Plug-in car grant extended to 2018

The UK’s plug-in car grant is to continue through until at least 2018, after the UK government devoted a further £400m towards subsidising the purchase of environmentally-friendly vehicles.

The scheme will now be extended through from February 2016 until March 2018 - during which the government believes 100,000 buyers will be able to benefit, around double the number who have received grants since 2011.

Transport Minister Andrew Jones said, "The UK is a world leader in the uptake of low-emission vehicles and the plug-in car grant has been key to that success. Extending the grant in a sustainable way ensures more than 100,000 people will benefit from financial support when purchasing these cheap-to-run and green cars.

"We are determined to keep Britain at the forefront of the technology, increasing our support for plug-in vehicles to £600 million over the next 5 years to cut emissions, create jobs and support our cutting-edge industries."

As part of the extension of the scheme, the plug-in car grant will have a new structure. So from 1 March 2016, buyers of cars that have can run on pure electric power for more than 70 miles will get £4500 towards their purchase. Customers opting for a plug-in hybrid will receive £2500. The lower of the two grants will be conditional on price, too, so plug-in hybrid cars costing more than £60,000 will not be eligible.

The government is continuing its support of home charging points. £500 will be offered to electric vehicle owners or purchasers to help with the cost of installing a suitable socket at home; that’s around half the usual bill.