Electric and autonomous drive cars got a £500-million boost as UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, announced a number of initiatives to support the transition to zero emission vehicles.
The government will invest £200-million, to be matched by private investment, into a new £-400 million charging infrastructure for electric vehicles. The government will also make sure all new homes are built with the right cables for electric car charge points.
Hammond also revealed that charging an electric car at work will not be subject to a benefit in kind tax.
The UK government is also committing to electrify 25% of cars in central government department fleets by 2022.
The UK has also announced an ambitious target of getting fully self-driving cars on the road by 2021. It will therefore make world-leading changes to the regulatory framework, such as setting out how driverless cars can be tested without a human safety operator. The National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) will also launch a new innovation prize to determine how future roadbuilding should adapt to support self-driving cars.
The Autumn Budget 2017 also revealed £100-million will be put to extend the plug-in car grant until 2020.
