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UK Government Encourages EV Drivers Once Again

Thanks to a new state-funded five-year investment programme worth £500 million, British motorists in the market for eco-friendly electric cars will benefit from the same £5,000 incentive as before for an extra three years.
Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid 1 photo
Photo: Toyota
Starting next year, the funding will also be used to grow the existing network of charging stations. The government intends to spend at least £32 million on building fast charging points similar to the Tesla Supercharger across the whole motorway and A-road network of Great Britain.

Local councils will be offered a chance to chip a small part of a £35 million grant if they strive to become "ultra low carbon emissions car cities", while an additional £50 million will be invested in cleaner public transport, including buses and taxis. A cool £100 million will go into green technology development, a move which will create a significant number of new jobs in the British automotive industry.

At the launch of the initiative, deputy prime minister Nick Clegg declared to the media: "This major investment is there to make driving an electric car affordable, convenient, and free from anxiety about the battery running out. But it’s also about creating a culture change in our towns and cities so that driving a greener vehicle is a no-brainer for most drivers."

"Owning an electric car is no longer a dream or an inconvenience. Manufacturers are turning to this new technology to help motorists make their every day journeys green and clean," added initiative deputy prime minister Nick Clegg.

The biggest part of the investment program, some £200 million to be more precise, will fund the current plug-in electric vehicle grant. State officials say that the £5,000 incentive for buying a new green machine will be extended until 50,000 EVs have been sold or until at least 2017.

£5,000 really makes a difference in the final buying price of an all-new plug-in EV like the Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid (pictured above), Mitsubishi i-MIEV, Renault Zoe or Nissan Leaf. Here's a more than adequate example: a brand spanking new BMW i3 retails for £30,680 in the UK, but that price tag is lowered all the way down to £25,680 thanks to the incentive. Now that's a deal you can't miss.
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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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