A consortium designed to secure funding from Europe for electric vehicle development says it expects a decision from Brussels by late spring.
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The Electric Vehicles for Advanced Cities (EVA) grouping is looking for European Commission (EC) cash to promote the adoption of continent-wide electromobility, with a potential start date of 1 January next year.
Some 19 European cities and regions, together with 17 major European vehicle manufacturers and 12 electricity providers, are looking to attract the funding, which would also see EVA contribute money to the project.
“The EC issues a ‘call for proposal’ as part of the green car initiative – the EVA consortium is an answer [to that],” EVA proposal dissemination manager Sylvain Haon told just-auto from Brussels.
“If the EC approves the proposal, the partners have said they will co-fund. A decision is expected late spring.”
Haon emphasised the importance of working with the OEMs to coincide with their first delivery of electric vehicles. Some 9,500 electric vehicles are expected to feature in the demonstration and research platform, which would involve more than 14,000 charging points.
EVA claims its proposals would see the largest ever European demonstration on electromobility, assessing the impact of electric vehicles on user behaviour, mobility networks and grids.
EVA’s brief specifically involves transferring knowledge to the consortium on regional transport systems and although it was the catalyst behind the project, it is the city of Rotterdam that has now taken the lead.
The other demonstration sites totalling 19 cities and regions include: Barcelona, Berlin, London, Stockholm, Rome, Edinburgh, Paris, north-east England and Poitou-Charentes and others.
Seventeen automakers, including BMW, Mitsubishi Europe, Nissan, PSA, Renault, Volvo and Daimler, are involved in the project.
