Environmentally friendly car trials start within weeks

The first of a fleet of 340 environmentally-friendly cars will take to the streets within weeks as part of the Government's plans to cut carbon emissions from road transport.

By David Millward, Transport Editor Published: 3:58PM BST 23 Jun 2009
They were unveiled as part of the biggest trial of plug-in technology ever to take place in the world.
Members of the public will be able to apply via the internet to lease more than 100 of the plug-in models included in the scheme, but to qualify they will also either need a garage or at least access to a power point to charge the vehicle.

In all £250 million of public money has been allocated to the scheme which, when it was announced in April, envisaged 50,000 vehicles being in everyday use on the country's roads.
With around 30 million cars in Britain, the impact of this fleet on the overall carbon footprint will be minimal, but the Government is hoping to secure the long term future of the motor industry by backing green - "ultra low carbon" - technology.
An array of vehicles were unveiled from sporty roadsters to vans and urban runabouts. The programme, which will run over the next 18 months, will see the cars tested by volunteers and businesses in a number of eight locations across the country.
These cars will be seen in the West Midlands, north east England, Oxford, Glasgow and several parts of London. Universities as well as car manufacturers and power companies are taking part in the experiment.
The experiment will include a fleet of 40 plug-in Minis, 100 electric powered Mercedes Smart Cars. There are also 21 electric sports cars available including models from the Lightning car company, Westfield and Delta Motorsport.
They, however, will be leased to "high profile individuals" who, like those leasing the more mundane models, will be expected to drive the cars every day.
Eventually, supporters of the project believe, that up to five million such cars could be on the roads, cutting Britain's transport carbon emissions by half.
Underpinning the project is the fact that a large number of car journeys are less than 30 miles and well within the range of the plug-in cars which could become commonplace in cities across the country in decades to come.
For longer distances, the more likely technology is the plug-in hybrid car which will use the electric mains to charge overnight but also have a petrol engine to enable the vehicle to cover longer distances.
They would include the Vauxhaull Ampera, a car which is earmarked for production at the company's plant at Ellesmere Port, Cheshire.
"Our aim is for ultra-low carbon vehicles to be an everyday feature of life on Britain's roads in less than five years," said Lord Adonis, the Transport Secretary.
" This is a challenging target and there is still a long way to go. However, if we continuing to work closely with motorists and the industry with initiatives like the demonstrations project, I believe it is achievable."
Meanwhile Lord Drayson , science minister, insisted that driving the cars would be enjoyable. "Low Carbon doesn't mean low performance. Modern electric cars offer power and bucket loads of torque."