Plug pulled on electric car discount deadline

THE deadline to claim a discount on electric cars has been brought forward by the Government after 9,000 vehicles sold in 10 days.

The grants, designed to encourage people to swap polluting diesel and petrol cars for “greener” alternatives, have been cut earlier than planned due to raised demand.

Drivers looking to buy hybrid cars, which run on normal fuel and electricity, are no longer eligible for a discount. Full electric cars are still eligible, but at a lower level. Since a Government warning that it was about to slash the discounts around two weeks ago, those eligible have been buying at a rate more than six times higher than usual.

As a result, officials took the decision to cut the grants early, with immediate effect from this Sunday. Previously it had planned to cut them on Nov 9.

An average of 900 grants at the previous, more generous levels, were claimed each day since the announcement, compared with 140 during the first six months of the year.

Cash incentives through the plug-in grant have been offered since 2011 to encourage people to buy greener cars.

A Department for Transport spokesman said: “These changes will allow us to focus support on zero-emission vehicles, such as pure electric and hydrogen fuel cell cars.”

Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said: “The big question is whether motorists’ enthusiasm for hybrids will hold up now that the plug has been pulled on the grant.”