Ultra-Low Carbon Cars Get £5,000 Boost

The courier services team at AnyVan is delighted to see an announcement from the government today saying that motorists will be able to get up to £5,000 towards the cost of an ultra-low carbon car.

AnyVan feared that such initiatives, vital if the country is going to bring down carbon emissions and help save the environment, would be axed along with many other ideas come the autumn round of spending cuts.

The discount will be available via what the government call a consumer grant and it will bring down the up-front purchase price of an eligible vehicle by 25% - a maximum of £5,000. The grant will be available from the New Year.

And the courier services team is especially pleased to see that the money is available to business fleet buyers, as well as private users. Cars might be leading the way, but it’s expected that commercial vehicles won’t be far behind if the incentives are right.

Philip Hammond, the transport secretary, said:
“The coalition Government is absolutely committed to low carbon growth, tackling climate change and making our energy supply more secure.

“We are sending a clear signal that Britain is open for business and that we are committed to greening our economy. This will ensure that the UK is a world leader in low emission vehicles.

“We will review the level of the incentive regularly to ensure that the UK remains competitive and taxpayers get value for money.  The first review will be in January 2012, at which point we will set the level for subsequent years.”

The government made it clear in today’s announcement that although cuts will be tough, there will still be room for green initiatives.

The ultra-low carbon car incentive will stay in place until the end of March, 2012, but will be reviewed in January 2012. A provisional budget of some £43 million has been initially allocated, although confirmation of further amounts will be confirmed in the autumn spending review.

Those wishing to make use of the incentive can check if a car is eligible for the subsidy on the appropriate government website.

So a round of applause for the government says the couriers services team at AnyVan. Let’s just hope that come the autumn spending review, too many other ‘green’ initiatives are not sacrificed in order to save the deficit.