End of the line for plug-ins
- Plug-in grant to end this year;
- No decision yet on exact date of scheme’s closure;
- 25,000 claims for £5,000 grant made so far;
- BVRLA welcomes ‘clarity’ on decision to help its vehicle leasing members.
THE end is nigh for the government’s financial support for buyers of plug-in cars with the announcement that the £5,000 grant ends by the end of the year.
Yet, the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) is keeping the industry is suspense by not confirming an exact closing date for the Category 3 Plug-In Car Grant (PICG) available for vehicles emitting less than 75g/km CO2.
However, there are no plans, as yet, to end the grants for other ultra low emission vehicles (ULEVs) producing less than 50g/km such as fully electric vehicles.
The OLEV has said that it will honour any deal placed on its system for a qualifying car, provided that the vehicle has been allocated to a customer and is delivered and registered within nine months.
The announcement follows pressure by the BVRLA in an attempt to combat growing uncertainty within the leasing sector, which had led a number of companies to remove the £5,000 grant from their quotation systems.
However, despite the mystery about a firm date, BVRLA chief executive, Gerry Keaney, welcomed the statement. He said: “We are delighted that OLEV was able to provide this speedy and common-sense response to our members’ concerns. Losing the £5,000 subsidy would have a major impact on a monthly lease rental, so leasing companies need to know that their quoted price won’t be hit because the vehicle lead time extends beyond the plug-in grant’s cut-off date.
