Electric Citroën C1 car is ready, but government grants are not

The Times
April 30, 2009

Ben Webster

The shift to greener motoring is being delayed by the Government’s refusal to offer grants for electric cars until 2011, according to a British company that today introduces the first fully electric car available to buyers.
The Electric Car Corporation fears that drivers will be deterred from buying its Bedford-built car for two years until the Government starts giving grants of up to £5,000.
Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, and Geoff Hoon, the Transport Secretary, announced the Government’s £250 million electric car strategy two weeks ago. They promised grants of £2,000-£5,000 per car to help motorists to buy electric vehicles “when they hit the showrooms — which we expect from 2011 onwards”.
However, the electric adaptation of the Citroën C1, a four-seater available from today, meets all the criteria for the grants.

When asked yesterday by The Times whether the grants would be brought forward to apply to the C1, the Department for Transport said: “Incentives will coincide with the expected mass introduction of ultra-low carbon cars to the market so that consumers have the maximum choice of which car they buy — we expect this to be around 2011.”
David Martell, chief executive of the Electric Car Corporation, said: “It would have been better if the Government had not made any announcement. Offering free beer tomorrow does not persuade people to buy beer today. The grants should be available now because our car meets the criteria outlined by the Government.”
He said that the company had been planning to produce at least 4,000 cars a year for the British market but the Government’s announcement meant it was unsure of demand and might have to scale back plans for expanding production.
The electric C1 costs £16,850, double the cost of the petrol version. With a £5,000 grant, the electric model would still be about £3,500 more expensive but the driver could save that much in a year in reduced running, parking and congestion charge costs.
It costs 90p to charge the electric C1’s 26 batteries, which give the car a range of 70 miles. It costs £5 for the fuel to cover the same distance in a petrol C1.The electric version has a top speed of 60mph and takes about seven hours to recharge fully from a domestic 13-amp socket.