29 June 2010
The Switch EV project is officially launched today with an open invitation issued to drivers in the North East who want to find out more about life with electric vehicles.
This unique demonstrator fleet will make available to the public 35 new passenger vehicles which are all being developed by North East companies and which will include the first all-electric Nissan LEAF cars to hit the roads in the UK.
Images of two new vehicles are also revealed for the first time today – the Avid CUE-V hatchback car and the electric taxi being developed by Smith Electric Vehicles which will form part of the Hackney Carriage fleet in Newcastle.
Funded by regional partners alongside the Technology Strategy Board as part of its national demonstrator programme, this three-year, £10.8m project will also feature luxury Liberty Electric Cars Range Rover electric vehicles, and a nine-seat Edison Minibus from Smith Electric Vehicles.
Switch EV vehicles will start appearing on the roads in September and members of the public, families, professionals, businesses and large companies with vehicle fleets are now being invited to register their interest in trialling the vehicles for up to six months at a time.
There has already been interest from a number of individuals and organisations across the North East in trialling these vehicles, some of which will also be made available through car club organisation Commonwheels. Anyone who wishes to be among first in the country to experience driving an electric vehicle can find out more information about the trial and all of the cars on the new project website www.switchev.co.uk which has been launched today.
The website is will also provide up-to-date information about the trial, technical information, photographs of all of the cars, case studies from the vehicle users and a live blog following the vehicles’ progression around Tyne and Wear, Northumberland, County Durham and the Tees Valley.
The Transport Operations and Research Group at the University of Newcastle will be working with Cramlington-based company Comesys to record and analyse performance data from all of the Switch EV vehicles. The data will demonstrate the battery and recharging performance from the cars, as well as looking at behaviour change over the six-month period.
Switch EV has been in development since June 2009 and will build on the experiences of trials that have been taking place as part of the collaboration between Cenex, the UK’s Centre of Excellence for Low Carbon and Fuel Cell Technologies, and One North East, which has also involved the expertise of the TORG staff, Comesys and Future Transport Systems.
Switch EV builds on the North East’s position as a leading European location for the low carbon vehicles industry and will take place alongside the installation of 1,300 charging points by One North East as part of the national Plugged in Places initiative, supported by the Office for Low Emission Vehicles.
Chris Pywell, Head of Strategic Economic Change at One North East, said: “The low carbon vehicles sector has put the North East on the international map in the past 12 months and this unique trial will be a major step forward for the development of electric vehicles in the UK.
“Switch EV will give people in the North East the first chance to travel in these innovative new electric vehicles, all developed by companies in the North East. Alongside our advanced infrastructure of 1,300 charging points, these vehicles will help demonstrate to drivers that the switch to low carbon transport is a serious, viable option.”
Newcastle based consultancy Future Transport Systems is providing project management for Switch EV, including the trial candidate selection and management of the vehicles. Companies or individuals wanting to find out more about getting involved in the trial should contact Liz Gray by email at info@futuretransportsystems.co.uk or on (0191) 2431622. For more information visit www.switchev.co.uk.
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Media contact: Liz Gray, Future Transport Systems, Tel: 0191 2431622, Mob: 07825 799712 or email liz.gray@futuretransportsystems.co.uk