Renault welcomes extension of government’s electric vehicle grant scheme to include vans and confirmation of car funding until 2015

Renault is delighted by news that electric van buyers will be able to receive 20 per cent, up to £8,000, off the cost of their new purchase. Announced earlier by Transport Minister, Norman Baker and Business Minister, Mark Prisk, Renault and the UK’s electric
vehicle market as a whole, are set to benefit even further with confirmation that funding for the Plug-In Car Grant, which offers electric car buyers up to £5,000 (25 per cent of vehicle cost), will be funded until 2015.

With its 100 per cent electric Kangoo Van Z.E. – the world’s first electric commercial vehicle produced directly by a mass-market manufacturer - launched just one month ago, set to be joined by three electric cars before the Autumn of 2012, Renault is in a prime position to make the most of this latest boost for low-emission driving.

With the new grant in place, the already keenly priced Kangoo Van Z.E., costing from £21,038 on-the-road, excluding monthly battery hire, would become even more affordable, from just £16,960.40. The French marque has always set out to price its Z.E. models extremely competitively, with the aim of making them available to customers for the same price as the diesel-engine version of the same model, in countries where government tax incentives are in place for electric vehicles. Today’s announcement goes a long way towards making this possible and will undoubtedly aid interest in electric vehicles from business owners of all sizes.

As an ‘ultra-low carbon’ van manufacturer, Renault will be applying to be part of the Plug-In Van Grant before the scheme’s application deadline of January 31, 2012, after which it is believed further details on the scheme’s extension to vans are likely to be released by the Department for Transport. With strict eligibility criteria covering range, safety and ultra-low tailpipe emissions, the Kangoo Van Z.E. should have no issue in complying, as well as being one of the few electric vans available through the scheme.

Commenting on the news, Andy Heiron, Head of Electric Vehicle Programme, Renault UK, said, “Having actively lobbied for the inclusion of commercial vehicles in the Plug-In Car Grant scheme over the past year, we’re delighted that the Government has acted and made this announcement. This addresses the big question that many customers and industry commentators have been asking us for many months and I think we can expect to see a surge in demand. Allied to the environmental and corporate social responsibility benefits of running an EV, a fully electric van for less than £17,000 on-the-road with significantly lower running costs than a diesel, is a very compelling financial argument in favour of Kangoo Van Z.E.”

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