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Big surge in UK plug-in car sales

The Office for Low Emissions Vehicles in the Department for Transport is reporting a big jump in sales for plug-in cars – a category that includes both pure electric cars and plug-in hybrids.
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3 November 2014

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New plug-in models such as the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV are part of the reason why sales are on the up

THE Office for Low Emissions Vehicles in the Department for Transport is reporting a big jump in sales for plug-in cars – a category that includes both pure electric cars and plug-in hybrids, which are able to travel for significant distances in electric-only mode but also have a diesel or petrol engine as a back-up.

Between July and September, the government provided the plug-in car grant for 5,000 vehicles – that was more than double the number in the previous three months and getting on for a third of all the grants approved since the scheme was first introduced back in 2010.

The government expects to spend about £500 million on the plug-in car grant and other measures designed to encourage the take-up of plug-ins between 2015 and 2020.

One likely reason for the recent strong growth in sales: after the initial wave of new-generation electric models – mainly the Nissan Leaf, Mitsubishi i-MiEV and Renault Zoe – hit the market a year or two ago, there was something of a lull in new product launches but 2014 has seen a second strong crop of new models.

BMW has introduced the innovative i3 and the i8, and Volkswagen has started selling electric versions of its popular Golf and Up!

The plug-in hybrid version of Mitsubishi’s Outlander has also generated plenty of interest, although another model that did so much to generate interest in plug-ins, the Vauxhall Ampera/Chevrolet Volt now seems to be fading away.

One point for company car drivers to look out for – the plug-in car grant, which is £5,000 for cars and £8,000 for vans, does not affect the P11D values of the models concerned, so it is the company, rather than the driver, that benefits.

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