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London could be awash with Electric Cars by the middle of the next decade, as PSA Citroen admitted it is targeting the capital in a big sales drive for its new IOn C-zero models - but only if the Government offers good enough subsidies for motorists to buy them.  The french motor giant said that it intends to put its first mainstream electric cars in London motor showrooms by this time next year.

The companies research and manufacturing chief, Guillaume Faury, told the Evening Standard that a three year, £2.7billion ramp-up will see Peugeot Citroen aiming for 25,000 sales in Europe by 2015.

“We will be targeting big cities with congestion chargesand emission zones, ” said Faury.

“London is nauturally an important place for us. ” The IOn and C-Zero which are being developed with Mitsubishi of Japan will have an 80-mile range on a single charge.  The most expensive parts of the cars are their lithium-ion batteries costing around £10,000 each. Peugeot Citroen is making it plain that its electric cars will not be comercially viable unless there are substantial government subsidies. In the UK, Government incentive schemes being talked about could provide up to £5,000 to ubuy a new car.

“Incentive schemes will make or break this technology,” said Faury. “We are saying on price that in pay-per-monthfinance package the cost of an electric car will be no more expensive than running a conventional car on finance.