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Electric car trials begin in North East

A consortium has won a £3.9m government grant to develop and trial electric cars in the North East.

Sunderland’s Nissan plant and the Washington-based Smith Electric Vehicles are part of a new project which will pioneer the use of low-carbon cars, buses and lorries on the region’s roads.

35 electric vehicles, made up of 15 Nissan cars, 10 Smith electric taxis, five Smith people carriers, a Smith executive minibus, and two saloon cars and two urban Range Rovers produced by Cramlington’s Avid Vehicles and Liberty Electric Cars, will be tested in the region, together with a network of charging points.

The scheme will be monitored by Newcastle University’s transport operations research group.

More than 340 electric and other low carbon vehicles are being tested in eight separate projects across the UK.

The first vehicle is expected to be an executive minibus with the trials taking place in Newcastle and Gateshead, where the first charging points are to be installed.

Low carbon shift

Nissan plant boss Trevor Mann said: “Undoubtedly, the most important trend in urban transport within the next decade will be the shift towards low-carbon.

“There is an increasing desire from the public for environmentally-neutral transport, linked with big improvements in available technology and an increasing urban population.

“All these aspects are combining to create the right environment and demand for a revolution in sustainable transport, which Nissan is aiming to spearhead through the mass marketing of zero-emission electric vehicles from 2012.”

Chris Pywell, head of strategic economic change at One North East, said: “Our region rightly has a global reputation for manufacturing and engineering.

“The vision and expertise of the partners within our consortium will place the North East at the cutting edge of world-wide electric vehicle development.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .