November 27th, 2025.



The Motorcycle Industry Association (MCIA) has warned that yesterday’s Autumn Budget delivers major fiscal incentives for electric cars while offering nothing for mopeds, motorcycles or quadricycles, despite their lower emissions, lower energy use, and clear congestion-reduction benefits as they use far less road space.

The Government announced a £1.3bn extension of the Electric Car Grant, a £50,000 Expensive Car Supplement threshold for zero emission cars and confirmed new car-focused VED arrangements from 2028. No equivalent support has been provided for L-Category vehicles, and the PiMG remains due to end in April 2026.

The Budget represents a significant divergence in the treatment of different zero emission modes, and risks locking in a car-centric approach at a time when cities urgently need more efficient mobility options.

MCIA Chief Executive, Tony Campbell, said: “This Budget once again pours billions into the electric car sector while offering nothing for low or zero emission mopeds and motorcycles. It is a car-centric approach that ignores the reality: mopeds, motorcycles and light vehicles cut congestion, use far less energy, generate far less carbon in production and have a lower environmental footprint than cars.

If the Government is serious about decarbonising transport, it cannot keep treating our sector as an afterthought. Extending the Electric Car Grant while letting the Plug-in Motorcycle Grant expire makes no sense - environmentally, economically or politically.

We are calling for immediate parity of treatment. Without basic fiscal support, the UK will fall behind, and consumers will simply be priced out of cleaner, more efficient mobility.”

Key points:

- Low and zero emission motorcycles received no fiscal incentives, despite multiple new measures for cars.

- The Plug-in Motorcycle Grant (PiMG) is still set to end in April 2026, while the Electric Car Grant has been extended to 2029-30 with an additional £1.3bn in funding.

- The Government raised the Expensive Car Supplement threshold to £50,000 for electric cars but has not reformed the outdated £10,000 threshold applied to electric motorcycles, which no longer reflects real-world EV pricing.
 
- Motorcycles are excluded from the new EV mileage tax (eVED) - a positive acknowledgement of the sector’s different transition timeline - but this alone does not constitute meaningful support.


MCIA is calling on the Government to:
Work with MCIA to implement a comprehensive and bespoke consumer and business incentives package to encourage low and zero emission moped, motorcycle and wider L-Category vehicle uptake.

As a minimum, extend the PiMG and increase the price threshold to reflect actual electric motorcycle costs.


https://mcia.co.uk/