UK Govt. Announces List of Electric Cars Eligible for Grants

Mitsubishi i-MiEV

The UK Government issued a list today of 9 electric vehicles (EVs) that will be eligible for a grant of up to £5000 from Jan. 1st 2011.

The cars are the Chevrolet Volt, Citroen C-Zero, Mitsubishi i-MiEV (pictured), Nissan Leaf, Peugeot iOn, Smart Fortwo ed, Tata Vista EV, Toyota Prius Plug-In and Vauxhall Ampera.

Of these, only the Mitsubishi, Smart, and Peugeot will actually be available for delivery at the beginning of 2011. And only the Mitsubishi can be bought, £24k after the grant, the other 2 will start off as rentals. The Nissan and Tata will arrive in March. The Citroen "Early 2011". The others in 2012.

Apparently, the Vauxhall, Citreon, Mitsubishi, and Peugeot are basically same car re-badged with a few mods!

Interestingly, the established EVs - like the Tesla and G-Wiz, amongst others - are missing from the list. Strange. It's almost like the government are trying to prevent a rush on the grants.

Whether or not that's the reason, I'm betting it's frustrated a lot of people who were hoping to make use of the grant come the New Year.