Manchester (UK) drives electric cars forward

manchester-greenster-picManchester City Council chief executive, Sir Howard Bernstein and Juergen Maier, Head of Industry at Siemens plc, took to the streets of Manchester recently in an electric powered sportscar, looking to the future of a city using zero-emission electric cars.

‘The Greenster’ is a fast electric sportscar that has zero carbon emissions. The car was developed by Siemens and car-manufacturer Ruf and is based on a Porsche 911 Turbo.

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As well as supplying the integrated motor/generator system for the Greenster, Siemens is looking at delivering ‘smart grid’ infrastructure that will enable cities like Manchester to lead the world in zero-emission electric cars. Smart Grid infrastructure will enable people to use more renewable energy. With the development of electric cars, a Smart Grid will also enable the world to turn cars into valuable electricity storage devices.

“Manchester aims to lead the world in responding to the challenge of climate change, and we always welcome innovative methods of rising to that responsibility,” said Sir Howard Bernstein, Manchester City Council chief executive. “It’s great to see Siemens developing pioneering projects like the Greenster to drive forward the green agenda.”

The Greenster will be the world’s first electric vehicle fitted with a bi-directional network connection which is capable of being recharged in less than an hour at a 400-volt power outlet. It can use the same power outlet to feed energy back into the power network if required. 200,000 vehicles with a 4kW capacity plugged into the grid could provide a short-term capacity of 8 gigawatts.

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