Grants and incentives for electric vehicle owners have been offered for a number of years now. Incentivising electric vehicles EVs is crucial for the Irish government to reduce carbon emissions, improve air quality, and meet climate goals. For 2025 there are a few updates after our most recent budget. Let’s take it from the top!

SEAI Purchase Grants

The maximum grant of €3,500 remains available for qualifying new M1 (passenger car) battery electric vehicles when purchased privately remains in place. Approved EVs with a full price of more than €60,000 and less than €14,000 will not receive a grant. The full price of the vehicle to the customer includes all optional extras, paint, delivery and any other chargers but excludes any incentives such as grants or rebates. The grant amount will depend on the list price of the vehicle. Light commercial vehicles also get a maximum grant of €3,800 for qualifying N1S category BEVs. Approved BEVs with a list price of over €60,000 or less than €14,000 will not receive a grant. New N1 category large panel vans (BEV only) with a maximum mass of exactly 3500kg can avail of a €7,600 grant. Large Panel Vans with a price, excluding all grants, rebates, incentives and inclusive of all optional extras, delivery charges, metallic paints etc. of €90,000 or less will be eligible for this grant. It should be noted that these grants apply to new vehicles only and cannot be claimed on second hand vehicles.

Home Charger Grant

The €300 government funded EV Home Charger Grant assisting residents and homeowners to install an electric vehicle charge point at home remains available. This can be used towards the purchase and installation of a home charger unit but you must use a Safe Electric Registered Electrical Contractor to avail of this incentive.

Benefit-In-Kind Incentive

The current reduction of €35,000 in the open market value will remain in place for all electric vehicles. This means that an employee with an electric vehicle will benefit from an overall OMV reduction of €45,000 in 2025 which, includes the €35,000 electric vehicle specific reduction to OMV plus the temporary universal reduction of €10,000 i.e. a total OMV reduction of €45,000. This will change for 2026 and 2027 as the electric vehicle OMV reduction will be reduced to €20,000 and €10,000 respectively. The amount you will pay monthly will be determined by the overall cost of the electric vehicle and calculated monthly by your employer.

Benefit-In-Kind Concession Home Charger Installations

An exemption from BIK currently applies where an employer provides a charging point for electric vehicles on their business premises, on the condition that the facility is available to all employees. The most recent budget extends the BIK exemption to expenditure incurred by an employer in connection with the provision of an electric vehicle charger at a director’s or an employee’s home. This change came into effect January 1st 2025.To avail of the exemption the director or employee must have the private use of a company electric vehicle. A further condition is that the employer must retain ownership of the charging facility.

Vehicle Registration Tax

We all know VRT is paid whenever a car is registered for the first time in Ireland. Electric vehicles receive VRT relief separately to SEAI grant support depending on price. VRT relief for BEVs will remain in place until the end of 2025 and the rate for a category B commercial vehicle is 13.3%, as of January 2025. A new rate of 8% applies for category B vehicles with CO2 emission of less than 120 grams per kilometre.

Motor Tax

The current motor tax rate for an electric car is €120 per annum and remains unchanged for 2025.

Our Nevo experts hope this incentive summary will help you when considering the transition to an electric vehicle. We should all encourage EV adoption to support the transition and decrease the reliance on fossil fuels. This will help achieve Ireland’s commitment to a more environmentally friendly future.