Motorists may be offered £2,000 to buy electric vehicles

Published on Wednesday 8 April 2009 22:08

MOTORISTS could be offered £2,000 grants to switch to electric cars under a UK government initiative to boost "green" transport, The Scotsman has learned.

Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, is keen for the UK to lead the way in developing fully electric vehicles and is prepared to unveil a financial incentive scheme around the time of next week's Budget.

It is understood that the cash would be for fully-electric vehicles, such as the two-seater G-Wiz, rather than the more popular Toyota Prius "hybrid" vehicles, which combines a petrol engine with an electric motor.

However the fact that there are only two public charging points in Scotland for electric cars – at the Braehead and St Enoch shopping centres – highlights the difficulty of boosting the market.

The move follows this week's announcement of European Investment Bank loans in excess of 500 million for Jaguar Land Rover and Nissan's UK car factories to develop green technology.

A Downing Street source said: "We recognise that electric cars at the moment can seem a long way away from the reality of family life. But things are changing quite quickly.

"Our challenge is partly to stimulate that but also, as a country, to be looking to our competitors and seeing we need to be in the lead."

The initiative comes at a time of plummeting car sales, which were down more than 30 per cent year on year for March – normally a month when sales are at a peak as a result of new registrations.

Electric car sales have been badly hit too – a result of fears over vehicle safety, poor comfort and the lack of convenience caused by the short distances the cars can travel before they need to be recharged.

Recent figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, which represents car firms in the UK, showed the Reva G-Wiz electric car's sales nosedived by 85 per cent to a mere 46 vehicles last year.

In addition, Mr Brown said in an interview yesterday that he was considering a "scrappage" scheme, already in place in Germany, in which motorists are offered grants of around 2,000 to upgrade vehicles that are at least nine years old for a more environmentally-friendly option.

He also indicated that he may require all government ministers to travel by electric car. Jim Murphy, the Scottish Secretary, is understood to already use a Prius for official travel in London.

Yesterday Germany agreed to sharply increase its scrapping subsidies from 1.5 billion to 5 billion. This has dramatically increased car sales but has been attacked by critics as a pre-election gift to voters from Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Under the plan, which is part of a government stimulus package aimed at shoring up the German economy, owners who trade in cars that are nine years old or more for new fuel-efficient models receive a bonus of 2,500.