The announcement that the plug-in car grant will reduce from £5000 to £2500 for plug-in hybrid vehicles bought after 1 March, 2016 has brought a wave of interest in the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV from buyers looking to beat the deadline.
The Government’s plug-in car grant scheme allows for a nine-month delivery period, which was introduced to allow for car companies’ different lead times. This means vehicles ordered before the end of February 2016 will still qualify for the full £5000 plug-in car grant, even if they are not delivered and paid for until November 2016.
The plug-in car grant was established in 2011, and has provided a subsidy (up to a maximum of £5000) towards the purchase price of an ultra-low emission vehicle. Some 50,000 people have already benefited from the grant. It is now backed by a new £400 million package that aims to treble the number of ultra-low emission vehicles on Britain’s roads. The grant will now continue until at least the end of March 2018.
The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV still leads the market as the UK’s favourite plug-in vehicle. It has achieved 16,000 sales from launch and currently accounts for around half of all plug-in car grant applications. The 4×4 SUV combines an all-electric range of up to 32.5 miles that easily accommodates average daily driving distances, with an efficient 2.0 litre petrol engine to deliver an anxiety-free combined driving range in excess of 500 miles.
Toby Marshall, Sales and Marketing Director said: ‘We are having many more enquires than usual, as buyers are looking to order their Outlander PHEV before the grant reduces. Dealers are reporting a huge increase in interest and website traffic is higher than ever’.
