Loughborough, UK - 27 October 2011
DVLA data shows that the Midlands achieved an impressive uptake of electric vehicles in the first eight months of 2011, with almost one-fifth of all UK sales being registered in the region.
Motorists in the Midlands bought 33 per cent of the electric vehicles sold in the UK’s Plugged-in Places, the regions selected by the Government to lead on the installation of electric vehicle recharging infrastructure, which equates to 19 per cent of overall electric vehicle sales across the entire UK.
‘Plug-in Midlands’, a consortium of Midlands based businesses and local authorities led by Cenex and Central Technology Belt, has been created to provide the infrastructure necessary to support and encourage electric vehicle adoption. In December 2010 it secured up to £2.9 million of funding from the Government to support a £6.3 million programme which plans to install more than 500 charge posts in high profile locations, including shopping centres and railway stations, across both the East and West Midlands.
Since it was created, Plug-in Midlands has been extremely active in promoting the use of electric vehicles across the region. This includes exhibiting at the LCV2011 low carbon vehicle showcase event in September, which attracted over 2,300 visitors, and hosting information days across the region which explain how businesses in the Midlands can get ‘plugged-in’ to the electric car revolution.
To support this growth in electric vehicle sales across the Midlands, Plug-in Midlands is looking for new sites for charging points, and is providing Government grants towards the cost of the infrastructure for anyone that wants to be part of the revolution. It has already received 28 applications covering 118 charging points and a further information day for those organisations looking to host charging points will take place at the Coventry TechnoCentre, Coventry University on 29 November 2011.
Lead partners in Plug-in Midlands include Western Power Distribution, E.ON, Birmingham City Council, Coventry City Council, Leicester City Council and Nottingham City Council. The programme is managed by Cenex and Central Technology Belt, with more than 50 organisations participating.
Robert Evans, CEO of Cenex, said, “These rising sales figures demonstrate that the Midlands is at the forefront of the electric vehicle revolution, reinforcing its status as the UK’s automotive leader. To match this growing demand we are actively rolling out charging points across the region and encouraging more organisations to apply to become part of the electric infrastructure that is powering change in the Midlands.”
The funding is part of wider efforts by the Government to switch motorists to electric vehicles. The Government’s strategy combines funding for infrastructure deployment with a ‘Plug-In-Car Grant’ of up to £5,000 per car for the new wave of electric vehicles which have been launched in 2011.
Notes to editors:
First registration data broken down by region:
PiP East of England 48
London 124
Manchester 13
Midlands 179
Milton Keynes 29
North East 76
Northern Ireland 5
Scotland 64
Total 538
Non-PiP North West (excl Manchester) 24
South East (excl MK) 177
South West 123
Wales 10
Yorkshire & Humberside 25
Total 359
Unknown 25
Total 922
About Cenex
Cenex is the UK’s first Centre for Excellence for Low Carbon and Fuel Cell technologies. By encouraging the early market adoption of low carbon and fuel cell technologies in automotive applications, Cenex aims to assist the UK automotive supply chain to compete in global markets as well as showcase UK expertise to encourage inward investment.
Cenex
Sue Glanville/Cate Bonthuys
Say Communications
Tel: +44 (0)20 8971 6400
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Central Technology Belt
The Central Technology Belt aims to harness and build on the skilled workforce and intellectual creativity between Birmingham and Worcestershire to deliver economic transformation. The transformation involves moving the economy towards new sectors including medical technologies and advanced materials.
It is achieving this through providing places for new and existing businesses to locate in close proximity to the knowledge supply chain embedded in Aston, Birmingham and Worcester universities.
It provides funding streams to turn ideas into reality and to help established businesses diversify into more sustainable sectors, as well as engaging with the skills agenda to ensure that the region’s young people have the skills they, and local businesses, need for the future.
Central Technology Belt
Andrew Stanbridge
Tel: 01886 833592
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