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The British government is to give up to £5,000 to anyone
who buys an 'ultra-low carbon' car from next year and
will build recharging hubs, according to the Department of
Transport.
The Plug-in Car Grant of 25 percent toward the purchase price,
capped at £5,000, will be available across Britain for
both private and business fleet buyers from January 2011,
by which time a range of eligible vehicles should be on sale.
"By this time next year, cutting-edge motorists will be on
the roads with these next generation cars they've purchased
because of our help," Transport Secretary Andrew Adonis said.
Only battery electric, plug-in hybrids with emissions of
less than 75 g/km, or hydrogen fuel cell cars will be eligible
for part of the £230 million total fund.
The electric vehicles must have a range of at least 70 miles,
or 113 km, while hybrids must be able to run for at least
10 miles without using fuel and all vehicles must be able
to go faster than 60 miles per hour.
The government also plans to spend £30 million on a
network of electric vehicle hubs - called Plugged-In Places
- in car parks, supermarkets and selected streets.
London, Milton Keynes and the north east of England will
get the first recharging points - with a total of 11,000 to
be set up in the next three years in those areas.
The program is a key part of British efforts to cut emissions
of climate-warming carbon from transport, which accounts for
about a fifth of the country's total emissions.
Recharging electric vehicles overnight is also expected to
help use up any excess electricity produced by the thousands
of wind turbines that the government wants to be built over
the next decade.
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