Grants of up to €5000 for electric and hybrid cars will be available from January 1st 2011.
Grants of €5,000 for the purchase of Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) and up to €2,500 for the purchase of Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) are available from 2011 to 2012. This support comes in addition to the zero VRT on BEVs and VRT relief of up to €2,500 for PHEVs announced by the Minister for Finance in his Budget Speech of December 2009.
Vehicles which meet the following criteria will be eligible for support
* Vehicle Type: Passenger vehicle must meet the M1 classification as defined under the European Whole Type Approval Process;
* Safety: Vehicle must meet European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) rating of at least 3 stars;
* Speed: Must achieve 100kph on a level surface;
* Endurance per charge: BEV >100km/PHEV >20km;
* Tailpipe CO2 Emissions: BEV = 0g/km/PHEV <75g/km;
* Vehicle Warranty (including battery): 3 years or 100,000km.
For PHEVs with a list price greater than €18,000 a grant of €2,500 will be available. For BEVs with a list price greater than €20,000 a grant of €5,000 will be available. For BEVs with a price less than or equal to €20,000, the grant will be in proportion to the vehicle costs.