out there that are searching and trying to find out what their council is doing and we're encouraging you to join the club at primetime EV so that we can carry out research with the councils and update you on when you may get permission to install a cross pavement gully.
Because at the moment, if you're having to go out and charge on public charging all the time, it's prohibitively expensive compared to having a very low cost EV at home.
Seven councils have life schemes right now 21 are in trials and 28 are planning to launch before the end of 2026.
That's 56 in total, 42%.
But at the moment, there's 21 in seven are alive out of 134 councils.
So it's not very many people that can do this, but keep a close eye on our website and the charging gully permission from councils.
We've got a council check on there.
The other 58 are either blocked or have no confirmed position and I keep seeing block come up from people that are searching.
Some councils have explicitly said no, citing pedestrian safety, accessibility for wheelchair users, or the practical difficulty of guaranteeing a parking space outside a specific property in a terrace street.
Westminster, Hackney, Islington, Ealing all blocked for various stated reasons.
Kent has cited electric shock risk from damaged cables.
Leicester has flagged the parking guarantee problem in terrace streets.
And where schemes do exist, the costs are all over the place.
Some councils are fully subsidizing it.
Stoke on Trent is covering 100% of installation costs, a saving of over 1200 pounds.
Reading received 202,000 pounds in government funding, making the gully hardware itself free.
Others are charging residents more than 1000 pounds with no subsidy.
There is no national standard.
So it's a postcode lottery at the moment.
That's why the exactly this kind of information should be in one place and we've built a tool for you to be able to check your council.
It's now live on the website at primetimeev.com.
You go to the home charging section, type in your postcode and it tells you whether your council permits cross-pavement charging UK is currently trialling it,
has blocked it, or we don't yet have confirmed data.
It's based on FOI data, London Council's guidance and the Guardian's investigation from last week.
If your council's blocked, the tool tells you why, based on the council's own stated reason.
The links and links you to the source.
If it's permitted, it points you towards the scheme or Kerbo charge.
And whichever result you get, there's a free sign up to our club, the Primetime EV Club, because we're tracking the policies month by month.
And if your council status changes, we can email you and let you know on our monthly email that goes out.
We've currently got around 25 councils covered, London boroughs, some English cities, and we're adding more every month based on what our audience is actually searching.
Not sure about your council, type in your postcode.
If it's not in the database yet, join the club and we'll research it.
So we just need more information from people about where they're researching.
Or email us at club at primetimeevee.com.
The main URL is primetimeevee.com, home charging section, takes 10 seconds.
And I'll put a link in the description so you can see where to find it.
Okay, salary sacrifice is the next story up. Let me go to that.
EV salary sacrifice UK 2026. I want to cover this properly because there's been a change this year that a lot of employees haven't noticed.
And it affects how your company car gets benefit gets taxed.
First, the basics.
Quickly, salary sacrifice is the arrangement where your employer leases an electric car and you agree to reduce your gross salary by the monthly leasing leasing cost.
Because the reduction comes from gross pay before income tax and national insurance deductions, you don't pay tax on the amount you sacrifice.
You do pay a small benefit in kind tax on the car's value, but for a zero emission electric vehicle, that rate is just 4% in 2026 and 2027.
Compare that to 25 to 37% for a comparable petrol or diesel car.
And you can see why it's the most tax efficient way most employers will ever drive a new car.
So that's EV salary sacrifice in 2026, 2027 attracts a 4% benefit in kind rate compared to 25 to 37% for petrol diesel.
From April 26, all employers must payroll benefits in kind in real time, rather than via an annual P11D form.
For employers, employees, the practical effect is that the BIK tax appears on your monthly pay slip rather than arriving as a lump sum tax code adjustment.
The saving structure is unchanged.
So just to get into that, now that the change has happened in April 2026 and not everyone has caught up with it because it's just happened.
From this tax year, all UK employers must payroll benefits in kind in real time through the payroll system, rather than reporting them via the annual P11D form.
The P11D, that document used to arrive once a year until the HMRC, what company benefits you'd received is effectively being retired as a primary mechanism.
So payroll need to get involved in organising this.
What does this mean for someone on a salary sacrifice electric car scheme UK?
The practical effect is that your BIK tax now appears on your monthly pay slip in real time, rather than being collected via a tax code adjustment at the end of the year.
For most people, that should actually be simpler.
You can see exactly what you're paying each month.
For employers, it's more complex because payroll systems need to be set up to handle it correctly.
The savings themselves haven't changed.
If you're a basic rate taxpayer sacrificing £500 a month on an EV lease, the tax saving via income tax and NI together is meaningful.
The rule of thumb is that every pound you sacrifice costs you between 55 and 72p in take home pay, depending on your tax bracket.
