The Mitsubishi i-MiEV is the first fully electric vehicle to hit the UK
, it has now become even more attractive by being approved for the UK Governments Plug In Car Grant (PICG), which is a contribution of 5,000 towards the cars list price. In order to be eligible for the Government grant the i-MiEV had to meet a wide range of safety, environmental and performance standards as well as other criteria set by OLEV.
On 16th December 2010 the newly formed Government announced the list of eligible vehicles. The UK Government has put a side 400m as grant allocation for plug-in hybrid and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. The grant is to be used as an initiative to get more people into electric cars to help reduce the UKs CO2 output levels.
The Managing Director of Mitsubishi Motors UK said, "Having the first mass produced fully electric vehicle in the UK market puts us at the forefront of a new era in the automotive industry. We are delighted that the i-MiEV has met the high level of criteria required to qualify for the Plugged In Car Grant. We know from the orders that we have already received that the i-MiEV will appeal to a wide cross-section of private individuals and business users, with its exciting combination of innovation, style and technology".
The i-MiEV has been available to order since August 2010 but deliveries will not begin till January 2011, a Mitsubishi new and used cars in York dealer told us about the amount of interest the i-MiEV has generated and how they have been very busy fielding questions and orders for the first fully electric vehicle to hit the UK.