Electric cars can bring jobs to North East

Apr 17 2009 by Adrian Pearson, The Journal

A GOVERNMENT plan to pay people to trade in their car for an electric model will pave the way for thousands of North East jobs it was predicted last night.

Ministers are aiming to persuade motorists to buy electric cars by offering help worth between £2,000 and £5,000 towards buying the first electric and plug-in hybrid cars when they hit the showrooms in 2011.

Cash will not be available before the next General Election, a delay which will give manufacturers such as Nissan the chance to switch to electric car production.

Development bosses at One North East are already heavily involved with £30m plans to turn the region into the future home of the world’s car industry.

They are already working with Nissan to look at the feasibility of making the cars in Sunderland while time planning to install charging points at homes, businesses and public buildings.

The move comes amid repeated calls for a car scrapping scheme which will see motorists paid to scrap their old car and update to a more fuel efficient model.

There are no guarantees that the Government’s £250m plan to promote low carbon transport over the next five years will create investment in the North East, but many believe it has a better chance than any other UK region.

Fraser Kemp, Houghton and Washington East MP, has predicted a jobs revolution for the North East as a result.

“I think today’s announcement puts us at the forefront of work into electric vehicles, and the potential for jobs is very exciting.

“The past success of the North East have always been in innovation and research and manufacturing and I really do think we will look back on this and see it at the point when we placed ourselves on the road to being European and perhaps world leaders on electric car production.” Chris Pywell, One North East head of strategic economic change, said the region was benefiting from being at the centre of a “perfect storm” when it comes to electric vehicles.

He added: “We have extremely ambitious aspirations to exploit the potential economic and environmental benefits EV offers and we believe the North East is uniquely positioned to support EV manufacture.

“However, it is very early stages and at the moment we are investigating what is required in terms of regional infrastructure to support the usage of electric vehicles.”

Sarah Green, regional director at the CBI, said the move must not detract from the need for a scrappage scheme.

She said: “Today’s announcement is a welcome step in the right direction. However, the automotive industry needs urgent support now.

“We will be looking to next week’s Budget to provide an immediate boost through a scrappage scheme that rewards consumers who replace older inefficient vehicles with newer more efficient models.”

A spokeswoman for Nissan said: “Nissan regards zero-emission vehicles as the ultimate solution for sustainable mobility and is wholly supportive of the proactive and practical steps being taken at the local and national level to make electric vehicles a reality within the UK.”