Single network for electric vehicles

Sep 9 2009 By The Journal

THE £11m Joined-Cities project aims to create a single national charging network for electric vehicles.

It will cover Newcastle, Sunderland and Middlesbrough – and build on work already under way in the North East.

The scheme will ensure that different companies will be able to plug into the network, which could eventually see tens of thousands of charging points nationwide.

IT companies and vehicle recharging network providers, including IBM, will help draw up standards for the new network to help energy providers and local councils.

Nissan, which is involved in the project, says its new Leaf electric vehicle will take eight hours to fully charge the lithium-ion battery packs from empty and just under 30 minutes to be 80% full.

A full charge of the Leaf would allow a driving range of over 100 miles, with most UK motorists travelling less than 31 miles daily.

Lithium-ion battery packs can push the price of electric cars to nearly £20,000 – although that could be halved by 2015 as production methods improve.

Battery packs could be leased to make vehicles cheaper, potentially for the annual cost of fuel spent by motorists. Over the past 12 months, that has been around £1,273 in the UK.