Electric & Hybrid Vehicle Programs to Be Implemented in the UK

As the automotive industry is becoming more environmental responsible, multiple “green” projects supported by governments are implemented all around the world. The latest eco-friendly vehicle initiative has been announced by The Energy Technologies Institute, who will introduce three electric and plug-in hybrid test programs in the UK.

The projects will include 40 drivers and 3,000 market surveys. They will be developed through a $6.6 million investment and will research the market’s demand for plug-in vehicles, charging infrastructure and green advantages - the resulting reports will be generated by 2011.

"Realizing a self-sustaining mass market for plug-in vehicles is a huge challenge," said David Clarke, ETI’s CEO. "By developing and robustly testing these pathways, we aim to act as a guiding light to support more than GBP300m of UK investment already committed to infrastructure development and consumer incentives for plug-in vehicles."

Britain's traffic is expected to become greener in the future as the country's authorities will introduce an eco incentive program called “Plug-In Car Grant”, which will offer customers a 25 percent subsidy for the purchase of a new energy vehicle (all electric, hybrid or hydrogen). The scheme will be introduced next year through a $310 million investment.

To support this initiative, the UK government will also debut a “Plugged-In Places” project, that will see the introduction of over 11,000 charging stations throughout the country. The first charging points will be located in London Milton Keys and North East England.

The Energy Technologies Institute is an UK organization that enables the country’s government to collaborate with global companies in order to reduce Britain’s carbon footprint.