Details of UK's £5000 Plug-In Car Grants published

The Government has signed off the Plug-In Car Grants, giving details of which electric cars qualify for the £5000 grants.

The incentive means that cars such as the Vauxhall Ampera will cost £28,995, GM confirmed today.

Transport secretary Philip Hammond and business minister Mark Prisk announced the scheme and confirmed which areas will qualify for the second round of Plugged-In Places funding - allowing councils to install electric car recharging networks.

A list of nine cars has been drawn up, each one emitting less than 75g/km of CO2. From 1 January 2011, they will qualify for £5000 off the list price:

Mitsubishi i-MiEV (on sale January 2011)
Smart Fortwo electric drive (January 2011)
Peugeot iOn (January 2011)
Nissan Leaf (March 2011)
Tata Vista (March 2011)
Citroen CZero (Early 2011)
Vauxhall Ampera (Early 2012)
Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid (Early 2012)
Chevrolet Volt (Early 2012)

The Midlands, Greater Manchester, East of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland will share £20m to instal 4000 more charging points.

That's in addition to the 11,000 EV posts being installed in London, Milton Keynes and North East England by 2013.

Transport secretary Hammond said: 'Government action to support affordable vehicles and more local charging points means we are on the threshold of an exciting green revolution. 2011 could be remembered as the year the electric car took off.'

Government will continue to receive applications from vehicle manufacturers for more cars to be eligible for the Plug-In Car Grant and another round of eligible vehicles will be announced in 2011.

By Tim Pollard