Motorists looking to buy one of the new breed of zero emission vans will be delighted with news announced by the Transport Minister Norman Baker yesterday.
On a visit to the North East the minister confirmed that the £5,000 Government subsidy on electric cars would continue until 2015 and that electric vans would now also be eligible for the grant. The news will be welcomed by small businesses across the UK and many delivery firms and couriers will seriously look at taking out commercial vehicle insurance on an electric vehicle for the first time.
Speaking at the Gateshead Skills Academy for Sustainable Manufacturing and Innovation the Minister said: “The UK is on the brink of a critical transformation in road transport. We are beginning to see a real shift from high carbon to low carbon motoring and the Government is doing everything it can to accelerate this process. The facilities I have seen today are exactly the sort of innovation that we need to ensure that the benefits of motoring can be realised for future generations without compromising our carbon reduction goals.”
Mr. Baker took a trip round the performance track which adjoins the Nissan Car plant in a Smith-Edison electric van and was impressed by the smooth action of the vehicle. He confirmed that less than 1000 people had applied for the subsidy last year and extolled manufacturers to keep up the good work and said the coming years will see a big take-up in the new technology. To reinforce his views the Charge Your Car project initiated by the Office for Low Emission Vehicles Plugged in Places scheme announced the North East has now got 300 plug in stations available to the general public.