MEASURES to promote electric cars in this month’s UK Budget have been welcomed by the local motor industry.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said plans to promote electric vehicles and other green innovations would be a major part of the government’s plans for recovery being unveiled on 22 April.

He said the plan was for Britain to become a market leader across the world for electric and hybrid cars and the likelihood was that trials of them would begin in two or three cities next year.

Mark Parr (pictured), managing director of the Electric Vehicle Company, based at Rocquaine, said in his view electric cars were definitely the way forward environmentally and that it was proving to be an exciting time for the technology.

In the past four months, the company has produced 17 vehicles from its premises but has recently signed an agreement for the Electric Car Corporation in London to produce the vehicles in the UK.

‘We have licensed the technology to them and they can now produce them at a greater rate.

‘We have agreed to continue to do the research and development and hopefully it works out. The research and development is really what we want to do.’