£5k for green car buyers?
April 16th, 2009 by Richard Aucock
GOVERNMENT subsidies of up to £5000 are to make green electric cars more affordable and viable.
The plans come as part of a £250 million plan to boost low-carbon transport – and are separate to the rumoured new car scrappage scheme.
Reports by the BBC suggest the £5k subsidy will help promote electric cars, which are inherently more expensive than standard models.
The subsidy will help car dealers price them at a similar level to more conventional models.
Government plans will also see a nationwide recharging infrastructure developed, further easing car buyers’ electric car worries.
But, says the BBC, electric models are not expected to arrive at car dealers before 2011.
Before then, a new car scrappage scheme is expected to be unveiled by Chancellor Alistair Darling in next Wednesday’s Budget.
This will provide £2000 incentives for buyers of green new cars, if they scrap their old models.
As well as helping cut car tailpipe emissions, the scheme will provide aid to car manufacturers, by bolstering new car sales.
Sales in Germany, says the BBC, were up by 40 percent compared with March 2008, thanks to the introduction of a similar scheme.
Tags: bbc, government, green, incentive
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