Nine cars get £5000 EV grant 14 | 12 | 2010

SCOTS DRIVERS keen to drive electric vehicles now know the first nine vehicles which will qualify for the Government's new ‘Plug-In Car Grant’ of up to £5000. The grant will become available from January 1, 2011, and the discount will apply to any qualifying low-carbon car with a Co2 rating of less than 75g/km.

The Mitsubishi iMiEV, Smart fortwo ED, Peugeot iON, Citroen CZero, Nissan Leaf, Tata Vista EV, Toyota Prius Plug-in, Vauxhall Ampera and Chevrolet Volt are all on the list of the first batch of cars.

The Government's approach has been to ensure the 'sale' price of the cars are reduced by 25%, up to a maximum of £5000. But with VAT rising to 20% from the January 1, the discount on the Nissan Leaf and Vauxhall Ampera (pictured) roughly equates to the Government simply making the vehicles VAT-free.

Over the next four years the ‘effectiveness’ of the grant will be reviewed by the government with the first formal review in 2012.

"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," Transport secretary Philip Hammond said optimistically.

More models will be added to the list from next year. However, the ‘Plug-In Grant’ is currently subject to a limit of £300m over the life of the current parliament – which equates to around 15,000 registrations per year between next January and 2015.

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Jim McGill