GCR: Britain cuts incentives for electrics, hybrids

My Nissan Leaf Forum

Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

GRA

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 19, 2011
Messages
14,018
Location
East side of San Francisco Bay
https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1119343_britain-cuts-incentives-for-electrics-hybrids

Britain will end purchase incentives for plug-in hybrids and reduce them for pure electric cars after November 9.

In a move that looks like replacing carrots with sticks, the announcement comes two months after the country launched its "Road to Zero" plan to ban sales of gasoline and diesel cars by 2040.

Britain's Department for Transport announced on Friday that subsidies for electric cars would be cut by about $1,300 (1,000 pounds), and that subsidies of $3,300 (2,500 pounds) for plug-in hybrids will eliminated, according to The Times of London (subscription required). Existing incentives for electric cars are about $5,900 ($4,500 pounds.)

In a statement, the Department for Transport said the current incentives had been successful in getting plug-in cars on the road. "The [Plug-In Car Program] has helped the plug-in hybrid market become more established, and the government will now focus its support on zero emission models like pure electric and hydrogen fuel cell cars," the statement said.

So far, Britons have bought 160,000 plug-in cars with the subsidy, mostly plug-in hybrid models, the most popular of which is the Mitsubishi Outlander plug-in hybrid. Plug-ins, including pure electric models, make up about 6 percent of the total British market. . . .

British automotive groups were quick to criticize the plan, saying that price is one of the biggest objections consumers voice when considering electric cars. "Rather than give consumer excuses to shy away from the greenest possible option, government needs to provide reasons and incentive to convince drivers hybrid and electric cars are the way forward," said Jack Cousens, a spokesman for AA, Britain's equivalent of AAA in the U.S.
 
Via IEVS:
The Future Of PHEVs Looks Bleak In UK
https://insideevs.com/future-phevs-bleak-uk/

UK is Europe’s biggest market for plug-in hybrid cars, but after the cut of the £2,500 Plug-In Car Grant for PHEVs (and decreasing for BEVs from £4,500 to £3,500), sales are expected to decrease.

According to JATO Dynamics global analyst Felipe Munoz, in the worst case scenario, UK will go down the path delineated set by the Netherlands, which through generous incentives for PHEVs was in 2015 the PHEV kingdom. Then incentives were withdrawn and PHEVs are not big deal there anymore.

Felipe Munoz said that “The only advantage PHEVs have is their incentive,” – there are still lower taxes for company cars, or fuel savings, but according to the article, now PHEVs will not be competitive on the market.

Plug-in hybrids account for 3/4 of plug-in car sales in the UK, so any significant decrease will have a deep impact on the overall result. . . .

  • “The grant loss came at a time when plug-in hybrid sales were already on the verge of being poleaxed by the switch to the new WLTP emissions testing regime. This came into force in September and was much tougher on plug-in hybrids, meaning cars recorded worse emissions figures and therefore attracted fewer incentives. The response from some manufacturers was simply to remove the car from sale – the VW Passat GTE has only just returned but the Golf GTE isn’t expected back until July 2019. Also dropped were the BMW 330e and several Mercedes. . . .”
 
Back
Top