Britain’s Department of Transport unveiled a much-awaited list of vehicles eligible for its new grant scheme that will slash up to £5,000 ($7,866.45) off the price of electric cars starting next year.
The Plug-in Car Grant scheme will reduce the upfront cost of vehicles by 25 percent. The first nine cars eligible for the grants are the Mitsubishi iMiEV, the Smart Fortwo electric drive, Peugeot iON, Citroen CZero, Nissan Lead, Tata Vista electric vehicle, Toyota Prius, Vauxhall Ampera and Chevrolet Volt.
The Mitsubishi i-MiEV, Smart Fortwo electric drive and Peugeot iOn will be launched in January, followed by the Nissan Leaf and Tata Vista in March and the Citroen CZero sometime next year. The Vauxhall Ampera, Toyota Prius and Chevrolet Volt will be available to the British market in early 2012.
The first review of the Plug-in Car Grant will take place in 2012. Philip Hammond said the grants, supported with the roll-out of more charging stations throughout the country, will boost car sales and demand for electric vehicles.
«The British public has in the past shown it is ready to embrace new technology and take practical steps to adopt a lifestyle kinder to the environment, so we could really be at the start of something big,» he said
«Government action to support affordable vehicles and more local charging points means we are on the threshold of an exciting green revolution – 2011 could be remembered as the year the electric car took off.”
AEA will provide a web-based portal for use by car dealerships and manufacturers to assist in the collection of data as well as facilitate the payments of grants in a timely manner.
The British government also announced five more regions that will install local charging points. The Midlands, Greater Manchester, the east of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland successfully bid for funding in the second phase of the Plugged-In Places initiative.
The regions are expected to install over 4,000 charging points at homes, parking locations, public buildings and retail car parks over the next few years.
The funding for the Plugged-In Places will be drawn from the £20 million fund allotted for charging infrastructure.
Overall, the government committed around £400 million to promote the uptake of low-emission vehicles. This includes approximately £80 million in research and around £300 million to support consumer incentives.
