Win an Electric Car With UK EV Competitions and Free Giveaways
Electric cars are now one of the most common prizes in UK competitions, and a handful of retailers and brands give them away completely free. This page lists both: genuinely free EV giveaways, and paid electric car competitions that you can still enter at no cost through a free postal route. Every listing is checked for its entry rules, closing date and what the prize really includes.
There are two ways to win a free electric car in the UK. The first is a free giveaway run by a car retailer, energy company or other brand, where entry costs nothing and there’s usually one entry per person. The second is a paid competition that also offers a free postal entry with the same odds as a bought ticket. Free giveaways attract huge numbers of entrants, so the odds are long, while paid competitions publish a ticket cap so you can see your chances. Either way, check what the prize includes, because insurance, tax and charging costs fall on the winner once the car is handed over.
Live electric car competitions and giveaways
We update this list as new EV draws open and close. Free giveaways and paid competitions are shown separately because they work differently, and comparing them side by side on ticket price alone would be misleading.
Free electric car giveaways
Free giveaways are run by businesses as marketing. A car dealer group wants your details for its mailing list, an energy company wants more customers on its app, or a car marketplace wants downloads. In return, someone gets a brand-new EV at no cost. There’s no catch in the sense of hidden fees, but you will usually be signing up to marketing, and the winner is often expected to take part in publicity.
Vertu car giveaway. Vertu Motors, one of the UK’s larger dealer groups, runs regular free car giveaways. Its current draw is for a brand-new, fully electric CUPRA Raval, open until 23:59 on 4 January 2027. Entry is online, limited to one entry per person, and open to UK residents aged 18 or over with a valid UK driving licence. The prize includes the first registration fee, the first year’s road tax and short-term drive-away insurance, but there’s no cash alternative. Previous winners have taken home cars including an electric MINI Cooper and a Ford Puma Gen-E.
Autotrader electric car giveaway. Autotrader ran a monthly EV giveaway through its app from May 2021, giving away more than £1.9 million worth of cars to over 50 winners. The draw is currently paused, with Autotrader saying it plans to return, so it’s worth keeping an eye on. When it was running, entry was free through the Autotrader app, for UK residents aged 18 or over with a full UK licence.
Customer-only giveaways. Some brands run EV giveaways that only their existing customers can enter. Octopus Energy’s Octoplus SNAP! game is a good example: a previous edition gave away three BYD Dolphin electric cars, one a week, to customers playing a collecting game in the Octopus app. These can offer better odds than open giveaways, but you have to be a customer already, and they tend to appear with little notice.
Free giveaways are worth entering if you’re comfortable sharing your details, but be realistic about the odds. With one entry each and no cap on entrants, a high-profile giveaway can attract a very large number of people.
Paid electric car competitions with a free entry route
Commercial competition sites offer a far wider range of electric cars, from small city cars to high-performance models. BOTB, for instance, runs electric and hybrid prizes through its skill-based Spot the Ball game, with tickets on some EVs starting from around £1 and cash added to the Dream Car prizes for winners.
Paid competitions must offer a free alternative to stay on the right side of UK law, usually by post. That makes them a second route to a free electric car: you don’t have to buy a ticket at all if you’re happy to send in a postal entry. A valid free entry carries the same chance of winning as a paid one, but read the instructions carefully, because postal entries are rejected for missing details or arriving late.
The advantage of paid competitions is transparency on odds. A draw capped at 25,000 tickets tells you exactly where you stand, which you can’t know with an open giveaway.
Which electric cars come up most often
Tesla is the brand most people search for. The Model 3 and Model Y are regular prizes, and higher-end models such as the Model S and Model X appear on the larger competition sites. If you want to win a Tesla in the UK, a commercial competition is the most likely route, as free giveaways tend to favour cars from the dealer’s own franchises.
Affordable EVs dominate free giveaways. Cars such as the BYD Dolphin, CUPRA Raval, MINI Cooper Electric and Ford Puma Gen-E are popular choices because they appeal to a wide audience and suit everyday use.
Premium electric cars, including the Porsche Taycan, Audi e-tron GT and BMW i-models, feature in paid competitions, often with a cash alternative that many winners take instead.
Hybrids are sometimes grouped in with EVs on competition sites. If you specifically want a fully electric car, check the listing says so, as a plug-in hybrid still uses petrol.
