A NEW electric vehicle manufactured in Cramlington will be hitting the road over the next six months to trial the product.

A team from Gateshead College is among an initial wave of regional organisations to be given an electric vehicle produced by Cramlington-based Avid Vehicles.

The trial is part of the Government funded Switch EV project – a nationwide initiative examining the potential for electrical vehicles and encouraging more people to consider using them.

The college’s AutoSkills Centre team, which deliver accredited training to the motor industry, are now the owners of an Avid CUE-V.

Over the coming months, the team will put the car through its paces on the region’s roads to find out how well it performs and how drivers react to it.

They will look at factors such as reliability, build quality and performance levels. The team will also record how far the car can travel between battery recharges, for which they will use the college’s two charging points based at the AutoSkills Centre and the main Baltic Campus on Gateshead Quays.

Once the trial is complete, experts from Newcastle University will assess the data collected to produce a final report.

Nick Gianfreda from Avid Vehicles said: “It’s key that we understand how people react to electric vehicles and their take-up.

“The information captured by the college team will provide vital feedback.”