Brown's drive for greener vehicles

On his forthcoming visit to the British International Motor Show in London, Prime Minister Gordon Brown is expected to call for a major uplift in the use of low-carbon and electric cars.

The government wants to see a shift to clean and efficient energy usage, to include massive increases in the use of conventional hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric drive technology in ordinary family models.

At the show at ExCeL, which runs from Wednesday 23rd July to Sunday 3rd August, Brown will outline what the government will be doing to assist the switch to low-carbon and electric vehicles. Measures include removing any barriers in the planning system to allow the rapid roll-out of the electric charging infrastructure for vehicles. Plus £90m of funding is to be provided for UK research and development of low-carbon vehicles over the next five years.

Says Matt Roper, founder of Green Buying, "given the UK's target on carbon emissions, and the fact that cars of this type constitute just over 1% of the UK's 26 million vehicles, it is not surprising that Gordon Brown is pushing for such a change."

ENDS