ONE of the most powerful figures in the vehicle sector yesterday said the North-East was “looking to compete with the best in Europe” when it came to the development of electric vehicle technology.

Edmund King, president of the Automobile Association (AA), was speaking at the launch of a project which will see businesses across the North-East given the opportunity to use electric vehicles as part of their fleet to assess their practicality.

Mr King, a visiting professor at Newcastle University, said it was a great opportunity for fleet users.

Four electric vehicles provided by Cenex, the UK’s Centre of Excellence for low carbon and fuel cell technology, will be offered to businesses running fleet operations for a one-week trial during the next six months.

The trial was announced in September by Cenex and regional development agency One North East, but details of how businesses and the public could be involved were only unveiled yesterday.

The cars will be fitted with specialist equipment from Newcastle University’s transport operations research group, which is working on the trial with North-East based Future Transport Systems.

It will help researchers to understand typical usage patterns, with further tests to be carried out at the North- East’s new low carbon vehicle research, development and demonstration centre, which is being established near to Nissan’s Sunderland plant.

It is another important step in turning the region into an international hub for electric vehicle research, production and use, which could lead to new industries and thousands of jobs.

Nissan’s Sunderland plant is expected to learn by the end of the year whether it has won the race to build the new Leaf electric car for the European market, after the Japanese company announced in July that its European centre of excellence for battery manufacturing would sit alongside its existing factory.

In the same month, Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced the region would become the UK’s first low carbon economic area for low carbon vehicles.

It came just weeks after the region was selected to take part in the world’s largest trial testing of the day-to-day viability of electric vehicles, with more than £10m of financial backing from a consortium including Nissan and Smith Electric vehicles, part of the North-East based Tanfield Group, as well as the Government’s Technology Strategy Board.

Mr King said: “It has opened up a lot of eyes that the North- East has taken such a lead in electric vehicles.

“I think people have been surprised, but also very supportive that it is not coming out of London. It is coming out from a region looking to compete with the best in Europe for electric vehicles.”

Chris Pywell, head of strategic economic change at One North East, said: “The speed at which it has moved in this region has taken us by surprise. We felt we were getting on with a normal programme in many ways, but what has become clear is that our steady progress compared to other places in the world has been rapid.”

Dr Viv Stephens, head of business strategy for Cenex, said the North-East’s reaction to the benefits electric vehicle’s could bring had left him “incredibly inspired”.

He said: “I have never felt more welcome in a region, nor felt more invigorated to make things happen. Within a couple of months we have organised the trial.”

More than 500 drivers are expected to test the vehicles during the trial. The cars’ first placement is with Newcastle City Council, where they are being allocated to staff making trips around the city.

■ Any company or individual wishing to take part in the trial is asked to visit future transportsystems.co.uk/ev test-drive.aspx

* Pictured are: From left, Dr Viv Stephens, head of business strategy, Cenex, Councillor David Faulkner, deputy leader of Newcastle City Council, Matthew Lumsden, managing director of Future Transport Systems, and Chris Pywell, head of strategic economic change at One North East, at the launch of the first public trial of electric passenger vehicles in the North-East,