Consumers on both sides of the Atlantic show lackluster interest in electric cars.
(The Guardian)- Hopes that £5,000 government grants would make 2011 "remembered as the year the electric car took off" have been dashed with the release of new figures showing uptake of the greener cars has sputtered out.
Only 106 electric cars were bought in the third quarter of 2011 through the "plugged-in car grant" scheme, launched in January. It marks a significant slump in demand on already sluggish-take-up, with 465 cars registered through the scheme in Q1 and 215 in Q2.
However, trade body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) pointed out that all electric car registrations – both inside and out of the grant scheme – have gone from 167 in 2010 to 940 in 2011.
Electric car campaigners and industry had hoped this would be the year the year the cars – billed as a clean low carbon alternative to conventional petrol and diesel models – made a breakthrough. Former transport secretary Phillip Hammond said in January: "Government action to support affordable vehicles and more local charging points means we are on the threshold of an exciting green revolution – 2011 could be remembered as the year the electric car took off."
The number of electric vehicles in the UK stands at just 1,107, a tiny chunk of the country's 28.5m cars. But the government had hoped to incentivise take-up with the launch of grants of up to £5,000, preserving the grant during last summer's cuts and putting aside £43m, or enough for 8,600 cars, until March 2012. The scheme is due to be reviewed in January.
3 comments:
uh huh..and then shortly after 100..the race was on to see what would be the dominant vehicle on the roads, steam, electric and Gas[electric cars were built before that actually.] was on. Gas won. Gee...I wonder why? Do you know that despite all the claims, several of the articles I've read say that the electric car hasn't really been improved on in all that time? Battery energy retention still sucks, they still don't go any faster than they used to, and wow..you can still go farther on a tank of gas than you can on a charge. BIG F'ING shock that gas and the combustion engine won out.
*hmmm make that "shortly after 1900"
Part of the reason why EV's haven't taken off is because they have a limited range and are rather pricey at the moment. Perhaps that will change in the future.
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