Motorists will be offered subsidies of up to £5,000 to encourage them to buy electric or plug-in hybrid cars under plans announced by the Government. Would this motivate you to buy one?
It's part of the Government's £250m plan to promote low carbon transport over the next five years. Exactly how the money would be distributed is yet to be decided but Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon said it would be available only to people buying cars that ran entirely, or for the vast majority of their time, on electricity.
Ministers expect the cars to hit the showrooms in 2011. Hoon said that there was huge potential to reduce emissions, with less than 0.1% of the UK's 26 million cars electric.
At first the focus of the strategy would be on urban transport. "Given that 60 per cent of journeys by car are under 25 miles, there's no reason why someone using a car for commuting on a regular basis will not be able to charge up their car at home, take it to work and come home again well within the distance an electric vehicle should be able to travel," Hoon said.
The strategy also includes plans to provide £20m for charging points and other necessary infrastructure.
Send us your comments
Is this a good move by the Government? What would encourage you to switch to an electric car? Do you already own an electric car?
Read the full story on BBC News.
Are electric cars the future?
It's part of the Government's £250m plan to promote low carbon transport over the next five years. Exactly how the money would be distributed is yet to be decided but Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon said it would be available only to people buying cars that ran entirely, or for the vast majority of their time, on electricity.
Ministers expect the cars to hit the showrooms in 2011. Hoon said that there was huge potential to reduce emissions, with less than 0.1% of the UK's 26 million cars electric.
At first the focus of the strategy would be on urban transport. "Given that 60 per cent of journeys by car are under 25 miles, there's no reason why someone using a car for commuting on a regular basis will not be able to charge up their car at home, take it to work and come home again well within the distance an electric vehicle should be able to travel," Hoon said.
The strategy also includes plans to provide £20m for charging points and other necessary infrastructure.
Send us your comments
Is this a good move by the Government? What would encourage you to switch to an electric car? Do you already own an electric car?
Read the full story on BBC News.
Are electric cars the future?