British government gives £100 million aid to electric cars research

Geoff Hoon, Britain’s transport secretary, has announced that the government has decided to offer a £100 ($155, €125) million aid to the development of electric cars and other ultra-low emission cars. Ford Motor, Mercedes-Benz, Citroen and Land Rover are among the 10 companies that will compete to supply low-carbon vans to local councils and government bodies, such as the Royal Mail, and city councils including Glasgow, Leeds and Liverpool.

The British government told that this funding was necessary to give an initial boost to electric car sales, which aren’t the most affordable vehicles out there, due to the expensive batteries, plus the problem of recharging mean. Beside that, Mr. Hoon also announced that an extra £20 million will be allocated for research and development in technology to make electric cars more affordable.

And it looks like Europe is really starting to support electric cars, because, this month, French president Nicolas Sarkozy also announced a 400 million Euros funding for electric cars development.

Source: Financial Times

Post tags: Tags: electric cars, uk, united-kingdom