He said a more detailed proposal including things such as infrastructure and charging stations will be submitted in two weeks.

Speaking after the meeting, Karousos said the plan will be extended to accommodate as many applications for electric cars as possible. The extension is meant to send the message that the government promotes the use of the vehicles for environmental reasons.

Until Wednesday morning, the ministry had received 430 applications for the scheme, while the original plan was for 100 vehicles.

Asked about the additional cost involved, he said the initial arrangement would remain the same, with each buyer receiving €5,000 for the purchase of a new electric car for less than €40,000. The electric car needs to have a capacity of less than 1800 cc.

In two weeks, there will be a fresh look at the project based on the interest shown.

“We will try to meet as many requests as we can, depending on the budget available by the ministry of course. We also discussed this with the finance minister and in two weeks the proposal will be ready. We got the message that there is an interest in electric cars and we are immediately responding to this and will extend the plan,” Karousos said.

The policy will also be extended to 2021.

The two-fold government incentive plan to get older, less energy-efficient cars off the roads and promote the use of electric cars kicked off on Tuesday.

The first scheme offers incentives to buy new cars while withdrawing old ones, the second offers incentives to buy electric cars.

The grant for the withdrawal of cars older than 15 years is €2,000 per vehicle. To qualify, applicants must buy a new car.

Source: Cyprus Mail