Ken Clarke casts doubt on North’s electric car revolution
Oct 8 2009 by William Green, The Journal
Mr Clarke insisted he was “not against” electric cars and had never opposed Business Secretary Lord Mandelson putting money into their development.
But he said: “Electric cars I am still wary of because it is an example of ‘it’s in the newspapers’ and people understand it.
“And there are lots of other new technologies which you probably have to sit me down and spend the first 10 minutes trying to get me to understand what you are talking about. One of those might actually be a better source of future wealth and employment in this country.”
Lord Mandelson last month set out Labour’s support for the development of electric vehicles in the region.
“We have backed that in the financial support we are offering to Nissan for electric battery production and in due course electric car production,” said the Business Secretary in an interview with The Journal.
Development agency One North East also earlier this year unveiled £30m plans to base the country’s future car industry in the region. And last month the Government and industry chiefs gave a further boost by including the region in an £11m programme to help support the roll-out of a single charging network nationwide for electric vehicles.
Share