For a higher rate taxpayer, the savings are more significant still.
There's a practical check worth doing.
If your employer offers a salary sacrifice and you haven't looked at it recently, or if you're not sure whether your company has updated their payroll for the benefit in kind payrolling change,
now is a good time to have the conversation with HR or your benefits team.
Some employers have been slow to update their systems, and if BIK isn't being reported correctly in real time, it can create a headache at year end.
The trajectory of electric car BIK rates UK 4% this year, rising to 5% in 2027-28, then 2% up a year, up to 9% in 2029-2030.
Even at 9% that is less than a third of the typical petrol car rate.
The window of maximum advantage is now, the BIK rate will never be lower than it is today.
That's worth knowing if you've been on the fence about salary sacrificing when employers offer it.
A note on the grant interaction, we were just talking about how the Kia EV4 qualifies for the full £3750 grant.
If you're accessing a car through salary sacrifice, the grant is typically passed through in the form of a lower lease cost,
meaning the monthly payment is lower, which means the amount you sacrifice is lower.
The two levers work together.
That's part of why salary sacrifice on a grant eligible car is often genuinely compelling.
So think about it, if you're accessing a car through salary sacrifice, the grant is typically passed through in the form of a lower lease cost,
meaning the monthly payment is lower, which means the amount you sacrifice is lower, which means your overall saving is proportionally higher.
Works together.
One thing salary sacrifice doesn't help with charging costs at home.
That's a separate question and one that connects back to what we've been talking about with our council checker on our website.
The BIK rate advantage is enormous for the car itself.
The charging cost advantage depends entirely on your access to home charging,
which is why it matters whether your council will allow you to fit a gully if you live in a house without a driveway.
Okay, back to the graphic. Share that.
It's quite funny doing this when you're doing the entire thing yourself on.
Actually, I'll leave that kind of full then you can maybe you've got a better view of it than action.
I'll just go back to this view because yeah, you will see it better.
So let me just try that a minute again.
Okay.
Quick one before we go through any questions this week and and it has a date attached to pay attention to it.
The UK Electric Card Grant in June 2026 has a June 30th cutoff for several manufacturer contributions that are running alongside the government.
So in scheme, I want to be specific about what this actually is and what what's actually expiring because some of the numbers being quoted in the press conflate the government grant which is ongoing with the manufacturer incentives that are time limited.
What's confirmed until June 30, the key EV for full £3750 grant applies to orders between June 1 and June 30 confirmed on KIA's own website.
The Hyundai Insta gets £3750 manufacturer deposit contribution until June 30.
Dacia Spring has 0% APR finance plus a £1,500 manufacturer contribution also June 30.
These are the clear the cleanest most clearly dated deals I've seen confirmed this week.
The government's own electric car grant eligible models 2026 the scheme that's funded to the tune of £1.3 billion is still running after June 30.
That's not going anywhere but the manufacturer top up deals make some of these cars exceptional value right now.
But their time limited and June 30 is the date so keep an eye out practical message if you've already in conversations with a dealer about any of these models push for a confirmed order before June 30.
The car doesn't need to arrive.
The order needs to be in don't let that date sneak past you.
The car.
I'll put the current eligible models list in the description so you can check whether your shortlisted car qualifies.
Okay Q&A.
Let's pop up to that again.
Five questions we've got.
The question I get most asked about this white paper is in the finding is why hasn't this been fixed already.
Here's the direct answer because the people who make the decisions mostly have driveways and I'm only half joking.
The EV transition has been led by policymakers manufacturers and commentators who have off street parking and can access home charging.
The structural barrier facing renters, terrace street dwellers and lower income households haven't been invisible.
They've just been lower priority.
That's what the EVA England report is trying to change.
And that's why we've built this charging checker with your council and whether you can put a payment calling in your street on salary sacrifice.
Someone always asks what if my employer doesn't offer it.
The honest answer is that the scheme requires employer participation.
You can't set it up yourself.
If your employer doesn't offer it, the most useful thing you can do is flag it to HR and make the case.
The employer saves on national insurance contributions too.
So there's a commercial incentive for them as well as for you.
It's not hard to sell if the right person is listening to you.
On the key EV4 versus EV3 UK, a few people will wonder whether the EV3 is still worth considering given the price flip.
My view is yes, if the form factor works for you.
The EV3 is an NSUV body style and the EV4 is a hatchback and they suit different buyers.
The price flip is real, but the cars aren't interchangeable just because they share the platform.
Try both before you decide on the style and then let the grant maths work in your favour.
On the council checker, someone will ask whether we'll cover more than 25 councils and yes, that's the plan.
