Spanish government in low carbon car trial

Date: 19/7/2012

Three low carbon cars have been supplied to the Spanish government in order to carry out a six month trial of the state-of-the-art technology.

A specially adapted Altea XL, which runs entirely on electricity and two Leon plug-in hybrids were handed over at Barcelona City Hall by representatives from SEAT.

The trial is part of an information gathering exercise into the performance of the cars, which are not currently in mass production.

As well as having the battery positioned under the rear seats and boot, the Altea XL is also fitted with solar panels on the roof to power the air conditioning.

Prior to building the Altea XL, SEAT had not produced an entirely electric car, but the model is a success and can reach speeds of 83.8 miles per hour.

The two hybrid cars, Leon TwinDrive Ecomotive plug-ins, on the other hand can complete up to 32 miles in electric mode alone and reach a maximum speed of 74 miles per hour.

When both the petrol engine and the hybrid motor are engaged the Leons can achieve speeds of up to 105 miles per hour.

Dr Matthias Rabe, Executive Vice-President for R&D at SEAT, said: "SEAT’s future is electric and we are opting for diversification of alternative technologies so as to cater to different motoring needs."

Spain is ripe for low carbon technology as ten per cent of the energy it consumes comes from solar sources, making it the fourth biggest country for solar power in the world.

In 2011 a total of 7.912 terawatt hours of power energy was generated in Spain, which benefits from a lot of sunshine.

Ramón Paredes, Executive Vice-President for Governmental and Institutional Relations at SEAT, said: "We are the only brand with the capacity to think through, develop and produce an electric vehicle in Spain."

If the trial with the Spanish government goes well then there may be mass production of electric and hybrid cars rolled out by the firm.

Posted by Nick Anderson

International Transport News and Sustainable Transport News