Government puts up £30m for electric car chargers

Some 11,000 charging points for electric cars are to be built in London, Milton Keynes and the North-east over the next three years, supported by £30m of government money.

Three consortia – led by Transport for London, Milton Keynes Council and the One North East regional development agency respectively – will install charging points at locations such as supermarkets, public car parks and domestic streets.

A second wave of government-backed "Plugged-In Places" will follow later this year, with the West Midlands, Cornwall and Greater Manchester already confirmed bidders.

The Government also yesterday clarified plans to subsidise the purchase of plug-in cars. Buyers will be able to claim 25 per cent of the up-front cost – capped at £5,000 – from the start of next year.

The moves were widely welcomed by car manufacturers yesterday. Electric vehicles are expensive, so take-up will be slow without subsidies. Peugeot Citroën (PSA), which launches two plug-in cars in the UK this year, calculates that £5,000 is just sufficient to put the running costs of an electric vehicle on a par with a petrol alternative.

The full list of cars that will fall under the subsidy has yet to be fixed but it is likely to include the PSA models, the Vauxhall Ampera, which is due for launch in early 2012, and Toyota's next-generation plug-in Prius.