Electric cars to start British road trials

By Chris Tighe
Published: June 24 2009 04:54

The world’s largest coordinated trial of environmentally friendly vehicles will bring hundreds of electric vehicles to UK roads for “real life” driving, starting later this year.
The trial involves major motor manufacturers and automotive suppliers, as well as energy companies and universities. It is intended to help the UK become a world leader in a field with revolutionary potential impact and to help achieve the government’s aim to cut carbon emissions by 80 per cent by 2050.
Its launch on Tuesday will be followed on Wednesday by news of a government-backed procurement scheme to assess the carbon reduction potential of 100-150 low carbon and all-electric vans in UK “real world” conditions. The vans will be supplied by Allied Vehicles, Ashwoods, Modec and Smith Electric Vehicles to selected public sector organisations which can draw on £6m funding to meet the additional costs.
The £25m ($41m) Ultra Low Carbon Vehicle Demonstrator trial launched on Tuesday in five participating locations – Glasgow, north east England, the West Midlands, Oxford and London – will encourage industry-led research into electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids and hydrogen fuel cell cars and provide valuable practical data on all aspects of using such vehicles in the current UK road environment.
The trial, in which members of the public can take part as drivers, also has an important role in changing public perceptions about such vehicles as credible alternatives to the internal combustion engine.
In a direct challenge to the “milk float” image, the trial will include 21 high specification electric sports cars produced by a consortium whose member companies are experienced in motorsport applications, including Formula one. Science minister Lord Drayson, himself a motorsports competitor, was keen to stress that low carbon does not mean low performance. “Modern electric cars offer power and bucket loads of torque,” he said.
The trial will bring more than 340 ultra-low carbon vehicles, mostly electric, onto UK roads over the next six to 18 months. It will also mean a rapid increase in the availability of publicly accessible electric charging points. Without these, car makers will struggle to persuade the public to embrace such change.
“Without the infrastructure nobody is going to buy an electric vehicle; that’s why this is such an important step in moving from where we are today to potential zero emission technology,” said Trevor Mann, senior vice president for manufacturing for Nissan Europe, which is involved in the trial.
As part of the programme, north east England will be the first place in Europe to see on its roads the new Japanese-made electric cars which Nissan starts selling in Japan next year. The company will supply 15 for the north east trial. Nissan’s Sunderland site is pushing to become the company’s European site for electric vehicle production. As the critical mass of potential customers will be a key factor, the trial is “extremely helpful”, said Mr Mann.
The government’s £25m will be matched by participating companies in the eight selected consortia. The level and quality of interest led the Technology Strategy Board, the government-backed agency coordinating the project, to increase the number of test vehicles from 100 to 340, including cars, taxis, people carriers, and a minibus.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009