9:50 am, February 7, 2011
40 PER cent of the public believe the Government’s Plug-in-Car grant persuades them to buy electric.
The survey carried out by TheGreenCarWebsite.co.uk found the Government’s Plug-in-Car grants worth up to £5,000 is enough to persuade 40 per cent of the public to buy an electric car or ‘other eligible’ cars.
The website’s editor, Faye Sunderland, said: ‘For many people, electric cars are a bit of a mystery, they are not sure they even really exist, at least in true market capacity anyway. And even when they are sure they are out there, they fear the unknown. It is still a big ask for consumers to buy a vehicle that they are unsure of how it works and how to adapt to using it.
‘The trick for car makers is to persuade customers to come and try their electric models. However, the environmental credentials of EVs won’t be enough for motorists, it will be the potential savings in running costs which will convince many people to make that final leap of faith and buy an electric car,’ she adds.
Despite that over half of those polled thought the grants weren’t enough; TheGreenCarWebsite.co.uk believes that the interest in the new Plug-in-Car Grants will pick up as the year progresses. The first three cars available with the grants are the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, smart fortwo electric drive and the Peugeot iON; all on sale from January 2011.
