Cenex announces electric vehicle trial in North East England
Hundreds of drivers in North East England will have the chance to take part in a prestigious new electric vehicle trial announced today by Cenex, the UK’s Centre of Excellence for Low Carbon and Fuel Cell Technologies.
The pilot-scale fleet trial was announced today by Cenex and Regional Development Agency One North East at the National Low Carbon Vehicle Event. It will see four electric Smart cars deployed in the region for six months from October 2009 which more than 500 people will use over the duration of the trial.
The cars will have an operational base at the North East’s new Low Carbon Vehicle Research, Development & Demonstration Centre. They will be deployed by a range of people including those wishing to drive an electric vehicle for the first time, university-based study groups and fleet operators interested in EV adoption. Cenex will work closely with One North East and its partners in selecting the groups of participants who will be given the opportunity to drive the vehicles during the trial.
Technical data from the trial will be collected from on-board instruments throughout the trial. Three cars will be on the roads of the North East, with one primarily based on the test track and fitted with more sophisticated monitoring equipment to support technical experiments.
The trial is aimed at accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles in North East England as a genuine alternative to the internal combustion engine. It will also be a major boost for the Low Carbon Vehicle Research, Development & Demonstration Centre, which is being established near to Nissan’s factory in Washington within the UK’s Low Carbon Economic Area for Ultra Low Carbon Vehicles.
Robert Evans, Chief Executive Officer of Cenex, said: “We are delighted to announce this trial, which we hope will enable large numbers of potential users in the North East to gain hands-on experience of driving an electric vehicle for the first time. The feedback and data we collect will also help to give vehicle manufacturers and technology specialists a real insight into the opinions of their future customers and will assist in the development of electric vehicles which are tailored to the needs and preferences of end-users.”
North East England is also hosting a major electric vehicle demonstrator project that will see 35 electric passenger vehicles developed in the region. It involves One North East, Nissan, Smith Electric Vehicles, AVID Vehicles and Newcastle University and from late 2009 will see vehicles including cars, taxis, people carriers, saloons and a minibus trialled as part of the national Technology Strategy Board-funded programme.
One North East has also created a partnership of major private sector names including Tesco, British Gas, CE Electric, the AA and Capital Shopping Centres to develop a world-class electric vehicle infrastructure in the region. The Agency is in the process of installing 750 charging points for electric vehicles. This will work alongside the roles of Middlesbrough, Newcastle and Sunderland within the country’s Joined-Cities network.
Chris Pywell, Head of Strategic Economic Change at One North East, said: “We are delighted that this prestigious trial will take place in North East England. It is fitting that it will be based in the UK’s first Low Carbon Economic Area for Ultra Low Carbon Vehicles.
“The trial will play an important role in boosting the profile of electric vehicles, while adding to the ground-breaking R&D work into low carbon transport that is already taking place here.”
Topics: Britain, Cenex, clean and renewable energy, electric vehicle, energy, England, environment, environmental innovations, low carbon, One North East, UK, United Kingdom
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