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

Starting in January, the subsidy will be worth up to 25% of the value of the car, capped at a maximum of £5,000.

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.

Benefits of Electric cars

Electric cars can be recharged from home

Cost only 2p per mile to run

Problems: battery life not strong enough yet:

A typical example of a the Ampera Its 50 mile battery electric drive range exceeds the UK’s average commuting distance but when a longer journey is required, Ampera’s range-extender engine/generator produces electricity on board extending the range by 310 miles to up to 360 miles without the need for recharging or refuelling

So which electric cars qualify for the Plug-In Car Grant?

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 AVAILABLE NOW approx. cost after grant £23,000
Smart Fortwo electric drive (Jan 2012) approx. cost £16,000
Peugeot iOn Available now
Nissan Leaf (March 2011) approx. cost after grant £23,000
Tata Vista (March 2011)
Citroen CZero (Early 2011)
Vauxhall Ampera (Early 2012)
Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid (Early 2012)
Chevrolet Volt (Early 2012)

And where in the UK will get funding for EV charging points?

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

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

Transport secretary Hammond said: 'Government action to support affordable vehicles and more local charging point’s 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.