First electric cars in line for £5,000 grant revealed

THE GOVERNMENT yesterday announced the first nine electric cars for which drivers will be eligible for a 25 per cent Whitehall-paid grant.

Five more regions that will be installing recharging points, including Scotland, were also announced by Transport Secretary Philip Hammond.

From 1 January motorists buying the first three of the named electric cars will get 25 per cent off, up to a maximum of 5,000.

The first three cars are the Mitsubishi iMiEV, the Mercedes-Benz smart fortwo ED and the Peugeot iON.

The 25 per cent reduction will also apply to the other six cars as they become part of the scheme over the next few months. The Citroen CZero will be available in early 2011, while the Nissan Leaf and the Tata Vista EV will be available in March 2011.

Available from early 2012 will be the Toyota Prius Plug-in, the Vauxhall Ampera and the Chevrolet Volt.

The new regions installing local charging points and which have successfully bid for a share of a 20 million fund, are Scotland, the east of England, the Midlands, Greater Manchester and Northern Ireland.

The Scottish charging points include Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Mr Hammond said: "A few years ago, ultra-low emission cars with mass-market appeal appeared just a pipe dream. Now they are a reality."