EVs present at Newcastle low carbon congress

The Baltic centre for contemporary art hosts the first Green Vehicle Congress this week.

Only a week after the announcement that the Nissan plant in Sunderland would be manufacturing Nissan's new EV the Leaf, the Baltic gallery and Gateshead will be hosting a conference on green vehicles, focusing on EVs, hydrogen vehicles and hybrids. Visitors will be arriving from all over the world, from as far away as Japan, Korea and the USA.

Tarmac stumbled across the conference today and was able to grab some photos of the alternative-fuel vehicles on display.

The congress has been organised by Cenex, the UK’s Centre of Excellence for Low Carbon and Fuel Cell Technologies.

Hot on the heels of the announcement that the North East of England will be building Nissan's new EV and benefiting from over a thousand new re-charging points, the conference will discuss the importance of alternative fuels and low carbon transport.

More information is available here.

(All images ©Tarmac 2010)

Abandoned fuel stations to go electric?

A plan to keep the increasing number of electric cars available buzzing along the streets has been revealed by US firm Evoasis.


The San Diego based company has announced that they have plans to turn disused fuel stations, both in the UK and elsewhere, into electric vehicle (EV) charging stations. The plan is known as R2G (Red 2 Green), the name coming from London's red buses and tube routes, with green being fairly self-explanatory. The best news is that rather than standing outside in the cold watching your bank balance decrease, EV owners will be able to go inside, watch films and download music and TV in a lounge area. Charges are expected to take around 20 minutes, as this is the typical time for a "fast charge" in many EVs.

The other benefit to the system is that while your EV is plugged in, Evoasis want to offer diagnostics and battery tests, as well as the ability to download content for your in-car entertainment.


The first stations are due to be rolled out this Autumn, likely starting with major locations in London such as Euston or Waterloo station, with others following. This should follow hot on the heels of cars such as the new Mitsubishi iMiev which is due in the Summer, and benefit drivers of cars like the THiNK and NICE which are already becoming popular.

Images ©Evoasis via AutoExpress