Electric car grant fund capped at £43m

The £5,000 grant for buyers of electric cars, which seemed under threat when business secretary, Vince Cable, failed to mention it in the recent emergency budget, will go ahead in January 2011.

£230m had been pledged for the Plug-in Grant, but the government has now reduced this to £43m with a review in January 2012. The revised fund will allow over 8,000 electric cars to be bought under the scheme.

Citroën, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Peugeot and Renault – all manufacturers with electric cars close to production – had written to the government to warn that without incentives the UK would become a significantly less attractive market.

A spokesperson for the Environmental Transport Association (ETA) said: “Most people accept that electric cars offer environmental benefits, but until these vehicles are able to compete on their merits grants are unlikely to have a meaningful effect.”

Choice of electric cars remains tiny

British motorists are promised mass-produced electric cars within a year, but family drivers consulting the newly-launched Electric Car Buyers’ Guide in the hope of finding an environmentally-friendly electric vehicle to drive away today face a choice of only three.