The British government recently announced plans worth £250m to promote the uptake of electric vehicles, including a scheme to reduce the price of electric cars and plug-in hybrids, to make these an attractive choice for consumers.  There will also be support for lead cities to put in place electric charging infrastructure. 

The consumer incentives will be introduced in 2011 to coincide with the expected mass introduction of electric and plug-in hybrid cars to the market. Consumers will be able to receive help from the government worth in the region of £2000 - £5000 to allow for the maximum choice of which car they buy. Discussions are beginning with the automotive industry and financiers to determine how best to deliver this help. The government says that to be eligible, cars would need to meet modern safety standards and have a range and top speed sufficient to give mass market appeal.

This is a welcome initiative to help facilitate a major change of technology.  But we should not underestimate the effort required to switch from the century-old internal combustion engine and supporting infrastructure - manufacture, servicing, fuel supply and distribution.   And of course the carbon reduction benefits of electric vehicles mainly arise when the electric supply system is no longer dependent on fossil fuel.