North East leads the charge for green transport

Nov 23 2009 by Adrian Pearson, The Journal

CHARGING points for electric cars could be built across Tyneside as a multi-million pound fund is established

Government ministers are prepared to hand over a share of £30m to cities looking to roll out charging points for electric and plug-in hybrid cars.

Transport Secretary Lord Adonis has called on cities and businesses to team up and bid for the cash, and expects up to six electric car regions to be created.

Development agency One North East last night said it would be putting together a bid, but would not say which companies are involved.

The agency has poured millions of pounds into efforts to create a market for low carbon vehicles in the region.

At the heart of these plans are hopes that car manufacturer Nissan will commit itself to building a new wave of electric cars at its Washington factory.

Nissan have heaped praise on the work done by the development agency to make it easier to sell electric cars in the region.

The manufacturer knows it will only be able to convince families to ditch petrol or diesel cars if there are plenty of charging points in cities across the region.