Are electric car grants a good use of taxpayers' money?

MILLIONS of pounds worth of Government grants for eco-friendly electric cars are being used by just a handful of affluent motorists to help them buy second cars.

That's the warning today from the House of Commons Transport Committee, who said that despite Westminster offering £11m worth of grants for those who buy plug-in vehicles, only “a handful” of motorists had taken the plunge, with many of those being richer buyers who are using them as second cars for shopping trips.

Liverpool Riverside MP Louise Ellman, who chairs the committee, said: “The Government must do more to show that its plug-in vehicle strategy is a good use of public money. Carbon emissions from transport must be reduced if the UK is to meet its climate change targets, but public money must be targeted on effective policies.

"So far, Department for Transport expenditure on plug-in cars – some £11 million – has benefited just a handful of motorists. We were warned of the risk that the Government is subsidising second cars for affluent households; currently plug-in cars are mostly being purchased as second cars for town driving. It is also unclear whether the provision of public charging infrastructure encourages demand for plug-in cars. Indeed, the Government does not even have a register of all the chargepoints installed at public expense."

An increasing number of manufacturers have launched both purely electric vehicles, such as Nissan's LEAF and Citroen's C-Zero, and plug-in hybrids, like Vauxhall's Ampera and Chevrolet's Volt.

The committee added that more investigation is required into the Government grants, to ensure they are a good use of public funds.

Have you bought an electric car? Get in touch by sending an email to david.simister@hotmail.co.uk or leave a comment below.

Fire up the... Renault Twizy

EVER since they cancelled kids' TV favourite Captain Planet saving the world hasn't been the same. Eco-friendliness is all very noble but it's - to my mind at least - a bit boring.

This is particularly true of electric cars, which have at best been dull and overpriced and at worst fatally flawed, but Renault's determined to change all that. With, by the looks of the utterly bonkers Twizy, something that's been styled by Gerry Anderson's production team rather than a car company's design department.

Tall in stance, open-wheeled and equipped with little bodywork other than a set of scissor doors cast in plastic rather than steel, the Twizy (which, by the way, rhymes with easy and not, as I thought, Thin Lizzy) is quite unlike anything I've clapped eyes on. In fact, the only thing that comes close in terms of visual impact is the Morgan Threewheeler I drove earlier this year, and in both instances you'll have to get used to being looked at.

So the Twizy, if you're shy, probably isn't not your bag but - and I really wasn't expecting it - it is mine. It is, if you've been raised on a diet of fast cars with noisy petrol powerplants, not exactly the last word in speed, but it's weirdly thrilling to drive because it's so nimble and because the relatively low grip from the skinny tyres offer up as much fun at 30mph as some cars struggle to do at twice that.

With electric cars it's usually at this point I say it'd be great if it weren't for an extortionate price tag, but at less than seven grand the Twizy doesn't have one.

Think of it as a car and you won't get it - it's too exposed, too impractical not plentiful in the seats department for that - but as a scooter for scaredeycats it's big fun. It's small, easy to park, kind to the environment, and because it comes with seatbags and an airbag and because you can't fall off it, a whole lot safer than taking two wheels to work. In fact, I think the Twizy's only real failing is that, with it being an entirely eco-friendly effort, Renault won't offer you one with a perkier petrol engine.

The Twizy is odd and impractical but it puts a smile on your face and has a definite ‘want one' factor. Which for me makes it a landmark in the world of electric cars.