to make electric cars 'a real option for motorists'

Consumers could receive incentives of between £2,000 and £5,000 to buy an electric car from 2011, the Government announced today.Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon said the initiative - part of the Government's low-carbon transport plan - would mean an electric car was "a real option for motorists".He announced the five-year initiative with Business Secretary Lord Mandelson, who said that low-carbon vehicles would play a key role in cutting emissions.In the plan, announced in Scotland today, consumer incentives would be introduced to coincide with the expected mass introduction of electric and plug-in hybrid (part electric, part petrol) cars to the market.The plan is for consumers to receive help from the Government worth in the region of £2,000 to £5,000 to allow for the maximum choice of which car they buy.The Department for Transport is beginning discussions with the motor industry and financiers to determine how best to deliver this assistance.To be eligible cars would need to meet modern safety standards and have a range and top speed sufficient to give mass market appeal.Mr Hoon said today: "Cutting road transport CO2 emissions is a key element to tackling climate change. Less than 0.1% of the UK's 26 million cars are electric, so there is a huge untapped potential to reduce emissions."The scale of incentives we're announcing today will mean that an electric car is a real option for motorists as well as helping to make the UK a world leader in low-carbon transport."Lord Mandelson said: "Britain has taken a world lead in setting ambitious targets for carbon reduction. Low-carbon vehicles will play a key role in cutting emissions."Government must act now to ensure that the business benefits of this ambition are realised here in the UK. We want the British motor industry to be a leader in the low-carbon future, and Government must direct and support this, through what I call new industrial activism."The five-year plan involves a £250m scheme to deliver a green motoring transformation and involves promoting the infrastructure and support technology and encouragement of manufacture in the UK that will place low-carbon transport at the centre of the Government's vision for the UK economy.The two ministers were planning to drive a new Mini E electric vehicle in Dunfermline in Scotland to demonstrate the technology of low-carbon motoring.At present the cost of electric cars is high, with one high-performance vehicle, the Tesla Roadster, having a starting price of more than £87,000.At the moment there is also little infrastructure in place to support the recharging that such cars need.Last week London Mayor Boris Johnson announced a plan to introduce thousands of charging points across the capital.The Government is expected to announce in the Budget next week that it is introducing a car scrappage scheme in which owners of older vehicles are given a financial incentive to replace them with newer, less-polluting models.Today, AA president Edmund King said: "An electric car strategy has the potential to spark a personal transport revolution in UK cities. However, if poorly co-ordinated and implemented, such a strategy could short-circuit itself."For electric vehicles to revolutionise our cities we need infrastructure, incentives, clean electricity and affordable, practical vehicles. This announcement is one small step for electric vehicles but we need one massive leap to change the way we travel."He added: "This announcement will help in the medium term but in the short term we urgently need a scrappage incentive to be announced in the Budget next weak to give immediate incentives to purchase cleaner, greener, safer vehicles."RAC Foundation director Professor Stephen Glaister said: "We welcome the initiative, but it must be remembered that while electric cars might be green, the power stations creating that electricity are probably not."Most of the electricity used to charge these vehicles' batteries will be produced by burning coal, oil or gas."The only current carbon-free source of electricity on an industrial scale is nuclear and currently that accounts for just 20% or so of UK electricity production."He went on: "We also need to see how the pot of money will be allocated. If the whole £250 million were divided up so £5,000 is allocated per person this would only put an extra 50,000 electric cars on the road - out of an annual total of some 2.7 million cars sold in the UK."And in the short term there is still much that can and should be done to further increase the efficiency and cleanliness of existing car technology."
Liberal Democrat transport spokesman Norman Baker said: "This announcement is like adding a small dab of green paint to the rusty hulk of the Government's failed transport policy."Discounts on electric cars are all very well for those who can afford to buy a new car but it cannot hide the fact that the Government has forced up rail fares and destroyed many local bus services."This might have been a sensible policy if it was part of an overall climate change strategy, but on its own it is just a gimmick."Friends of the Earth transport campaigner Tony Bosworth said: "The Government must slash emissions from UK transport if Britain is to meet its targets for tackling climate change."Financial support from the Government for electric cars is a welcome step in the right direction. These vehicles could play an important part in a greener future."However, electric cars are only as green as the electricity they run on. Ministers must take action to boost the UK's flagging renewable energy industry."The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders chief executive Paul Everitt said, "The Government has shown its commitment to developing a market for ultra-low carbon vehicles in the UK but we must now ensure that UK design, research and development and manufacturing are at the heart of this growing industry."The motor industry is in the middle of its greatest economic challenge and immediate action to preserve the UK sector in the short-term is essential if we are to stake our claim in the global development of low-carbon technology for the future."Shadow chancellor George Osborne said the electric cars announcement should be taken "with a pinch of salt".He said everyone wanted to see more electric cars on the road, but that there was "a distinct lack of detail" about the Government plans.Mr Osborne went on: "The Government's announcement does not seem to include any of the crucial measures that are actually needed to make electric cars a mainstream reality."There is nothing about building a smart grid that can manage the higher demand for electricity that will result if more people are driving electric cars and too little on creating a national network of car-charging points, so that motorists can actually drive their new electric car around the country."The Labour plan announced today is like giving people a grant to buy an internal combustion engine, without bothering to set up any petrol stations. And of course, there's no detail about how any of this will be funded."It increasingly appears that the Prime Minister is again talking about imaginary money, from an imaginary budget, being spent by Labour politicians who've imagined they've won the next election."