The Chancellor Alistair Darling has announced that electric cars will be exempt from company car tax for five years while electric vans have a 100 per cent write-down allowance for the first year.
The measures announced as part of the Chancellor’s Pre-Budget Report this afternoon are designed to encourage the uptake of electric vehicles within company fleets-a key step towards the wider adoption of electric cars.
Other ‘green initiatives’ include tax relief for people with a home wind turbine or solar panels who supply electricity to the National Grid. On average they will receive a tax-free payment of £900 a year from April.
Additionally £200m has been pledged for energy efficiency schemes, with extra 75,000 households helped by the warm front scheme.
The Government is to double its financial commitment for carbon capture and storage demonstration projects to reduce carbon emissions and a new scrappage scheme will help up to 125,000 homes replace inefficient boilers.
The rail electrification between Liverpool, Manchester and Preston is to go ahead as already planned and Mr Darling announced that the plans for electric smart meters will by completed by 2020.
Through the Innovation Investment Fund and the Carbon Trust’s Venture Capital scheme, the Government will support at least £160m of public and private investment in low carbon projects.
