Drivers could save more than £1,000 over the coming years as a leading car brand slashes the price of one of its electric vehicles to avoid hefty tax charges.
Abarth has slashed the price of its 600e Scorpionissima to help motorists avoid paying the controversial Expensive Car Supplement for five years.
The Expensive Car Supplement, which is often referred to as the "luxury" car tax, requires all drivers to pay £410 a year for the first five years of ownership if their electric vehicle costs more than £40,000.
The ECS applies from the second year of ownership, although with the new price cut from Abarth, drivers could potentially save £1,640 over five years.
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The Abarth 600e Scorpionissima has dropped in price to below £40,000
ABARTH
Originally priced at £41,975, Abarth is cutting the price of the 600e Scorpionissima to £39,875 to help motorists save on the price of the new car and the ECS charge.
The 600e Scorpionissima is equipped with a 280 HP powertrain, acceleration from 0-62mph in just 5.85 seconds and a battery range of 207 miles.
The standard Abarth 600e's pricing will remain at £36,975, which will also help motorists avoid the Expensive Car Supplement.
The Abarth 600e will arrive in the UK next month, with drivers interested in the car able to get their hands on it before further tax changes.
Giuseppe Cava, UK managing director for Fiat and Abarth, said: "Recognising that our top-of-the-range Abarth 600e Scorpionissima would have attracted the Expensive Car Supplement coming in April, we've made the decision to reduce the price of the car and protect our customers from this tax rise."
From April 1, 2025, owners of all electric cars will be required to pay Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) for the first time.
This was first announced by former Chancellor Jeremy Hunt in the 2022 Autumn Statement as he said the system of taxation should be made fairer for all motorists.
The most recent Budget saw Rachel Reeves pledge additional funding for electric vehicles to help motorists ditch petrol and diesel cars as the Government moves forward with its net zero goals.
This included £200million to accelerate the rollout of electric vehicle charging points, with local authorities given extra support to install on-street chargepoints across England.
A further £120million was pledged to support the purchase of new electric vans through the plug-in vehicle grant and to back the development of wheelchair accessible EVs.
At the end of January, the Chancellor announced further support with a huge £65million boost for on-street EV chargers during a speech at the Siemens Healthineers factory in Oxfordshire.
The funding for Connected Kerb will help the company expand its network across the UK with the aim of installing 40,000 charging sockets.
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Connected Kerb is aiming to install 40,000 EV charging sockets
CONNECTED KERBChris Pateman-Jones, Connected Kerb CEO, said: "This investment combines Connected Kerb’s proven hardware and advanced software infrastructure with the financial resources of NWF and Aviva to deploy public charging at scale, to all corners of the UK.
"This is a game-changing investment that will give individuals and businesses the confidence to make the switch to driving electric, dramatically reducing carbon emissions and air pollution. We are delighted to have such high-profile investors who are deeply aligned with our sustainability and ethical goals."
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