HE Tees Valley is on the road to a low carbon transport future today, after becoming one of the first areas in the UK to trial electric vehicles.

The cars will be tested on Tees Valley’s roads within the year, after the North-east was chosen as one of eight key testbed areas in the Ultra Low Carbon Vehicle Demonstrator competition.

Economic leaders have called the move a “historic moment” that will put the region at the forefront of low carbon vehicle technology.

A top-flight consortium including Nissan, Smith Electric Vehicles in partnership with LTI and Ford, AVID Vehicles, Liberty Electric Cars, Newcastle University and regional development agency One NorthEast, has secured £3.9m funding from the Technology Strategy Board for the trials.

Test-runs on 35 vehicles including cars, taxis and minibuses will take place on Tyneside first, before the fleet arrives in the Tees Valley. Plug-in points have been mapped out and a cross-section of motorists will be chosen to gauge how the vehicles perform in real-life.

Chris Pywell, head of strategic economic change at One NorthEast, said the move will place the North-east at the cutting edge of worldwide electric vehicle development.

“This marks a genuinely historic moment for our region. This is the first time that electric vehicles are to be taken seriously as a credible alternative to the internal combustion engine on a national and international scale. It will inform the understanding of how electric vehicles will be used in the future. Cities around the world can develop the infrastructure based around our model.”

Low carbon transportation is a key sector in the Great North Revolution, launched recently by the Gazette and the CBI to map out a strategy for growing the regional economy.
Source: NE Business.Co.UK