Chancellor Alistair Darling has announced a zero per cent company car tax on electric vehicles in today's pre-budget report.
Darling wants to stimulate the market for greener vehicles by making them more attractive to businesses, as well as encouraging the set-up of charging infrastructure and providing an incentive for car makers to build electric cars.
The zero per cent rate will run for the next five years. By the end of this period, electric cars should be mass-produced and a more common site on Britain's roads
At present there are only 50 electric vehicles registered as company cars, out of 1.1 million company cars on the road. Company car tax rates start from around nine per cent for an electric vehicle.
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Re: Tax incentive for electric cars
You are largely correct on both counts, making the Californian well-to-wheel figures meaningless in the context of the UK.
California does not have modern efficient diesel cars.
The main fossil fuel they use for power generation is natural gas, which we also use a fair bit of in the UK. However, coal fired generation, which is the most CO2 intensive way of generating electricity, and what we use a very large amount of in the UK, is a tiny proportion of the California state total.
California's low carbon sources include substantial nuclear, hydroelectric and geothermal facilities. They also have a significant mix of other renewables including wind and solar.
They are way, way ahead of the UK in terms of generating low carbon electricity. Thank 12 years of stagnant energy policy from our beloved government, particularly in their cowardice in refusing to get cracking with new nuclear plants to replace the old ones which are now havin to come out of service due to old age.
Re: Tax incentive for electric cars
"Why should you not?" you ask. Well why should I pay more? Regardless of your personal opinion, the fact of the matter is that road tax does not go straight onto fuel. I pay £400 a year to drive a Golf 4,000 miles a year. Meantime there are thousands of people who do high annual mileages of 25,000 or 30,000 miles per year (or more) that are only paying £100-odd per year road tax. Who's polluting more?
In any case, why should any of us pay more? What happens to the revenue the government raises through raising the cost of road tax, fuel duty etc. Does it go directly in paper notes up into the sky to plug the alleged hole in the ozone layer? No - it goes straight to treasury coffers to be wasted. The governments answer to every problem this country faces - raise taxes. And it's the motorist who is the easist target.
Re: Tax incentive for electric cars
The California Air Resources Board didn't include the BMW 320d in their calculations. That is why their conclusion is meaningless.I also doubt they have coal-fired Generating Stations there.