Plug-in extension
- Government announces that current levels of the Plug-in Car Grant will continue until at least February 2016;
- Longer term plan for the grant to be announced after November spending review;
- BVRLA welcomes move but call for further extension.
GOVERNMENT mandarins have done a partial ‘U-turn’ over the £5,000 Plug-in Car Grant scheme for ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEVs) by extending it for a further three months.
It had announced earlier in the year that funding for the scheme could be pulled by the end of 2015.
Now any ULEV with CO2 emissions of 75g/km or less will remain eligible for a grant until February 2016, while the Plug-In Van Grant will continue indefinitely.
The announcement overturns the government’s plan to halt the grant once a threshold of 50,000 vehicles had been sold – a figure expected to be breached by November.
Welcoming the news, BVRLA chief executive Gerry Keaney said: “It is great that the government has provided more certainty about the lifespan of this vital incentive and the nine-month lead time limit for qualifying vehicles to be delivered and registered.
“Demand for ultra-low emission vehicles is growing rapidly but we would urge the government to continue supporting this nascent market by extending the Plug-in Car Grant beyond next February and providing additional in-life incentives for early adopters.
