Member Article

£900k boost for electric cars in North west

More than £900,000 in government funding will be provided to boost the number of charging points for electric cars in the North West, the Deputy Prime Minister has announced.

Nick Clegg pledged to invest more than £9 million across the country as he launched a joint campaign with car manufacturers to promote the benefits of ultra low emission vehicles.

Under the plans, Cumbria County Council will receive £562,500 for new charging points, Cheshire East Council will receive £302,183, Hyndburn Borough Council will receive £26,250 and Pendle Borough Council will receive £10,000.

Northern Rail, which runs rail services across the North of England, has also been allocated £322,500 to install charging points in train station car parks.

Last year, Merseytravel also received funding from the Office for Low Emission Vehicles for 126 charging points across Merseyside and West Cheshire, including at some train stations.

Major car manufacturers BMW, Nissan, Renault, Toyota and Vauxhall are all backing the Go Ultra Low campaign in a ground breaking partnership with the government to debunk common myths and misconceptions that put drivers off switching to electric or hybrid cars, such as cost and how far the vehicles can travel before being recharged.

Electric car owners do not have to pay car tax or congestion charges and many chargepoints are free to use. The cars cost from just 2p a mile, which means a family that drives an electric vehicle 10,000 miles in a year would save around £1,000 on fuel costs each year.

The £9 million funding will be used to create hundreds more charging points across the country, including 140 new rapid chargepoints which can charge an electric car in less than half an hour.

The Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, said:“Electric cars are one of the most promising of our green industries and we want to secure the UK’s position as a global leader in both the production and adoption of these vehicles.

“The extremely low running costs of electric cars help drivers save money and we are allocating more than £9 million to boost chargepoints across the country to help drivers to go green.

“This means we can lower UK emissions and create high-tech engineering and manufacturing jobs to boost our economy.”

The announcement came as the Deputy Prime Minister visited iconic transport venue Ace Café in North West London where he will meet managing directors, staff and apprentices from leading motoring companies BMW, Nissan, Renault, Toyota and Vauxhall.

Transport Minister Robert Goodwill said: “This campaign is about opening people’s eyes to the advantages of ultra low emission vehicles.

“They are incredibly cheap to run and we’re giving grants that knock thousands of pounds off the pricetag at the point of sale. This is great news for the consumer and for industry, with the UK well-positioned to take the lead on the development of these advanced technologies.”

The Go Ultra Low campaign is backed by five household names from industry: BMW, Nissan, Renault, Toyota and Vauxhall.

Mike Hawes, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said: “This is a significant development as government and some of the country’s leading automotive brands pool resources to fund a campaign that will raise awareness of the benefits and capabilities of these new technologies.

“The ‘Go Ultra Low’ campaign will help the public understand how these new cars work and how they could be a perfect fit for their personal, business or fleet needs. Given the importance of running costs and environmental performance to new car buyers, we hope the campaign will encourage more people to consider going ultra low.”

More information on the Go Ultra Low campaign is available at www.GoUltraLow.com.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .