The prospect of electric vehicles on our motorways in the next few years seems to be nearing, whereas the manufacturing of wind turbines and solar panels has large
ly been the province of foreign countries, with electric cars the UK might be able to benefit economically. Towns like Gaydon (Aston Martin) and Oxford (Rover) have a deep heritage in the car industry and we still have numerous centres of excellence like Maclaren’s technology centre in Woking - the future of the electric car and the hydrogen economy looks potentially rosy for English manufacturing and its component suppliers. The CABLED initiative, a major trial of electric cars, is ongoing in Coventry and Birmingham (http://cabled.org.uk/), and the UK’s first hydrogen refuelling centre has been operational since 2008 at the University of Birmingham. If the impetus is maintained then UK PLC could be a major beneficiary from low carbon vehicles and could be a driver for inward investment.
Jeremy Thomas, Renewable Consulting Practice, Isosceles
