Nick Clegg has announced he will reward any manufacturer who can make a top selling ultra-low emissions car with £100 million.
The Liberal Democrats have declared that any ultra-low emission car that makes it in to the top five selling cars in the country will receive a hefty pay out from the Government, should the party be elected next month.
The announcement comes after the party declared that they want to ban petrol and diesel cars by 2040.
Clegg wants manufacturers to produce a car that is cheap enough to make it as a top seller as current hybrid, electric and other ultra-low emissions cars are typcially more expensive than their petrol counterparts.
The party have suggested such a car should cost between £10,000 and £15,000, although there are currently several cars available that are in the price range the party have suggested.
There are also requirements for a car to be classified as ultra-low emission, such as the vehicle producing less than 75g/km of Co2.
There are around 30 different cars to choose from with the cheapest car currently available being the Renault Twizy at just under £7,000. However the Twizy is only available as a two-seater, and has a range of only about 6o miles.
In order for a vehicle to be one of the five best selling cars in the country it would need to sell around 60,000 a year.
The fifth best-selling car currently is the Vauxhall Astra which sell just over 59,000 units a year. In 2014 the total amount of ultra-low emission cars sold was just under 16,000 units, up more than 11,000 compared to 2013 when just 4,400 cars were sold.
Speaking about the recent announcement, Nick Clegg commented: “For the first time since the 1970s, Britain now sells more cars than it buys.
“However, we need to go further and faster in making Britain a world leader in low emission vehicles by providing the right incentives and infrastructure to attract green investment and green jobs.
“This isn’t just about re-balancing the economy, it’s also about tackling dangerous levels of air pollution that reduce average life expectancy by up to eight months. Our prize fund will spark a low emission car revolution in Britain and help to build a stronger and greener economy for years to come.”
