Diesel car owners are outraged at the government, who are set to introduce a diesel scrappage scheme which could see dirty diesel cars removed from British roads by as early as 2030. In 2001, when the Labour Party were in power, Gordon Brown introduced incentives for people to buy diesel cars. Diesel cars emit less carbon mile for mile than petrol cars, however they emit high levels of nitrogen dioxides and tiny soot particles. Millions of drivers could now be forced to buy an electric, hybrid or Plug-in hybrid cars to replace their diesel vehicles. Transport Secretary Chris Grayling claimed that there is an urgency to tackle the diesel problem. I would like to see a migration of people away from current technologies to lower-emission technologies "The Department for the Environment is currently preparing, and will launch shortly, our strategy to take tackling the diesel problem to the next level." He added: "There is no question that in the future we are going to have to move to lower-emission vehicles. We need to do it soon. "I would like to see a migration of people away from current technologies to lower-emission technologies. We are providing incentives to do that now and we will be doing more in the months ahead." The Express has looked at all the possible expenditures to consider when buying a new electric or hybrid car. -What cars will be on offer to me? Alternatively fuelled cars in the UK are split into three categories - electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid. There are currently some 83 different alternatively fuelled cars and vans available to British buyers and in January this year AFVs recorded their highest ever market share, at 4.2 per cent. Car buyers in the UK who opt for electric vehicles currently get a £4,500 contribution towards the cost. Under that diesel scrappage system, drivers will receive £3,300 (€4,000) for handing in an old diesel and buying a new, clean vehicle. In addition to this, buyers will also receive a purchase bonus on the new car up to the value of £5,200 (€6,000), depending on how environmentally friendly it is. An alternative to fully-electric cars, hybrids and plug-in hybrids are also available. NISSAN 1 of 16 A traditional hybrid car would use the petrol engine to charge the electric battery watt high speeds then switch to the electrode once the car slows down to under 25mph. A Plug-in hybrid (PHEV) relies on the electric batteries to power the car and the petrol or diesel motor only kicks in when the battery is completely depleted. This process can add 100s more miles in range for example in the Chevrolet Bolt you can get another 400 miles out of the combustion engine, when the battery is empty. PHEV cars also benefit from a government grant due to their low carbon emissions. The grant can on offer is either £2,500 or £4,500 depending on the category the model belongs to. There are three categories when classifying PHEV cars based on the emissions they emit: Category 1: Cars that produce carbon dioxide emissions of less than 50g/km and a zero emission range of at least 70 miles. Category 2: carbon dioxide emissions of less than 50g/km and a zero emission range between 10 and 69 miles. Category 3: carbon dioxide emissions of 50-75g/km and a zero emission range of at least 20 miles. Category one cars benefit from the higher £4,500 grant whilst categories two and three get £2,500 of their price. -What about charging? One of the biggest arguments against electric cars is the range of the batteries and how long they take to charge. There are multiple ways to charge electric car batteries - all with pros and cons. Dedicated home charging systems can be purchased to charge your car which receive a 75 per cent contribution from the government (max £500). Driver's are only allowed one charge point per eligible vehicle and the home units need to be fitted by an OLEV authorised installer. The cost for home chargers is £300 for the 3kW charger and £400 for the more powerful 7kW. Charging an electric car at home costs about £3.00 for a full charge which equates to 2p per mile. Average overnight electricity rate is 10p per kWh, which means charging your car for as little as 2p per mile. Fully charging a 30kW Nissan LEAF will cost about £3.00 and give you about 150 miles of range. It should also be said that you should be aware of the charging times to make sure you don't get caught out - charging off an AC home plug can take over 10 hours. One thing to consider is that if you on have off the road parking, an electric car may not be for you as you won't be able to plug the car in. Maximising the life of the battery The longer the battery stays at 100 per cent state of charge (SoC), the worst it is for its lifespan. Keeping the battery at 100 per cent or draining it to zero per cent can reduce the overall range of the battery. In 2012, it was proved that this an electric car can still maintain their range after time if the battery is cared for. Tesla boss Elon Musk tweeted: "A Tesla Roadster just passed the 100,000 mile mark for the first time and still has over 200 miles of range." This is a retention of 85 per cent of its full potential. Tips to reduce draining your battery to quickly: 1.Easy on the accelerator - harsh accelerating and braking can drain power more quickly 2. Use drive modes - Certain drive modes fitted to modern EVs can save you range. 3. Be selfless - Air conditioning, in-car climate control and any technology device inside the vehicle can contribute to a dip in range. 4. Maintain it - keeping the tyres pumped up, fluid levels topped up and air filters clean can all too add to the range. 5. Plan your route - Getting lost means range is lost. 6. Keep it light - Remove needless bulky items from your car. -Leasing batteries Renault offer the possibility to lease batteries instead of buying them reducing the overall cost of the car. One benefit of leasing the batteries is that if efficiency drops below 75 per cent then Renault will automatically replace it. However one thing to bear in mind is that when you lease the batteries your annual mileage is limited and you will be tied into a contract (around three years). In addition to this the monthly rental cost needs to be factored in to the deal. Take the Renault Zoe for example, monthly battery leasing cost ranges from £49 - £110. -Maintaining an electric car? The maintenance of electric cars is often praised due to the fact they have significantly less moving parts than a combustion petrol engine car. Some studies have shown an almost 35 per cent decrease in maintenance costs overall. Warranty Tesla offer an eight year/unlimited mileage warranty whilst VW and BMW offer an eight year warranty with 99,360 miles and eight years with 100,000 miles warranty respectively. Citroen, Ford, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Peugeot, Renault all offer between four and five years warranty on they cars. Smart only offer a three year warranty for the Fortwo ED. So if you have the budget the obvious choices would be Tesla, BMW or VW and also Renault due to their battery leasing scheme. Cost of five of the most popular electric cars in the UK after government grant: Tesla Model X - from £71,900 Nissan Leaf - from £26,125 Tesla Model S - from £53,400 BMW i3 - from £25,680 Renault Zoe - from £13,945 Taxing my low emissions car Another trump card that low-emissions cars had over patrol and diesel was the fact that they were exempt to car tax. Now only zero-emissions cars will be exempt from tax, while all cars will pay varying amounts of tax in the first year before being charge a standard £130 rate from the second year onwards. According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders two thirds (66%) of the AFVs that currently qualify for the £0 standard rate will now be subject to an annual flat rate charge of £130. Cars costing over £40,000 including AFVs will be required to pay an additional £310 surcharge. 
A list of low emissions environmentally friendly cars to replace your diesel with.
