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[Fred]

I send a FOI request to the Department of Transport. I'll also post here if it's worth reading.

[Fred]

I just got a reply to an email to OLEV about the current state of the scheme. A useless canned reply.

Thank you for your email and please accept my apologies for the delay in getting back to you. I can assure you that this Government remains committed to supporting the zero emission motorcycle industry. We will provide further information on the next steps for the proposed grant scheme as soon as they are known. You can keep up to date with all our announcements here:@OLEVgovuk

My reply:

Thanks for taking the time to reply. However, that really doesn't leave me any wiser as to how this is progressing or if it is at all. Is there anyone who does have information on this?

Surely it can't be that hard to add motorcycles to the existing car/van scheme? All they would need is an appropriate category.

I already follow the Twitter account. There are never any announcements. It just seems to retweet stuff, add nothing informative of its own and ignore relevant questions. There is a written Twitter policy, but this seems to be completely ignored.

[MostlyBonkers]

Well done for trying Fred. I've lost all confidence in the government. Robert Llewellyn interviewed the head of OLEV on his Fully Charged channel quite recently. If I get round to it, I might write to him. I'm starting to see this as just more discrimination against motorcyclists. There's a motorcycle organisation that is supposed to support the interests of bikers. It's name escapes me, but they might be worth contacting too.  I'd like to see a bike magazine or newspaper pick this story up. Nobody seems bothered.

[Justin Andrews]

Well done for trying Fred. I've lost all confidence in the government. Robert Llewellyn interviewed the head of OLEV on his Fully Charged channel quite recently. If I get round to it, I might write to him. I'm starting to see this as just more discrimination against motorcyclists. There's a motorcycle organisation that is supposed to support the interests of bikers. It's name escapes me, but they might be worth contacting too.  I'd like to see a bike magazine or newspaper pick this story up. Nobody seems bothered.

The BMF is the better bike organisation to check in with.

[Fred]

More from John McVeigh:

We are waiting for Ministers to give us a steer on the final details of the scheme and hope to make an announcement shortly, although the exact timing is for Ministers to decide. We are unable to announce anything until this happens.  I appreciate that this is not providing the clarity that you would wish.  All OLEV announcements are made via our website (www.olev.gsi.gov.uk) and you can sign up to notified of them by email or RSS feed. I am really sorry I can be more helpful.

[ctrlburn]

FOI request only partially fulfilled, (I'm still reeling the excuses for non-disclosure) Desmog.uk has begun their expose.


Revealed: Exxon’s Lobbying Against Electric Vehicles in the UK
By Kyla Mandel • Monday, September 12, 2016 - 00:00
http://www.desmog.uk/2016/09/12/revealed-exxon-mobil-lobbying-against-electric-vehicles-uk

“Switching transportation from petroleum to renewable or alternative fuels is not the most cost-effective way to reduce GHG [greenhouse gas] emissions.”


The US has the same problem, courtesy of the Koch Brothers.
http://www.kochvsclean.com/koch-vs-clean/


This is the message that ExxonMobil has delivered to the UK Department for Transport (DfT) in three separate presentations since the Paris climate deal was agreed last December...

[Fred]

Is something finally happening?
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/35-million-boost-for-ultra-low-emission-vehicles

In addition, an initial £3.75 million is being made available for motorcycle and scooter riders who want to want to go green, providing them with up to 20% off the cost of an electric motorcycle or scooter. Buyers will be able to claim a maximum discount of £1,500.

[Justin Andrews]

Is something finally happening?
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/35-million-boost-for-ultra-low-emission-vehicles

In addition, an initial £3.75 million is being made available for motorcycle and scooter riders who want to want to go green, providing them with up to 20% off the cost of an electric motorcycle or scooter. Buyers will be able to claim a maximum discount of £1,500.

FINALLY! 

[Fred]

You might notice that whilst there is some more information, there's not much detail, caveats like "up to 20â„…" and no dates. Still encouraging though.

[WDavis4692]

You might notice that whilst there is some more information, there's not much detail, caveats like "up to 20â„…" and no dates. Still encouraging though.

It's finally here:  https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/plug-in-motorcycle-grant-eligibility  from the lion's mouth

Still no word on the amount, but pretty sure I read somewhere that it's 20% of the value of the bike up to a maximum of 1,500

[Fred]

Yes, those are the amounts. I'm guessing it's now down to Zero to register their bikes to be eligible. The discount is apparently all handled by the dealer so you just see a cheaper price on your new bike purchase.

[MostlyBonkers]

Well done for trying Fred. I've lost all confidence in the government. Robert Llewellyn interviewed the head of OLEV on his Fully Charged channel quite recently. If I get round to it, I might write to him. I'm starting to see this as just more discrimination against motorcyclists. There's a motorcycle organisation that is supposed to support the interests of bikers. It's name escapes me, but they might be worth contacting too.  I'd like to see a bike magazine or newspaper pick this story up. Nobody seems bothered.

The BMF is the better bike organisation to check in with.

Thanks Justin, I will probably join them at some point.

In the meantime, I'm bumping this topic with this news:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/35-million-boost-for-ultra-low-emission-vehicles

At long last! The only thing I'm not sure about is exactly when this will be available for new Zero purchases. Another member has kindly posted this link in the news section. He mentioned the manufacturers have to register. Hopefully that's the only delay and it'll be weeks rather than months.

I don't want to sound ungrateful or too cynical, but I feel this has to be said:

This subsidy is nothing more than knocking the VAT off. The government is lying when it claims there's a £3.75m budget because they're not spending any money. They're simply forfeiting revenue on vehicles that, in many cases, wouldn't be purchased otherwise.  In fact, on a new Zero, the VAT is going to be over £2,000 so they're still quids in.

I think the bigger crime is not implementing this subsidy back in 2012 when it was needed the most. Perhaps zero wouldn't have left the UK. The government certainly talked about a subsidy back then, but did nothing. It's such a simple and obvious thing to do and yet they let us all down. Multiple times. It's pathetic.

I'm happy for everyone who's considering a purchase in the UK. Now is a great time to get a deal on a 2016 model or wait until after Christmas and pick up next year's model.

I hope by bumping this topic a few more will get notified.

[MostlyBonkers]

Hmm, due to the topic not refreshing in tapatalk, I've just noticed a few actually beat me to the bump! Forgive me for being a bit war weary on this topic. I gave up on the subsidy back in January when the bullshit went cold. I'm glad I did but I'm also very happy for those that can take advantage of the subsidy at long last. I'm also happy for Streetbike, the other dealers and zero themselves. Hopefully we'll see some stronger sales figures which is good for us all.

[MostlyBonkers]

For anyone who's interested, here's the guidance:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/plug-in-motorcycle-grant-eligibility/plug-in-motorcycle-grant-eligibility

It looks like Zero won't have any trouble complying. I hope someone at Zero is or already has filled in the application pack.

[WDavis4692]

So all they do is knock the VAT off?  Hasn't Norway been doing this to all their EVs for years now?  And what takes the piss is this news came in literally a week after I ordered my FXS from SoManyBikes in Oldham