Government to Extend Plug-in Grant for Motorists

Renault and Nissan have welcomed plans by the government, to extend plug-in grants to car buyers in the UK. The grant already included £5000 off the List Price of the world’s first 100% mass-produced electric car, the Nissan Leaf, which has been on sale in the UK since 2011 and enjoying such accolades as European Car of the Year 2011.

With a real-world-tested range of 109 Miles (Nedc), a charge time of 0-80% in 30 minutes and a top speed of 90mph, the Nissan Leaf was never going to nor was intended to set the world alight with its performance, but until now Nissan hasn’t had much competition from other manufactures.

But that could all about to change in the form of Renault with the launch of their ZE range. Renault have entered the mass-produced electric car market another way. The Kangoo ZE is the new Kangoo with a 100% electric motor, which is also being sold alongside their normal range of Kangoo vehicles.

There are other EV commercial vans that have been on sale for quite a while but they tend to be approved aftermarket conversions, and many of such vehicles cost over £45,000 like the one Glasgow city council are trying, which is based on the Peugeot E7.

In Autumn 2012 Renault will be able to compete directly with Nissan with the launch of no less than three new electric cars, whereas Nissan can’t yet compete directly with Renault for commercial sales. Nissan are, however, conducting real world tests with Fed-Ex using a Nissan NV200 prototype, which will be at least a year away before it’s commercially available.

There is more to the Government plug-in grant and that is if you buy a commercial EV (electric vehicle) you can receive 20% upto £8,000 off the list price. Renault have very ambitious plans in that whilst the Nissan Leaf is considered by many as very expensive new, Renault clearly state that they “aim to make all ZE models the same price as their diesel-engined cars of the same range, when and where Government incentives are in place.”

We here at Warrantywise wish both manufactures the best with their electric car plans. In the meantime, in the many years it will take for electrical vehicles to achieve a large chunk of the new car market in the UK, we will continue to constantly refine our used car warranties, with the help of Quentin Willson. We always strive to maintain our extended car warranties as the best in the market, with features such as MoT Failure cover, no betterment penalty, ‘wear and tear’ cover worth the paper it’s written on, consequential damage covered, and so much more! For the best car warranty (in our view, of course) come direct to Warrantywise for advice and a quote!