£40 Million Boost for a Greener UK

Published Date: 26th Jan 2016

The Government gives out £40 Million towards the Electric car revolution

Four Cities have been given a share of £40 Million (London, Milton Keynes, Bristol and Nottingham) for the following….

• Charging infrastructure such as car-charging street lighting
• Low emission zones offering parking and traffic priority to owners of plug-in vehicles
• Low emission lanes giving plug-in vehicles the same priority at traffic lights as local buses

Who Gets What?

Here’s a full breakdown of the £40 Million…..

• London is awarded £13 million to create ‘Neighbourhoods of the future’ prioritising ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEVs) in several boroughs across the capital
• proposals include over a dozen streets in Hackney going electric with charging infrastructure such as car-charging street lighting, while Harrow will develop a low emission zone offering parking and traffic priority to owners of plug-in vehicles
• Westminster Council already provides free parking for ULEVs and London’s proposal aims to deliver 70,000 ULEVs sold by 2020 and almost quarter of a million by 2025
• Milton Keynes will receive £9 million to open a city centre Electric Vehicle Experience Centre — a ‘one stop shop’ providing consumer advice and short-term vehicles loans
• the city also proposes to open up all 20,000 parking bays for free to EVs and co-brand bus lanes as low emission lanes giving plug-in vehicles the same priority at traffic lights as local buses
• Bristol get £7 million to offer residents free residential parking for ULEVs, access to 3 carpool lanes in the city, over 80 rapid and fast chargers across the city and a scheme encouraging people to lease a plug-in car for up to 4 weeks to help them better understand the range of benefits that electric vehicles bring
• Nottinghamshire and Derby will use £6 million of funding to install 230 chargepoints and offer ULEV owners discount parking and access to over 13 miles of bus lanes along key routes across the city
• the investment will also pay for a new business support programme letting local companies ‘try before they buy’

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin announced:

These Go Ultra Low Cities have proposed exciting, innovative ideas that will encourage drivers to choose an electric car. I want to see thousands more greener vehicles on our roads and I am proud to back this ambition with £40 million to help the UK become international pioneers of emission cutting technology.

The UK is a world leader in the uptake of low emission vehicles and our long-term economic plan is investing £600 million by 2020 to improve air quality, create jobs and achieve our goal of every new car and van in the UK being ultra-low emission by 2040.

                                

This new scheme is also providing £5 million of development funding for specific initiatives in Dundee, Oxford, York and north east regions to help them play their part in kick-starting a country-wide clean motoring revolution. New commuter charging hubs in Dundee will open up links across the region for plug-in vehicle owners, while solar-canopied park and ride hubs in York will help reduce air pollution in and around the city.