UK Gov’t To Scrap Subsidies for Hybrid Cars – Ridiculous!

Are They Mad? Why Is the UK Government To Scrap Subsidies for Hybrid Cars? It’s a Pathetic Reason That Doesn’t Make Sense

October 2018

It’s just crazy. It’s only a few days since the latest – and VERY scary – IPCC report on climate change was published. It was blunt – we need to reduce our carbon emissions NOW. One way of doing that is to change from normal cars (internal combustion engine) to either hybrid or electric cars. So why on earth will the UK government scrap subsidies for hybrid cars?

I’m horrified.

Low-emission cars are expensive. The technology is new and sales aren’t yet big enough to bring prices down. So when you scrap subsidies for hybrid cars, even fewer people buy them because they are even more expensive!

According to the AA (Automobile Association), the vast majority of drivers said the purchase price of low-emission cars was the main reason for not buying.

The announcement comes just a few months after transport secretary Chris Grayling published a “Road to Zero” strategy to curb vehicle emissions by promoting greener cars. So it just doesn’t make sense to scrap subsidies for hybrid cars.

How Much Are The Subsidies for Hybrid Cars?

If you buy a plug-in car, you get a reduction of £4,500 off the purchase price of a brand new electric vehicle. But this will now be cut by £1,000.

Worse, incentives of £2,500 to buy new hybrid cars will be abolished altogether.

So why is the government doing this?

What Does the UK Government Say? Why Will It Scrap Subsidies for Hybrid Cars?

So far, the subsidies have cost the UK government about £600m since 2011. (It sounds like like a lot of money, but it’s nothing compared to the subsidies on petroleum and the costs of pollution and public health, not to mention climate change).

The Department of Transport said that hybrid cars were now “established” among consumers, and it wants to focus instead on zero emission models.

But that’s daft.

Plug-in hybrid cars make up less than 2% of overall sales. Such a tiny percentage! We need to encourage people to buy greener cars, so subsidies must stay, otherwise sales of polluting, normal cars will continue.

To Make Matters Worse…..

As if this wasn’t bad enough, in a related matter, a court appeal to stop fracking in the UK failed, and the UK government is pushing ahead with fossil fuel extraction.

We know that all fossil fuels currently in the ground, must stay in the ground and not be exploited, if we are to have a chance of avoiding runaway climate change.

Grim Summary

If the UK government wants to make life harder for all of its population, it’s certainly going the right way about it.

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Warm regards,

P.S.  Don’t forget to download your free green living handbook “Live Well, Live Green” here.

Related:

• Why the latest IPCC climate change report was so horrifically scary
• Get rid of all the toxic products in your life (you’ll be shocked at where they hide!). It’s easy – see how here!