News UK referral desk
Tesla still misses both bands of the UK Electric Car Grant — what actually stacks with a referral instead
No Band 1, no Band 2 — Tesla's Electric Car Grant position is unchanged. Here's what a buyer can actually stack on top of a referral.
This site has covered Tesla's exclusion from the UK's Electric Car Grant before. As of 3 August 2026, that position hasn't moved: Tesla remains ineligible for both bands of the grant — Band 1 (£3,750) and Band 2 (£1,500) — so a Model 3 or Model Y buyer gets £0 from this particular scheme either way. Given how often "stacking incentives" comes up for UK buyers, it's worth being precise about what does and doesn't stack on top of your referral.
Why Tesla misses both bands, not just the bigger one
The blocker is the same for both bands: the scheme's manufacturer requirement calls for a verified Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) commitment, and Tesla doesn't have one on record. That's a manufacturer-level test, not a per-car one, so it doesn't matter which Tesla you're looking at — the Model Y (the UK's best-selling EV) doesn't qualify, and neither does the Model 3, even though the Model 3 would otherwise likely meet the grant's technical criteria on price and specification. Source: HonestJohn's Electric Car Grant guide and Autocar's list of eligible cars.
A detail worth knowing even if Tesla qualified
For context: the grant itself has a price ceiling. Cars priced over £37,000 — or £42,000 with options — don't get the full grant amount regardless of manufacturer. Some Model 3 and Model Y configurations sit close to or above that band, so even in a hypothetical world where Tesla met the SBTi requirement, not every trim would necessarily unlock the full £3,750. The manufacturer exclusion is the actual blocker today, but it's not the only ceiling in the scheme.
What genuinely stacks with your referral instead
Nothing here changes what this site has already worked through on the value page: a new Model 3 or Model Y buyer's referral link, clicked before configuring, still gets roughly 650 miles of free Supercharging — an estimated £70–£100 in real charging (see the full breakdown). Separately, and with no rule against combining it with the referral, the UK's home-charger installation grant sits at up to £500 for eligible, tenancy-based cases — mainly renters and flat-dwellers without off-street parking. That's the genuine stack for a Tesla buyer in 2026: referral miles plus a possible home-charger grant, not the Electric Car Grant.
Why this is worth restating even though nothing changed
"Unchanged" is itself useful information when a scheme is reviewed periodically — it tells a buyer ordering this month not to wait around expecting a rule change that hasn't happened. If Tesla's SBTi status shifts in a future review, that would be genuine news; as of 3 August 2026, it hasn't.
What to actually do before you order
One: don't budget for the £3,750 or £1,500 Electric Car Grant on a Tesla order — it isn't there today. Two: check your own eligibility for the home-charger grant if you lack off-street parking. Three: click your referral link before you touch the configurator, since that's the one benefit that's genuinely available and time-sensitive at order time.
The bottom line
No change, and that's the story: Tesla still qualifies for neither Electric Car Grant band. The combination that actually applies to a Model 3 or Model Y order in the UK is the referral's 650 miles plus, for some buyers, the home-charger grant — not the government's car-purchase grant.
Background: What you get
Sources
UK programme verified: · figures re-checked against tesla.com/en_gb