The short version: from 1 July 2026, Ireland's new ICE2EV scrappage scheme pays you €5,000 toward a new electric car when you scrap an old petrol or diesel. It stacks on top of the existing €3,500 SEAI grant — so that's up to €8,500 off, right at the point of sale. Add VRT relief and a home charger grant and the combined support can reach roughly €13,800.
But two clocks are ticking. The scheme opens 1 July on a first-come, first-served basis. And separately, the VRT relief of up to €5,000 ends on 31 December 2026. If you've been thinking about going electric, 2026 is the year the maths works hardest in your favour. Let's break it down.
The headline: up to €8,500 off, stacked at the till
This is the part most people get wrong, so we'll be clear. Two separate supports now combine:
| Support | Amount | What it's for |
|---|---|---|
| SEAI EV purchase grant | €3,500 | Any new battery-electric car (BEV), private buyer |
| ICE2EV scrappage payment | €5,000 | When you scrap a 13+ year-old petrol/diesel |
| Combined | €8,500 | Applied as a discount on the new car |
Both are netted off the price you pay — you don't claim them back later, you simply pay €8,500 less. On a new electric car listed at €30,000, you'd be driving away having paid around €21,500 before any VRT relief.
What's actually new: the ICE2EV scrappage scheme
Announced in June 2026 and administered by the SEAI, ICE2EV (Internal Combustion Engine to Electric Vehicle) is a €10 million pilot funded by the Climate Action Fund. The goal is simple: get Ireland's oldest, dirtiest cars off the road and replace them with zero-emission ones.
The headline numbers:
- €5,000 toward a new battery-electric car when you scrap a qualifying old car.
- Opens 1 July 2026, first-come, first-served.
- It's a pilot supporting roughly 2,000 cars, so the budget is finite — early movers win.
- Funding is split 65% rural / 35% urban, so it's not just a city scheme.
- You apply through the dealer at the point of sale — no separate paperwork run.
Do you qualify? The scrappage checklist
| Requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| Age of car scrapped | Registered 2013 or earlier (13+ years old) |
| Fuel type scrapped | Petrol or diesel |
| Ownership | You must have owned it for at least 12 months |
| Tax & insurance | Taxed and insured at the time you apply |
| NCT | NCT must not have expired more than 6 months before applying |
| New car | Must be a new BEV (not used, not a hybrid) |
In plain terms: a roadworthy old banger you've genuinely been running — not a long-dead car dragged out of a field. That keeps the scheme honest and stops it being gamed.
The €3,500 SEAI grant (the one that was already here)
The SEAI purchase grant has been the backbone of EV support for years, and it's unchanged at €3,500 for a private buyer on a new BEV. A few things worth knowing:
- It applies to new cars with a full price between €14,000 and €60,000.
- That €60,000 cap drops to €50,000 from 31 July 2026 — so a pricier EV bought in August qualifies on a tighter ceiling than the same car bought in July.
- Used and imported EVs get €0. This grant is new-car only. (Importing a used EV from the UK? You'll pay VRT and won't see this grant — worth factoring into the sums.)
VRT relief — separate, generous, and ending soon
Here's the support people forget because it's baked into the sticker price. VRT relief of up to €5,000 applies on top of everything above:
- Full €5,000 relief for a BEV with an Open Market Selling Price (OMSP) up to €40,000.
- It then tapers down to €0 by €50,000 OMSP — the more expensive the car, the less relief.
- Crucially, this relief ends on 31 December 2026.
You don't apply for VRT relief separately — it's already reflected in the Irish price you're quoted. But its end date is the real deadline for value-conscious buyers: a sub-€40,000 EV bought in early 2027 could be up to €5,000 more expensive than the identical car bought before New Year's Eve 2026.
And one more: the €300 home charger grant
The SEAI home charger grant of €300 helps cover installing a charge point at your home. It's small next to the headline numbers, but it's free money toward the thing that makes EV ownership genuinely cheap — charging overnight.
A worked example: putting it all together
Let's say you're scrapping a 2011 diesel and buying a new BEV with a list price of €32,000. Here's how the supports stack:
| Item | Effect on price |
|---|---|
| New BEV list price | €32,000 |
| SEAI purchase grant | −€3,500 |
| ICE2EV scrappage payment | −€5,000 |
| Price after grants | €23,500 |
| VRT relief (full, OMSP under €40k) | up to −€5,000 (already in the price) |
| Home charger grant | −€300 toward your charge point |
So a €32,000 EV effectively costs you around €23,500 in cash out the door, with VRT relief already worked into that figure and €300 back on your charger. Qualify for everything at the top of each band and the total combined support can reach roughly €13,800. Want the exact figure for the specific car you have in mind? Run it through our EV grants calculator — it does the stacking for you in seconds.
Then the running costs get even better
The grants are the headline, but the savings don't stop on day one:
- Motor tax: €120 a year. A BEV sits in the lowest band — among the cheapest motor tax in the country.
- Charging from around €0.10/kWh on a night or EV tariff. Charge a typical EV overnight and a "full tank" costs a few euro, not the price of a forecourt fill.
- No NCT until year four, same as any new car, and far fewer moving parts to service — no oil changes, no timing belts, no exhaust.
The two deadlines, plainly stated
If you take one thing from this, take these dates:
- 1 July 2026 — ICE2EV scrappage opens. First-come, first-served, ~2,000 cars. Don't dawdle.
- 31 July 2026 — the SEAI grant's price cap drops from €60,000 to €50,000. Matters if you're eyeing a pricier EV.
- 31 December 2026 — VRT relief of up to €5,000 ends. The big one for value.
How much is a new EV anyway?
Cheaper than most people assume, and the grants bite hardest at the affordable end. New BEVs now start from around €16,990 after the SEAI grant (the Dacia Spring), with the BYD Dolphin Surf from around €17,985 and the Hyundai Inster from around €18,995. Step up to a roomier hatch like the MG4 and you're looking at from around €26,995. Stack the ICE2EV scrappage payment on any of those and an everyday electric car drops firmly into "this actually makes sense" territory.
You can browse electric cars on Autoza right now — filter by county, range, and budget, and ask Mark, our buyer AI, anything: which EV suits a 40km commute, what a model really costs after grants, or which listings near you qualify. He'll walk you through it in plain English.
The bottom line
2026 is the single best year on record to switch to electric in Ireland. A new scrappage scheme worth €5,000, the long-standing €3,500 grant, up to €5,000 in VRT relief, and €120 motor tax all line up at once — but the windows are real and some are closing. Get your sums straight, line up an eligible car early, and you could be driving away for thousands less than the sticker says.
Start here: browse electric cars · calculate your exact grants · read the full SEAI grant explainer.
By The Autoza Team. Figures are correct as of June 2026 and reflect the schemes as announced; always confirm the latest eligibility and amounts with the SEAI and your dealer before you buy.
