£43m electric car initiative has begun.

Just before Christmas, the Government announced the details of the first nine electric cars that are now eligible for a grant of up to £5000 under the subsidy scheme which started on the 1st January.

Buyers of the nine vehicles will be able to get a discount / subsidy of up to £5000.

However, as a BBC report pointed out (read it here), only 3 of the chosen cars are currently available with some not following until 2012.

At the moment, car buyers have a choice of the Mitsubishi i_MiEV, the Smart fortwo electric drive and the Peugeot iOn

Critics have claimed that the prices of the new models will make them unattractive to new car buyers - the Mitsubishi is £24,000 after the £5000 subsidy.

The Government also announced new locations getting a share of £20m to build networks of charging points in the Midlands, Greater Manchester, the east of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

This compliments charging stations schemes in London, Milton Keynes and the north-east of England.

Brighton recently completed its own network of charging points.

For me, whilst electric vehicles may 'appear' more environmentally friendly, there are three big issues that still need to be addressed:

1) The cost of electric vehicles against similar sized conventional fuelled models.

2) The distance they can travel on a full charge and the re-charging time / availability of charging point networks.

3) The electricity we're charging them with hasn't been produced from renewable sources.

What's your take? Are electric vehicles the next 'white elephant'? Do you expect sales to be good or bad? We'd love to know - leave your comment here.

photo credit: frank hebbert

Infrastructure first - green cars afterwards - in Brighton & Hove

Like 101 Dalmatians where Roger is humming his latest tune and reminds his wife - "melody first", so it must be the same when you're trying to encourage a green vehicle solution.

It's all very well having an electric car but if there's nowhere to recharge, then it becomes about as much use as a chocolate fireguard.

The problem comes in funding a recharging network, sufficient enough to put potential users minds at rest that they will be able to recharge during a journey, and encourage purchase.

So I felt a little sorry for Brighton & Hove officials who have plans to complete a 16 charging point installation scheme by the end of this year.

Despite the fact that so far (reportedly), there are only 3 electric cars in the vicinity.

Still, at least they won't have to queue at the 'pumps'.

photo credit: landkaproperty

Electric car charging station programme may escape cuts

Further to our post last week about the number of electric car grants being cut by the Government (see more here), I spotted this snippet in the Guardian a few days later.

Basically, the Government's spending review is rumoured to be saving the Plugged-in Places scheme, whereby the groundwork would be laid for charging points across the UK.

The Guardian understands that the plans have been approved in principle although details of funding and logistics have yet to be confirmed.

With London, Milton Keynes and the North East already enjoying a share of an £8.8million match fund from the Department of Transport, the motor industry and electric car manufacturers in particular are watching very closely after putting the Government under pressure and could reverse their decisions to build / locate electric car plants in the UK if the charging scheme doesn't get the backing.

There are apparently just 100 charging points currently in the UK.

Read the Guardian's full report by clicking here. It's well worth a read.

photo credit: whatleydude