Currently reading: Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV sales won't be affected by plug-in grant drop

The government grant for the Outlander PHEV has halved, but Mitsubishi UK boss does not predict a drop in sales

Sales of Britain’s best-selling electrified vehicle, the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, are unlikely to suffer a long-term drop-off, despite the government incentive to buy one halving to £2500 from this month.

That’s the view of Mitsubishi UK boss Lance Bradley, who confirmed that Mitsubishi had reached its maximum allocation of electric car grants in the run-up to the end of the £5000 incentive. Bradley expects the initial lull following record-breaking registrations will be brief because buyers can still make substantial tax savings with the car.

“We never expected the grant to last forever, we just asked for a phased removal, and while this change has come quicker than we hoped, we expect to maintain momentum,” said Bradley. “From day one we were bold with pricing, and we plan to stay that way.

“Sure, the Outlander will cost more, but the people who were shrewd about the incentive rushed to buy one; I suspect everyone else thinking about it will investigate further and see there is still a substantial incentive, and that the car has enough advantages to pay back the extra initial cost.”

Mitsubishi UK sold just over 31,000 cars in 2015, up more than 10% on 2014, and driven primarily by PHEV sales.

There are now three categories of government grant for electric cars: a £4500 grant for vehicles with sub-50g/km CO2 emissions and a full electric range of at least 70 miles, a £2500 grant for cars emitting less than 50g/km and a range of 10 to 69 miles, and the same amount off cars with 50-75g/km emissions and a range of at least 20 miles. Cars costing more than £60,000 new are no longer eligible for a grant. 

Read our full test on the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV

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The Apprentice 8 March 2016

2018/19 the death of Hybrids

2018/19 tax year is when the greed of the government pretty much kills off hybrids that most manufacturers are rushing to bring to market, by then the BIK will have risen from 5% to 16% (and 19% the year after). This puts it within 3 percent of what will be typical BIK rate for many petrol cars. Only hybrids inherently cost more to make than a simple petrol car so, the combined purchase/lease cost and tax cost of an efficient petrol car will be less than the same for a PHEV or whatever. Whilst giving better real world average fuel economy. RIP PHEV, Tesla, BMW hybrids, Mercedes C350E, etc, etc.
xxxx 8 March 2016

Classification

The Apprentice wrote:

2018/19 tax year is when the greed of the government pretty much kills off hybrids ..... RIP PHEV, Tesla, BMW hybrids, Mercedes C350E, etc, etc.

Telsa don't make a hybrid.

The Apprentice 8 March 2016

xxxx wrote: The Apprentice

xxxx wrote:
The Apprentice wrote:

2018/19 tax year is when the greed of the government pretty much kills off hybrids ..... RIP PHEV, Tesla, BMW hybrids, Mercedes C350E, etc, etc.

Telsa don't make a hybrid.

True but the tax bandings are rising just as fast on pure EV's (although there a year behind hybrids) so the effect will be the same, they are not cheap cars but the ultra low BIK rates have negated that so far. Now as the rates ramp up then the tax will rise hugely. Also as a user myself of the rapid charge network, I can tell you it's pretty busy already and can be hard to get a go, in 3 years time it will be really overloaded as many more makes of PHEV and EV will be sold, making using a pure EV a lot of hassle.

The Apprentice 8 March 2016

2018/19 the death of Hybrids

2018/19 tax year is when the greed of the government pretty much kills off hybrids that most manufacturers are rushing to bring to market, by then the BIK will have risen from 5% to 16% (and 19% the year after). This puts it within 3 percent of what will be typical BIK rate for many petrol cars. Only hybrids inherently cost more to make than a simple petrol car so, the combined purchase/lease cost and tax cost of an efficient petrol car will be less than the same for a PHEV or whatever. Whilst giving better real world average fuel economy. RIP PHEV, Tesla, BMW hybrids, Mercedes C350E, etc, etc.
Harry P 8 March 2016

True cost?

I tried one of these for a few days as the tax benefit is so favourable. I decided however that the tax saving was not sufficient to put up with the down sides to the vehicle. In order to obtain any sort of sensible mpg, it required constant plugging in as the battery range for my rural type of driving was often less than 20 miles. Even then the engine would often cut in and an average of 30-35 mpg seemed to be the norm. I did achieve 125mpg on one journey, but on the return journey with battery now depleted the average dropped significantly.
I was left with the feeling that the vehicle only really satisfied the requirement of avoiding tax rather providing any real environmental benefit. Perhaps in an urban environment it may work better, but then why would you buy an SUV?