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Newcastle sustainable transport outfit say government funding was crucial

A Newcastle-based sustainable transport consultancy has highlighted the importance of government funding in its recent successes.

Dean Street headquartered Future Transport Systems Ltd (FTS) secured £5.4 million back in 2009 to support its Electic Vehicles Accelerated Development in the North East (EVADINE) programme.

It looked at whether electric vehicles are fit for purpose, including battery performance issues, and the public perception of them.

The four year project brough together a consortium of car manufacturers including Nissan, Smith Electric Vehicles, Avid Vehicles, Liberty Electric Cars and Peaugeot dealership Simon Bailes, along with academics from Newcastle University.

FTS senior consultant Liz Gray said the Technology Strategy Board funding was integral to the success of the project, which has informed the development of electric vehicles.

She said: “Submitting a bid for funding a low carbon vehicle demonstrator project created the impetus for us to start discussions with Nissan, Smith, as well as smaller vehicle manufacturers.

“It proved exactly the right opportunity for bringing together a group of companies that were already active in this area so they could develop the idea further.

“Without the funding, there is no way the consortium would have come together and we would still be in the dark about electric vehicles.”

FTS’ work is a case study for the Government’s GREAT Business campaign.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .