Plug-in vehicle sales to continue to surge with £400 million boost

The UK Government today given a huge boost to drivers who are planning on making the transition to an ultra low emission vehicle (ULEV). The plug-in car grant was today given a £400 million boost that will benefit more than 100,000 motorists in an aim to treble the amount of ULEVs on Britain’s roads.

The grant which was guaranteed to stay until February will now continue to at least the end of March 2018, which will allow more than 100,000 motorists to benefit from it in the future – which is double the number who have already received the grant since 2011.

The extension of the grant reflects the strong growth in the sector throughout 2015 with sales of ULEVs doubling over the past year. This grant will be welcomed by motorists who have their sights on any of the 29 ULEVs on the market, which is 5 times as many as there were in 2011 when the grant was launched.

Transport Minister Andrew Jones said:

The UK is a world leader in the uptake of low emission vehicles and the plug-in car grant has been key to that success. Extending the grant in a sustainable way ensures more than 100,000 people will benefit from financial support when purchasing these cheap-to-run and green cars. We are determined to keep Britain at the forefront of the technology, increasing our support for plug-in vehicles to £600 million over the next 5 years to cut emissions, create jobs and support our cutting-edge industries.

Jim Wright, Nissan GB Managing Director, said:

Today’s decision by government has reaffirmed their commitment to the uptake of ultra-low emission vehicles. With government support and Nissan’s investment of over £420 million into electric vehicles in the UK, our British made Nissan LEAF has increased in popularity with many UK customers already enjoying the benefits of zero emission and low cost driving. This announcement, together with ongoing infrastructure developments, should see the growth and wider deployment of this technology continue.

The grant was created in 2011 to encourage sales of ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEVs) and has been instrumental in the UK becoming the biggest ULEV market in the EU, and the fourth largest in the world. Some 50,000 people have already benefited from the grant.

The government have shown clear commitment to the future of ULEVs and have committed to making nearly all cars and vans in the UK zero emission by 2050. It was announced in the recent Spending Review that there will be an increase in funding to £600 million between 2015 and 2020 to support the development, manufacture and uptake of ULEVs.

The government has committed to make nearly all cars and vans in the UK zero emission by 2050, and announced in the Spending Review to increase funding to £600 million between 2015 and 2020 to support the development, manufacture and uptake of ULEVs.

The UK were also one of 14 international members of the Zero Emission Vehicle Alliance to recently sign a pledge promoting the uptake of electric cars at the Paris climate conference.