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Britain to Subsidize EV Charging Stations

The U.K. says its has set aside 37 million (€43 million) to reimburse consumers and businesses for three-quarters of the cost of installing charging points for electric vehicles.
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The U.K. says its has set aside 37 million (€43 million) to reimburse consumers and businesses for three-quarters of the cost of installing charging points for electric vehicles.

Costs range between 1,000 (€1,200) for a home recharger to 45,000 (€52,200) for a public rapid-charging facility at a location such as a railway station. The government also may pay the full expense of installations for hospitals, police and municipalities. The country currently has about 7,500 public charging points.

The infrastructure funding, which will be available until April 2015, comes from 400 million (€464 million) previously allocated to supporting ultra-low-emission vehicles. Britain is already giving EV buyers rebates of 5,000- 8,000 (€5,800-€9,300) per vehicle.

Critics of the government's EV spending note that U.K. registrations of such vehicles totaled only 1,000 units in 2011 and 2,200 last year. Officials hope enthusiasm will grow later this year when Nissan Motor Co. begins selling the Leaf electric sedan made at its plant in Sunderland, England.

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