The tool is live and growing. We're using club sign-ups and postcode search data to figure out which councils to research first.
Effectively, your audience is telling us where to focus.
The most search councils that come back not confirmed become the priority list for the following month's research.
If your council isn't there yet, join the club. It helps us to prioritise and we're mapping which councils are being searched at the moment.
The question I always get on grants is, is the government going to pull the electric car grant at some point?
The short answer is yes, eventually. That's the explicit plan to phase it out as the market matures and prices reach parity with petrol.
Whether that's 2027 or 2030, nobody knows.
What I'd say is that we've already seen the grant get amended, banded and restructured.
Use it while it's there in its current form. The direction of travel is toward less support, not more.
OK, just the council checker, live now at primetimeev.com.
Home charging section, type in your postcode, takes 10 seconds.
If your council's blocks will tell you, if it's permitted, will point you in the right direction.
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Link it in the description primetimeev.com slash club or just email club at primetimeev.com and I'll get you added.
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About this episode
The hosts argue the UK EV transition is leaving people behind—especially renters and low-income drivers—because charging access and costs are uneven. They connect that “two tier system” risk to public charging price gaps, a still-maturing used EV market, and home-charging barriers like lack of off-street parking. Then they break down Kia EV4 vs EV3 pricing through grant bands, and preview a cross-pavement charging “postcode lottery” shaped by council rules, safety objections, and wildly different installation subsidies.
00:01:30 Is the UK EV transition leaving millions of drivers behind?
00:08:30 Why is the Kia EV4 now cheaper than the smaller EV3?
00:14:30 Can you charge at home without a driveway. Does your council allow it?
00:20:30 Is salary sacrifice still worth it for an electric car in 2026?
00:26:30 Is the electric car grant disappearing at the end of June?
00:27:30 Q&A
00:28:00 Subscribe & Join the Club
UK EV transition 2026. Kia EV4 price UK 2026. Cross-pavement EV charging UK. EV salary sacrifice UK 2026/27. Electric car grant UK June 2026. This week on Primetime EV Live - five stories in 30 minutes.UK EV TRANSITION - WHO'S BEING LEFT BEHIND. EVA England launched "Putting the Driver First" in Parliament on 3 June 2026, backed by evidence from 2,400 drivers. The finding: the transition works but only for households with driveways, above-average incomes and reliable charging access. 40% of UK homes have no off-street parking. The report calls on ministers to act on public charging costs, second-hand EV access and home-charging barriers ahead of the government's upcoming public charging review. Co-sponsored by AutoTrader, Zapmap and EVCI.KIA EV4 CHEAPER THAN THE EV3 - THE GRANT EXPLAINED. The Kia EV4 now costs £30,995 after the full £3,750 government grant making it £560 cheaper than the smaller EV3, which only qualifies for £1,500 under Band 2. The reason: the EV4 is built in Slovakia; the EV3 is built in South Korea. The UK Electric Car Grant factors in supply chain carbon emissions. Build location creates a £2,250 difference in the consumer's pocket. EV4 Long Range: 388 miles from £33,245.CROSS-PAVEMENT CHARGING POSTCODE LOTTERY. 42% of UK councils 56 of 134 surveyed in a Vauxhall FOI request will permit cross-pavement EV charging gullies by end of 2026. The other 58% have no confirmed scheme. Installation costs range from free (Stoke-on-Trent, Reading) to over £1,000 with no subsidy. Westminster, Hackney, Islington and Ealing have explicitly blocked them. We've built a free postcode checker at primetimeev.com type your postcode to see your council's current position, with source links and a Club alert if it changes.EV SALARY SACRIFICE - BIK PAYROLLING MANDATORY APRIL 2026. From April 2026 all UK employers must payroll Benefits-in-Kind in real time - the annual P11D form is being replaced. For salary sacrifice EV drivers: BiK tax now appears on your monthly payslip rather than arriving as a year-end tax code adjustment. The savings are unchanged. EV BiK rate: 4% in 2026/27, rising to 9% by 2029/30 still under a third of the 25–37% rate for a comparable petrol car. Every £1 sacrificed costs 55–72p in take-home pay depending on tax bracket.ELECTRIC CAR GRANT JUNE 30TH DEADLINE. Several manufacturer grant contributions expire June 30th: Kia EV4 full £3,750 grant on orders by 30 June, Hyundai Inster £3,750 manufacturer contribution, Dacia Spring 0% APR plus £1,500 contribution. The government's own scheme continues after this date. Order confirmation by 30 June required. Delivery date doesn't matter.───────────────────────────⚡ FREE: Join the Primetime EV ClubCheapest public charging rates every month · best lease deals · weekly EV digest
