Mr-Hasan Posted June 14, 2022 Posted June 14, 2022 https://www.bbc.com/news/business-61795693 Motoring and car industry groups have criticised the government's decision to end grants worth £1,500 towards buying electric cars. The Department for Transport said the plug-in subsidy scheme was being closed with immediate effect. It said funding would now be "refocussed" towards improving electric vehicle charging. But the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said the move "sends the wrong message". The RAC motoring group also warned the decision could "stifle" the ambition to shift most people into electric cars. The grant scheme, which first started in 2011, was designed to make buying new electric vehicles more affordable by providing a discount. The amount that drivers could claim was reduced from £2,500 to £1,500 in December. Electric cars priced under £32,000 were eligible. The scheme has been used to buy nearly 500,000 cars over the past decade. The Department for Transport said funding would now be "refocussed" towards the main barriers to the electric vehicle transition, such as public charging, and supporting the purchase of electric vans, taxis and motorcycles. Transport Minister Trudy Harrison said: "Having successfully kickstarted the electric car market, we now want to use Plug-in Grants to match that success across other vehicle types, from taxis to delivery vans and everything in between, to help make the switch to zero emission travel cheaper and easier." 'Wrong message' The UK is due to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030. Mike Hawes, chief executive of the SMMT, which represents carmakers, said the decision to scrap the grant "sends the wrong message to motorists and to an industry which remains committed to government's net zero ambition". He said the government's continued support for new electric van, taxi and adapted vehicle buyers was welcome, but the UK was "now the only major European market to have zero upfront purchase incentives for EV car buyers yet the most ambitious plans for uptake". Mr Hawes also said that the decision came at the worst possible time because the sector was not yet in recovery, and all manufacturers were "about to be mandated to sell significantly more EVs than current demand indicates". He called for the government to compel massive investment in the charging network quickly, at a scale beyond anything so far announced, if targets were to be hit.
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