THE chances of Nissan’s Leaf car being produced at Sunderland were boosted today by Government grants for drivers who buy electric vehicles.

The announcement forms part of a package which will also see the North-East receive £7.8m to roll out 1,300 charging points after being named as one of three “Plugged-In Places” across the country.

Nissan’s Sunderland plant is one of the forerunners to produce the Leaf for the European market, with the Japanese car maker expected to make a decision in May or June.

The Government confirmed it would offer grants of up to £5,000, first mooted last year, for motorists who buy an electric or hybrid electric plug-in car from next January.

Across the North-East more than 40 organisations in the public and private sector have pledged a total of £1m to have charging points installed at their premises.

The support shown, along with the Government’s announcement today, could play an important role in helping Sunderland secure the Leaf.

A spokesman for Nissan at Sunderland said: “It all helps, the more infrastructure we have and the visibility of that can only strengthen the case for us getting electric vehicle production here.”

Sunderland has been widely-seen as one of the favourites for Leaf production since the announcement last summer that Nissan’s electric car battery plant would be sited next to the present factory.

The funding for electric car buyers, called the Plugin Car Grant, will provide 25 per cent towards the cost of a new car, capped at £5,000, and will be available to both private and business fleet buyers.

Nissan and regional development agency One North East signed an agreement in December which will see at least 619 publicly-available charging points installed this year.

The extra funding means 1,300 charging points will now be installed across the region over the next three years – on streets, in car parks, at residential and commercial locations, and at retail and leisure facilities.

All the North-East’s local authorities have signed up to the scheme, as well as businesses including Simon Bailes Peugeot, Tees Valley Housing, Teesside University, Tesco and Barratt Homes.

As well as the £1m they will provide, the Office for Low Emission Vehicles is providing £2,978,000 and One North East is putting up £3.8m.

Alan Clarke, chief executive of One North East, said: “The backing we have received from regional partners shows just how much enthusiasm there is in our region to grasp the opportunities available in the low carbon vehicles sector of the industry.”