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· Government
reduces grant rate for Category 1 vehicles from £4,500 to
£3,500
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· Category
2 and Category 3 vehicles will no longer be eligible for the
Plug-In-Car Grant
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· The
REA urges the Government to consider alternative incentive and
grant schemes to ensure continued uptake
The Government have announced their plans to change the current
structure of their Plug-In-Car Grant in line with the increased
uptake of electric vehicles.
The new structure will see the grant rate for Category 1 vehicles
reduced from £4,500 to £3,500 with Category 2 and 3 vehicles no
longer eligible for the grant.
Daniel Brown, Policy Manager at the REA said:
“Electric Vehicles are quickly coming down in cost and they
are significantly cheaper to run than petrol or diesel vehicles,
but the market is not yet fully mature and the removal of grants
needs to be done in a structured, long term way with support
moving towards tax-based mechanisms.
“The Government is right to now focus resources on Grants for
those vehicles with the highest zero emission range, such as
battery electric vehicles as these will reduce emissions the
most. Accelerated EV uptake is also critical for building a world
class EV charging network in the UK as infrastructure investment
is likely to match rates of EV deployment.
“The Chancellor can show he's behind continued EV deployment
by reducing the Company Car Tax Benefit in Kind rate to 2% for
Battery Electric Vehicles in the next Budget, rather than waiting
until 2020. This would bring us into line with similar moves in
countries like Germany, the Netherlands and Ireland."