Go Plug-in (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Go Plug-in

4:42pm Friday 30th July 2010 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
• Comments(0)

CAR MAKERS and car guide TheGreenCar Website have welcomed news that despite widespread spending cuts the subsidies of up to £5,000 for buying an electric car will go ahead as planned from January.

The grants are for 25 per cent of the purchase price, up to a maximum of £5,000, for an initial period of January 2011 until March 2012.

TheGreenCarWebsite editor Faye Sunderland said: “This fund is a very important part of the move towards low carbon transport. It is essential that the market for electric cars is supported to help push the industry forward beyond a gas-guzzling past.

“These grants will make a real difference to consumers and will allow motorists to make, what to them remains, a seismic shift in their mode of transport.

“It is great news that even in these times of financial austerity, the Government is showing confidence in the role that electric cars can play in reducing transport-related pollution and it is this confidence that will influence car buyers.”

The new year is going to be tough with the scrappage scheme having ended and VAT rising to 20 per cent.

Nissan, which has its all-electric Leaf, pictured, well advanced, welcomed the consumer incentives for electric vehicles, saying that in doing so the Government has signalled that Britain is serious about supporting new low carbon technologies and is serious about helping consumers to make more sustainable choices.

Nissan Leaf goes on sale in the UK in March, priced at £23,990 including the new incentive and 20 per cent VAT.

Initially produced in Japan, European production starts early 2013 in Nissan’s Sunderland plant.

The low carbon incentive programme was first announced last year and details were set out of the winners of the ‘Plugged-In Places’ scheme with the installation of over 11,000 charging posts in London, Milton Keynes and North East England.

There will be another opportunity for additional cities and regions to bid for Plugged-In Places funding. Already confirmed as intending to bid are the West Midlands, Cornwall, Sheffield, the Lake District, Greater Manchester, and Northern Ireland.