U.K. to Offer Subsidies Up to $7,805 to British Buyers of EVs, Ultra-Low CO2 Cars
By Scott Doggett July 28, 2010
Motorists in the United Kingdom will get up to 5,000 British pounds ($7,805 at today's exchange rate) from the government if they buy an all-electric car or an ultra-low-carbon hybrid starting in January, U.K.'s new Conservative-led Coalition government announced today, but the number of grants has actually been sharply reduced from earlier plans.
The subsidy was announced by the Labour government in 2009 but placed on hold by the Coalition until the autumn spending review.
From January, any motorist buying a new-generation electric vehicle or an ultra-low carbon hybrid will get 25 percent off of the price of the vehicle, up to a maximum 5,000 pounds ($7,805).
However, the number of grants that had been proposed by the Labour government has been slashed from a minimum of 46,000 to as few as 8,600 as a 250-million pounds ($389-million) government plan designed to promote environmentally-friendly transport came under attack from multiple parties in the recession-gripped U.K.
The grants will be available just in time for the U.K. launch of the Nissan Leaf battery-electric vehicle (pictured), the first major all-electric rival to the globally successful Toyota Prius hybrid.
Nissan's Sunderland, England, factory will assemble future Leafs, meaning Britain will from 2013 be the company's third-biggest global electric car base.
Nissan itself received grants from the British government to build the Leaf in Sunderland, where the workforce of 4,100 built 338,000 Qashqai, Note and Micra models in 2008.
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