Amazing time for Brits to buy an electric car with prices SLASHED and record discounts on offer

BRITS are being encouraged to buy electric cars as manufacturers slash prices with record discounts.

Carmakers are scrambling to up their zero-emission sales to comply with increasingly tightening Net Zero laws.

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The new Government has confirmed it will reinstate the ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars to 2030 after former PM Rishi Sunak delayed it to 2025.

Plenty of firms have already self-imposed earlier deadlines to make the all-electric transition in an attempt to stay ahead of the curve.

Indeed, Jaguar won’t sell a new car in the UK for a whole year as bosses prepare to phase out petrol power altogether in 2026.

But every brand is still subject to the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate.

The legally-binding regulations force manufacturers to ensure that a certain portion of their sales are electric vehicles, with the percentage increasing each year up to the total ban.

This year’s requirement is 22%, with firms fined up to £1,500 per car they produce over the limit.

Already, bosses at Ford have said they will have to make fewer petrol models to balance their stats.

However, others are trying to get the EVs flying out the doors by slapping them with heavy discounts.

DS, the luxury arm of Citroen, is leading the way, with an average drop of 35.7% on the 3 Crossback.

That means that new models are cut from over £37,000 to under £25,000, according to data from AutoTrader.

MG isn’t far behind with a 34% dip for the 5 and 30% for the ZS.

Even Tesla, which isn’t bound by the Mandate since it only makes EVs, has dropped the Model 3 from £42,000 to £39,000 in the past year.

Ian Plummer, commercial director at AutoTrader, commented: “That sort of discount finally makes it possible for the consumer to make a rational decision to buy an EV, rather than base it on emotional reasons such as environmental factors.

“It’s going to be very painful [for manufacturers].

“They are going to be selling EVs at a loss in many cases and they will have to arbitrage those losses with the profits they can still make on their diesel and petrol vehicles.”

The only issue is that EVs remain stubbornly more expensive on average than their petrol counterparts, despite the discounts.

This is largely to do with the costs associated with developing brand new electric platforms, rather than re-using already established internal combustion specs.

As a result, brands can only cut prices so much to stimulate demand before losses become unsustainable.

Mike Hawes, the chief executive of the industry body the SMMT, explained: “The ZEV mandate compels manufacturers to produce, but it does not compel consumers to buy.”