UK Government approves £5000 EV Grant Scheme

Well things are moving in the right direction over here in the cash strapped UK. Government have authorised the £5,000 EV grant for qualifying vehicles.

UK government funds £43 million electric switch-on - Parker's

Qualifying vehicles are as follows;

Chevrolet Volt Due Spring 2012
Vauxhall Ampera Due Early 2012
Nissan Leaf Due March 2011
Renault Fluence Due Summer 2012
Peugeot iOn Due Autumn 2010
Mitsubishi i-MiEV Due Early 2011
Citroen C-Zero Due Early 2011

I notice that they have the Volt down twice, once as the Chevrolet and also as a Vauxhall Ampera (Vauxhall is the UK version of Opel/GM in the UK). As Chevy also have a line up here in the UK, I wonder if we will be lucky enough to get both versions - the Volt and the slightly differently styled Ampera?

The Renault Fluence [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_Fluence"]Renault Fluence - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame] is a new one on me, but does look interesting. The Peugeot iOn and Citroen C-Zero [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peugeot_iOn"]Citroën C-ZERO - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame] are both rebadged versions of the Mitsubishi iMev. Interesting how the above indicates the Peugeot will be released before the Mitsubishi original.

I guess this must be a mistake.

 

I'm guessing it's because it isn't an official model as yet.

All the others are all pretty much ready to roll.

The original rules would have excluded the Volt and the Plug In Prius but I think they have or are in the process of being relaxed to include them. The final vehicle details have yet to be agreed.

Get up to £5,000 towards an ultra-low carbon car : Directgov - Newsroom

 

I have a feeling Toyota will be on there with the Prius Plug In. Remember where the Auris hybrid is being made! The Government will not want to fall out with Toyota the way things are at the moment. At least I hope so as I hope to get a Plug In Prius when they're out in a couple years.

 

I think a max of 60 mph is a typo. It should have been capable of 60 mph so as to avoid nonsense cars like the G-Wiz. The three year warranty would also exclude them.

 

Just had a look at the Chevy website and you're right, it appears we may be getting both versions.

Ampera: The electric car

Chevrolet Future and Concept Cars - Chevrolet UK

And Flan, you'll notice that Chevy are also going to import the Camaro to our shores. A nice 6.2 litre V8 - just to balance out the Volt! I bet they won't make the Camaro in right hand drive, so I predict they'll sell a total of 7!