Government announces more incentives for ‘plugged-in’ driving

The Government has today announced more incentives to jump-start the take-up of electric vehicles, including £5 million of funding to introduce 2,430 charging points for electric vehicles in Milton Keynes and car grants.
The Milton Keynes investment is part of a £30 million fund from the new Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) for a network of electric vehicle hubs, the first three of which – Milton Keynes, London and the North East – were announced today and where 11,000 vehicle recharging points will be installed.

The idea is that the experience of these first three hubs – or ‘Plugged-In Places’ as they have been named – will inform the future development of a national charging infrastructure.

The Government is also looking at how to join the Plugged-In Places up with charging infrastructure along strategic corridors, and how to support multi-modal journeys to facilitate the wider use of electric vehicles. At this time if you wanted driving lessons redhill in an electric car then you would be out of luck as there are no redhill driving schools offering this service.

Today’s announcement was welcomed by the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) which, through its ‘Joined-Cities Plan’ is working with a number of cities to help develop a user-friendly environment for plug-in vehicles.

The ETI’s ceo, Dr David Clarke commented: “The funding from OLEV’s Plugged‑in‑Places scheme will enable a step‑change in infrastructure deployment in three of these locations – London, Milton Keynes and the North East.”

Plug-In Car Grants open to both private and business fleet buyers
Alongside the Plugged-In Places initiative, the Government has also announced that it will provide a so-called ‘Plug-In Car Grants’ worth 25 per cent of the cost of ultra-low-carbon car.