One North East and Nissan have entered the next phase of their partnership on the development of zero emission mobility in North East England.
The parties have signed a definitive agreement which sets out a road map for the roll-out of electric vehicles and infrastructure in North East England, cementing the region’s status as the national centre for the development of ultra low carbon vehicles. The Definitive Agreement also includes One North East’s commitment to a £2.4m investment in the National Centre for Sustainable Manufacturing and a £2.3m investment in the Ultra Low Carbon Vehicle Development Centre.
The agreement contains firm commitments on incentives for drivers and education and demonstration initiatives that will be introduced throughout 2010 and 2011.One North East will install at least 619 publicly available, ‘future-proof’ charging points by January 2011 — which will support both 3kW and 7kW charges and include twelve 50kW ‘rapid-charging’ stations.
Nissan has agreed to work in partnership with One North East to supply Nissan LEAF electric vehicles to the region in early 2011, and to place priority on requests for electric vehicles in the UK from North East England. Since a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the two parties in March 2009, under which they agreed to cooperating on the introduction and expansion of electric vehicles in the region, a number of advances in electric vehicle development have taken place in North East England — including the creation of the UK’s first Low Carbon Economic Area for Ultra Low Carbon Vehicles.
One North East Chairman, Margaret Fay, said: “Today marks a significant step forward in our ambitions to become a leading global location for ultra low carbon vehicles. The commitments we are making today will show industry and consumers alike that North East England is serious about electric vehicles. We look forward to stimulating and shaping this emerging industry which will create new jobs for our region and help to reduce CO2 emissions.”
“With no tailpipe and no emissions, Nissan LEAF redefines the automotive experience — and delivers the performance, roominess, comfort, safety features and quality that people expect from Nissan,” said Trevor Mann, Nissan’s senior vice president for manufacturing in Europe.
“Thanks to One North East’s efforts, the necessary conditions — including infrastructure and incentives — will soon be in place to allow rapid adoption of Nissan LEAF and other electric vehicles in this region.”
