By Paul Homewood

h/t Ian Magness

They’re getting desperate now!

It’s no secret that one of the biggest stumbling blocks to electric car adoption is their high purchase price. And with the cost of producing electric cars still very high, manufacturers are struggling to bring prices down to a level at which many buyers can afford to transition from petrol or diesel cars to an electric equivalent.

But manufacturers are feeling the squeeze, in the UK at least, as the zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate ramps up. This legislation requires manufacturers to ensure that a certain proportion of the cars they sell in Britain are electric – and imposes penalties on them if they don’t meet those targets.

As a result, many manufacturers are starting to offer substantial discounts off the list prices of their electric cars, choosing to take the hit on their bottom line rather than face a hefty fine, in the hope of tempting buyers into choosing one over and above a petrol or diesel model.

New data released last week by What Car? magazine has revealed just how big some of these discounts are, with as much as £8,379 off the list price of some of the most popular electric models.

Steve Huntingford, the editor of What Car?, said: “Electric vehicle sales grew last year, but this was due to tax rules favouring company and fleet drivers. By contrast, the extensive discounts that we’re now seeing target private buyers.”

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/hybrid-electric-cars/the-best-electric-car-discounts-right-now

Knock off eight grand, or pay a fifteen grand fine! They’re stuck between a rock and a hard place!

One of the examples given by The Telegraph is the Vauxhall Corsa:

Of course, nobody in their right mind pays RRP. Go on CarWow, and you can get £3503 off the same GS model with a petrol engine, bringing the price down to  £18501:

In other words, even after a discount of £6045, the electric model is still £9534 dearer.

As usual the Telegraph commenters are much more astute then the reporter: