The Government is to provide incentives of up to £5,000 for motorists to buy electric and hybrid vehicles, as part of a £250M scheme to deliver a ‘green’ motoring transformation.
A network of electric car cities will be developed through a £20M plan for charging points and related infrastructure. A Department for Transport spokesperson said the money would be available to three or four key cities, which could demonstrate that demand for the vehicles had reached a critical mass.
The incentives will be introduced in 2011 to coincide with the mass introduction of electric and plug-in hybrid cars to the market.
Announcing the plans, transport secretary, Geoff Hoon, said: ‘Less than 0.1% of the UK’s 26 million cars are electric, so there is a huge untapped potential to reduce emissions.
‘The scale of incentives we’re announcing today will mean that an electric car is a real option for motorists, as well as helping make the UK a world leader in low-carbon transport.’
Business secretary, Peter Mandelson, added: ‘Low-carbon vehicles will play a key role in cutting emissions. The Government must act now to ensure that the business benefits of this ambition are realised in the UK.
‘We want the British motor industry to be a leader in the low-carbon future, and the Government must direct and support this through what I call new industrial activism.’ The Government announced in the Budget an incentive scheme for motorists to trade in their old cars for new, low-emission vehicles.
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