How to judge an electric car competition before entering
Check whether it’s free or paid. It sounds obvious, but some “win a free electric car” adverts lead to paid competitions where the only free option is postal entry. Both are legitimate; just know which one you’re looking at.
Look at the odds. For paid draws, divide the tickets you’d buy by the maximum tickets available. For free giveaways, accept that the odds are unknown and likely to be long.
Read what’s included. Free giveaways from dealers sometimes cover registration, first-year tax and a few days of insurance. Paid competitions vary widely. A home charger is rarely included, and it’s one of the bigger costs of switching to an EV.
Check for a cash alternative. Many free giveaways offer the car only, with no cash option. Paid competitions usually do offer cash, normally below the car’s retail price. If you’d rather have the money, this matters more than the model.
Confirm the closing date and draw method. The terms should state a fixed closing date and explain how the winner is picked, whether a random draw or a skill element. Operators signed up to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s voluntary code have agreed not to move closing dates or cancel draws because of low sales.
Watch out for fake giveaways. Social media is full of pages claiming to give away Teslas or other EVs in exchange for a like, a share or a small “delivery fee”. Legitimate giveaways never ask the winner to pay to receive the car, and genuine operators only contact winners through their official channels. If in doubt, go directly to the company’s own website rather than clicking a link in a post.
What to know about owning an electric car you’ve won
Winning the car is the easy part. Before you enter, it’s worth thinking about whether you can practically run one.
Charging is the biggest consideration. If you have off-street parking, a home charger makes running an EV cheap and convenient, but installation is an extra cost. Without a driveway, you’ll rely on public charging, which costs considerably more per mile and needs a bit more planning.
Electric cars are no longer exempt from road tax. Since April 2025, EVs pay a low first-year rate and then the standard annual rate, and pricier models can attract an additional charge for cars above a certain list price. Insurance on EVs can also be higher than on a comparable petrol car, particularly for performance models.
On the plus side, running costs are generally lower than petrol or diesel if you can charge at home, and servicing tends to be simpler. If the car doesn’t suit your situation, a cash alternative, where offered, may be the better choice.
How we choose which electric car competitions to list
We’re an independent comparison site. We don’t run draws or sell tickets, and we may earn a commission if you enter through our links, which never affects which competitions we include or the order they appear in.
Before an EV competition or giveaway goes on this page, we check that it’s open to over-18s, that the closing date and entry rules are clearly stated, and that the operator explains how the winner is chosen. For paid competitions we also check the maximum ticket numbers, the free entry route and the cash alternative, and we note whether the operator has signed the DCMS voluntary code. For free giveaways, we confirm the promotion is run by the company named and that the terms are published in full. Anything that falls short doesn’t make the list.
If you spot something out of date or inaccurate, let us know and we’ll check it.
Play responsibly
Free giveaways cost nothing to enter, but paid competitions are a different matter. Decide on a budget you’re comfortable losing before you browse, don’t chase a draw that’s about to close, and remember the free postal route is always there. If competitions have stopped being fun, the National Gambling Helpline is free on 0808 8020 133.
Frequently asked questions
Can you really win a free electric car in the UK?
Yes. Dealer groups such as Vertu run free giveaways for brand-new EVs, Autotrader has given away more than 50 electric cars through its app, and paid competitions offer free postal entry with the same odds as a ticket.
Are free car giveaways in the UK legitimate?
The ones run by established companies under published terms are. Be wary of social media posts offering cars for likes and shares, or asking for a fee to release a prize. Always enter through the company’s official website or app.
Is there a catch with free electric car giveaways?
Not a financial one, but you’ll usually agree to receive marketing, and the winner is often asked to take part in publicity. Some giveaways offer no cash alternative, and the winner pays for ongoing insurance, tax and charging.
How can I win a Tesla in the UK?
Teslas are most often offered by paid competition sites, which also accept free postal entries. Check the ticket cap and the cash alternative before entering.
Do I have to pay tax if I win an electric car?
Competition prizes are generally not taxed as income in the UK. You will need to pay road tax and insurance unless the prize covers them, and electric cars now pay road tax like other vehicles.
Does winning an electric car include a home charger?
Rarely. Check the prize description, and if you don’t have off-street parking, consider how you’d charge the car before entering.
What are the best free competitions to win an electric car?
Free giveaways from major retailers and brands, run under published terms, are the safest. Because they come and go, check this page for current free EV giveaways rather than relying on older lists.
Last updated: October 2026. Giveaways open and close frequently, so always confirm details on the operator’s site before entering.