The UK government has extended the Plug-in Car Grant, which provides £5,000 of the purchase price of an electric car, until at least February 2016.
The grant had been due to be reviewed once 50,000 electric cars had been sold, a number expected to be reached by the end of the year, but the Government has now guaranteed it will last at least until February.
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According to the Go Ultra Low Campaign (GUL), a longer term plan is expected to be announced after the November 2015 Government Spending Review.
In July, the GUL said that ultra-low emission vehicle sales for the first half of the year were 14,586, up 256% year-on-year. This number was above 2014’s total number.
The announcement was welcomed by those in the industry. Mike Hawes, Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders chief executive, said: "With British buyers taking to ultra-low emission vehicles faster than anyone else in Europe, the extension of the Plug-in Car Grant is good news. The market for these vehicles remains small, however, so it is essential that government continues to provide effective incentives for their uptake – including the Plug-in Car Grant and other measures."
Lance Bradley, managing director of Mitsubishi Motors (UK) said: "We have seen ultra-low emission vehicles rapidly establish a one per cent share of UK sales in a period of time unprecedented in automotive terms. The same short timescale has seen a dramatic shift in buyer preference from pure electric vehicles to plug-in hybrid technology, which now accounts for two-thirds of ultra-low emission vehicle sales.
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By GlobalData"Clearly the market is moving quickly and still forming. We welcome the Government’s decision to continue these incentives in a way which recognises the fledgling nature of this low emissions market. Car manufacturers invest in new technologies on the basis of three to five year horizons for market introduction."
While the £5,000 does help offset some of the costs of electric vehicles, in July Glass’s found three electric models among the top ten worst first year depreciators.
