The UK may like to believe it is at the forefront of the electric car revolution, but one electric car company believes its efforts are severely lacking.
The Electric Car Corporation, which currently assembles its Citroen C1 Ev’ie electric car in Flitwick, has decided to set up a production facility in Denmark to cater for the large demand for its cars in Europe. However, while the expansion is good news, it has hit out at the lack of assistance from the Government to help the emerging market.
Under existing Government plans, from 2011 drivers will be offered a £5,000 subsidy to buy an electric or hybrid car but at the moment there are no such incentives to encourage private purchases. Instead, only company car drivers benefit by facing no tax on their cars for five years as part of the pre-budget report.
According to David Martell, the Electric Car Corporation’s chief executive, the delay of these subsidies is leading to the UK falling behind Europe in the electric car sector. He commented that the assembly plant in Bedfordshire has been fully occupied through the last few months and they would like to increase capacity and employment to meet high demand. As such, he has written to the government to outline how the company can help put the UK on the map but they have declined to offer any assistance leaving the company no choice but to further its production in Denmark.
The company’s ev’ie is an all-electric four-seat city car based on the Citroen C1 with a range of 60-70 miles and the ability to reach a top speed of 60mph. The Electric Car Corporation hopes to sell more than 1,000 of the models in Scandinavia in 2010 and will rely on its Danish production facility to meet demand in both the Scandinavian and German markets, boosted by subsidies in these areas.
