One North East Signs EV Charging Agreement with Nissan

December 19, 2009 – Vol.14 No.39

One North East, the North East England Regional Development Agency, Signs EV Charging Agreement with Nissan.

Under the agreement, One North East will install at least 619 publicly available, ‘future-proof’ charging points by January 1, 2011, which will support both 3kW and 7kW charges and will also include twelve 50kW ‘rapid-charging’ stations.

Electricity at the 619 charging points will be provided free of charge until March 31, 2012, or until an itemised billing system becomes available. As part of the agreement, One North East has already installed two charging points for public use within its own head office car park at Newburn Riverside in Newcastle.

The agreement also contains firm commitments on incentives for drivers and education and demonstration initiatives that will be introduced throughout 2010 and 2011.

For its part, 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.

Nissan LEAF is the world’s first affordable electric vehicle for the global mass market and will go on sale in Japan, the US and Europe in late 2010. Designed specifically for a lithium-ion battery-powered chassis, the medium-size hatchback comfortably seats five adults and has a range of more than 160km (100 miles) to satisfy real-world consumer requirements.

One North East will now work with regional partners on developing incentives for people driving electric vehicles that include introducing at least 200 free of charge, dedicated public parking places by November 2010, and introducing preferential access to identified road lanes and city areas. The Agency is also working with developers to have charging points installed in newly constructed buildings which feature parking spaces.

The Definitive Agreement also includes One North East’s commitment to a GBP 2.4 milion ($3.9 million) investment in the National Centre for Sustainable Manufacturing and GBP 2.3 million ($3.7 million) investment in the Ultra Low Carbon Vehicle Development Centre.(12/18/09)

Links:

One North East
http://www.onenortheast.co.uk

Nissan LEAF
http://www.nissanusa.com/leaf-electric-car

Disclaimer, Forward-Looking or Safe Harbor Statement on original press release: No