'Plug-in Car' grants for UK drivers
Share
UK motorists will receive up to £5,000 to buy an ultra-low-carbon car, and the roll-out of supporting infrastructure will begin in selected regions, the government announced on 25 February 2010.
The ’Plug-in Car’ grants will be available across the UK from January 2011, by which time a range of eligible vehicles is expected to be available.
The grants will provide 25 per cent towards the cost of a new car, capped at £5,000, and will be open to both private and business fleet buyers. To be eligible for the scheme, cars will have to pass performance criteria to ensure safety, range and ultra-low tailpipe emissions.
Also included in the government’s plans is the roll-out of a £30m fund for a network of electric-vehicle hubs - called ’Plugged-In Places’ - which will see charging infrastructure appearing in car parks, major supermarkets, leisure and retail centres and on the street.
The first Plugged-In Places have been named as London, Milton Keynes and the north east. Between them, more than 11,000 vehicle recharging points will be installed during the next three years.
The initiatives are part of a £450m government strategy to support the creation of a market for ultra-low-carbon vehicles.
The Plugged-In Places will provide the charge points to support these vehicles, demonstrating how electric-vehicle charging works in practice in a range of different settings - urban, suburban and regional - as well as testing innovative technologies such as rapid charging, inductive charging and battery swap.
A second competition for Plugged-in Places funding is to follow later in the year, with consortia from the West Midlands, Cornwall, Sheffield, the Lake District, Greater Manchester and Northern Ireland having already confirmed their intention to bid for the next wave of funding.
View results 10 per page | 20 per page
Readers' comments (11)
Nigel | 25 Feb 2010 12:55 pm
Power points to charge my car up?
Excellent, I am presuming the forthcoming infrastructure will include some new power stations being built to provide the electricity, or does that involve joined up thinking?
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Dave H | 25 Feb 2010 1:53 pm
Assuming most people will charge their cars overnight, we should already have the capacity to cover the first few years' demand.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
John Falch | 25 Feb 2010 8:55 pm
Please take a look at MDI's website: compressed air cars. Production started recently in the South of France. It is plug in, "but not as we know it Jim".
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Ian S | 26 Feb 2010 10:57 am
Being as you can barely park a secure alarmed car in an inner-city car park without the risk of vandalism, what are the odds on an unattended charging cable lasting more than 5 minutes?
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Simon Martin | 26 Feb 2010 1:31 pm
This is nothing more than a PR stunt by a failing Government, there are far more electric vehicles on the road than charging points. Many people are already fighting for these charging points and this has already led to a number of recorded physical attacks.
Why are these seemingly small amounts of money being invested in grants for car buyers? is it because the Government already know people will not buy them in large numbers, so it will not cost a lot, but give good PR.
With vehicles requiring charging times of many hours surely it would be prudent to invest in battery and drivetrain technologies to make such vehicles economically viable, and much cheaper.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Jim | 26 Feb 2010 1:32 pm
As well as the CO2 emissions from electricity used in running the car the emissions for producing the electric car should be considered.
How about an in depth article about this?
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
James Edmiston | 26 Feb 2010 2:20 pm
Quick change battery packs are the only real solution to using electric cars in any practical way, in the same way as gas canisters are exchanged.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
iain | 26 Feb 2010 2:50 pm
as most electric cars are likely to be second cars that do the short local journeys (that they are ideally suited to)the amount of energy they consume is about the same as a tumble dryer load or two. My (18yr old) ev takes a couple of hours to get back to 90% from a 12.5 mile commute, usually it charges on economy 7 - but it is on float charge for the majority of this time.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Peter Field | 26 Feb 2010 4:18 pm
Too little thought has gone into electrical infrastructure design. Quick town charging points would presumably be multiple, to be effective; say 10. Assuming town charging has to be rapid, the total electrical current could be embarassingly high; what about the cabling; substations etc etc.? Ditto hotel charging points.
No, its a gimmicky idea, by a government that is broke, to be payed for by the taxpayer. Lets stop digging.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
iain | 26 Feb 2010 4:30 pm
As most electric cars are likely to be second cars that do the short local journeys (that they are ideally suited to) the amount of energy they consume is about the same as a tumble dryer load or two. My (18yr old) EV takes a couple of hours to get back to 90% from a 12.5 mile commute, usually it charges on economy 7 - but it is on float charge for the majority of this time.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment