Over the weekend, both Mitsubishi and BMW's Mini launched the UK trials of their electric cars. The British Government's Technology Strategy Board, which is all set to support and fund about 340 alternative fuel automobiles from various manufacturers, partly funded the initiative.

The trial will last for a year, and has been initiated to study how successful UK would be in adapting a "green transport future".

While BMW will be providing 40 Mini E prototypes, which will be tested by different people from around the county for a period of 6 months, Mitsubishi will be presenting 25 i-MiEVs, which is basically an electronic version of its four-door, four-seat, compact "i" city car.

The current trial is the first of many which are to take place nationwide, and is being run by the Coventry and Birmingham Low Emission Vehicle Demonstrators (CABLED) consortium.

"These first EVs (electric vehicles) that go on the Technology Strategy Board's demonstrator trial mark the start of a seismic shift in the sort of cars we drive and how we power them. The Mitsubishi i-MiEV is a forerunner of a transport revolution that eventually will change the world", said Former Top Gear presenter Mr. Willson.