THE world-beating expertise of a North-East electric vehicle manufacturer has persuaded the Chinese Government to place a £500m order to supply its fleet of highperformance green buses.
Liberty Electric Cars in Cramlington, Northumberland, secured the deal to provide technology for an initial 10,000 vehicles, increasing to a possible 30,000, creating more than 500 jobs in the North- East over the five-year term of the contract.
A delegation from the Chinese government was at a celebration dinner hosted by Sir John Hall at Wynyard Hall, near Stockton, last night to mark the signing of the deal that will boost the fortunes of a number of the region’s lowcarbon companies.
Tyneside-based manufacturer Sevcon is among the green transport innovators that has been involved in the development of the groundbreaking “e-Kit” technology that Liberty Electric Cars perfected when it developed the recently-launched Pure Electric Range Rover.
The e-Kit contains the drive-train components that will allow the Chinese Government contractor CETC to build pure electric buses capable of travelling more than 200 miles on a single charge.
Ian Hobday, managing director of Liberty Electric Cars, said: “The North-East really has become the epicentre of electric vehicle technology in the UK.
“We’re excited that this agreement with our Chinese partners will bring much needed employment to the area.
“It is credit to the workforce in the North-East that we are one of the few firms in Europe exporting our manufacturing expertise to China – it is usually the other way around.
“Our employees are incredible.
Their willingness to go the extra mile and work around the clock to develop this technology played a huge part in us winning this contract.”
The firm is already in discussions with other potential customers that could further swell its order book and bring more jobs to the North-East.
Barry Shrier, chief executive of Liberty Electric Cars, said: “We developed this entirely in the North-East. Our Chinese partners came here because no one else in the world can deliver this technology.
This contract, and those that follow, also offer long-term job opportunities.”
The firm is expected to recruit about 50 staff, with hundreds more to follow as the contract comes on stream.
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