LOW-CARBON vehicle trials, demonstrating the ease with which they can be deployed in fleets, have taken another step forward with the introduction of electric cars at several councils across the region.

Six electric Mitsubishi i- MiEV cars are being deployed at local authorities as part of a partnership between Cenex, the UK’s centre of excellence for low-carbon and fuel-cell technologies, and regional development agency One North East.

Two of the cars will join staff vehicle fleets at Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton borough councils, with the four others being equally split between Gateshead Council and Newcastle City Council.

The councils each received £26,000 of funding from Cenex, which reduces the cost to £387 per month for a fouryear lease period.

In return, the councils will provide information about the cars’ performance to Cenex for research purposes.

Mitsubishi Motors managing director Lance Bradley said: “It will prove that electric vehicles can be utilised without compromise in an organisation’s fleet.”

It comes as the North-East positions itself as a hub for electric vehicle development and research.

Nissan’s Sunderland plant will build the Leaf electric car from 2013 and be home to probably the most advanced battery manufacturing plant in Europe.

In addition, the North-East which is the UK’s low-carbon economic area for low-carbon vehicles, is building an £8.4m national Skills Academy for Sustainable Manufacturing, developing an open access test track, and is installing more than 1,300 electric vehicle charging points as part of the national Plugged in Places programme, Dr Colin Herron, manufacturing and productivity manager at One North East, said: “We enjoy a very productive partnership with colleagues at Cenex and I am extremely delighted to see that our enthusiasm for this exciting new industry continues to be matched by our local authority partners.

“As further vehicles arrive on our roads in the coming months, and our network of charging points grows further, it will become more and more common to see vehicles plugging in across the North- East.”

Councillor Jennie Beaumont, Stockton Borough Council’s cabinet member for the environment, said: “This will eventually pay for itself by the savings that will be made in paying petrol claims for staff when they are travelling around the borough carrying out their duties, or attending meetings.

“Just about every car manufacturer is investing in electric cars so our experiences will be helping to shape the future of car travel in the country.”

The deployment is an extension of the Smart Move project which saw Cenex, working with One North East, deploy four electric cars in the region last September as part of a six-month trial.

They were placed into ten vehicle fleets, including the local authorities featured at three public events and were driven by 264 people.

One of the key findings of a report into the trial found that fleets like those at local authorities could provide a successful early market for electric vehicles.

Robert Evans, chief executive of Cenex, said: “The i- MiEV deployed in the Smart Move project will provide valuable learning concerning electric vehicle acceptance and future market development.”

Gateshead and Newcastle councils are already part of the Department for Transport’s low-carbon vehicle procurement programme, which is helping selected public bodies across the UK to update a number of commercial vehicles in their fleets with electric vans and trucks.