BRITISH drivers have been offered £3,000 by Fiat as an incentive to buy a new electric car, but the discount will only apply to 500e and 500s Convertible models.
Although EV sales increased following of rising petrol and diesel prices in 2022, the sales of electric cars have been slowing down.
The Fiat 500 Electric range includes coupe and convertible models, although only the drop-top versions will benefit from the £3k grantGetty
The UK government ended its Plug-in Car Grant almost 12 months ago.
Initially, it started as a £5,000 discount but was cut to only £1,500 when it was phased out.
This scheme helped to increase the sales of fully electric cars from less than 1,000 in 2011 to almost 100,000 in the first five months of 2022, the Daily Express reports.
Drivers in the United States can save up to $7,500 (£5,980) in tax credits, while large incentives of up to €9,000 (£7,734) are being offered by Germany and Spain.
Fiat also wrote the government an open letter saying that even more drivers would switch to EVs if they brought back the scheme.
Damien Dally, managing director at Fiat UK, said: “There’s no doubt the Government’s Plug-in Car Grant successfully kickstarted the UK’s electric car revolution – it supported the sale of nearly half a million electric cars.
“We also appreciate it refocusing funding towards one of the main barriers to the electric vehicle transition, public charging.
“However, with the cost-of-living crisis and rising cost of electric vehicles, coupled with our net zero climate targets, we believe more needs to be done to incentivise individuals to be able to afford to make the switch.
“That’s why we’ve taken it upon ourselves to launch the Fiat E-Grant.”
This comes after drivers were warned about further problems with electric cars.
Plus, a man who bought a £90,000 electric car says that going anywhere requires heavy-duty planning.