Birmingham to bid for electric car pilot project
ELECTRIC cars could be on the streets of Birmingham by this time next year as part of a Government trial of the new green technology.
Motor city Birmingham, in a joint bid with Coventry, is bidding for the pilot demonstration project. If successful, the cash will be invested in the cars, power points and infrastructure needed to put the pioneering new technology to the test on the city’s streets - with the public encouraged to try them out.
A spokesman for the Government’s Technology Strategy Board said: “We want to see how the cars will cope in the real world and are offering funding for demonstration projects.
“We have asked consortia of local authorities, manufacturers, power suppliers and data-logging firms to come forward with bids and we will co-fund their projects.”
The Board is expected to announce up to ten pilot schemes early next month and will back them with cash from a £20million pool.
Birmingham is among the bidders and with its motor city reputation and position at the heart of the motorway network, is among the front-runners. A City Council spokesman said: “We are bidding to run electric car demonstrators on the streets of Birmingham.
“We believe we have the necessary technology, skills and manufacturing base to ensure we would deliver a highly successful pilot project.”
He said that a manufacturing partner has been lined up for the pilot, but they were unable to name them at this stage.
At present, the city has only two electric car power points, one at the International Convention Centre and the other at Aston University, where pioneering research into the technology is taking place.
Increases in the power and long life of batteries, as well as reductions in their size and weight has seen vast improvements in the range and performance of electric car and while they could be charged from domestic electricity supplies, motorists would also need superchargers available on the street.
This project would see them installed which could then encourage more motorists to use electric cars. Electric charging points could resemble parking meters at strategic points, with a cable link attached and the charge going direct to the energy company, or could be based at existing petrol stations and key car parks.
