22 April 2009 – Contract Hire News – smart fortwo ed to lead way in low carbon transport initiative?
Sales of smart’s electric powered fortwo ed look set to be given a boost when the cars goes into mass production in 2010. The Government announced last week that it is to introduce an incentive scheme to encourage motorists to purchase or contract hire an electric or hybrid car.
Transport secretary Geoff Hoon launched the £250 million backed scheme to promote ultra low carbon transport over the next five years, in Dunfermline, Scotland alongside Secretary of State for Business, Peter Mandelson. The scheme centres on a cash subsidy of £2,000 - £5,000 for motorists who opt for an electric powered when they become available in 2011.
Smart will be one of the first to market with its electric drive car when the fortwo ed goes into mass production next year and the iconic car manufacturer could be a key player in helping the Government achieve its objective of being a world leader in low carbon transport.
One of the critical components for the successful mainstream uptake of electric powered cars will be the availability of charging points to enable motorists to hook-up and recharge their cars on the go. The Government has allocated a £20million budget for creating the necessary infrastructure and supporting technology throughout the UK and plans to create a network of ‘electric car cities’. The scheme will also encourage manufacturers to build low carbon emission cars in the UK.
Talking about the initiative Mr Hoon said, ‘Cutting road transport CO2 emissions is a key element to tackling climate change. Less than 0.1% of the UK’s 26 million cars are electric, to there is a huge untapped potential to reduce emissions.’
‘The scale of incentives we’re announcing today will mean that an electric car is a real option for motorists as well as helping to make the UK a world leader in low carbon transport.’
For smart car leasing customers the new incentive scheme could make a smart fortwo ed an even more affordable option. Whilst personal contract hire customers will have to wait until the end of 2010 at the earliest before they can take delivery of a smart fortwo ed, business contract hire customers may be able to lease a smart fortwo ed as part of smart’s on-going UK trials of their electric drive car.
Smart fortwo ed contract hire customers won’t have to pay car road fund tax as the zero-emission electric powered cars will be exempt from this charge as well as being exempt from the London congestion charge. Car leasing customers who opt for the smart fortwo ed will also enjoy lower running costs anticipated to be equivalent to around 300 miles per gallon.
If you can’t wait for the smart fortwo ed, the smart fortwo micro hybrid drive is now available to contract hire with low emissions of 103 g/km and fuel economy of up to 65.6mpg. smart fortwo mhd is also exempt from the London congestion charge and costs just £35 a year to tax – although your first year’s road fund license is included with your smart contract hire car.
smart fortwo diesel is also available to contract hire with 88g/km CO2 emissions and 85.6 miles a gallon. It is also exempt from car tax and London congestion charge.
News stories are published on City Vehicle Leasing, that we believe may be of interest to visitors to our website and which are of a subject matter of related nature to the content of our website: Mercedes-Benz and smart car leasing and contract hire.
We report on stories that are making the news headlines around the world, which have been widely reported elsewhere. Inclusion of a news story on this website does not infer that City Vehicle Leasing has any knowledge of or involvement with the person or events contained within this news story.
