The electric car evolution!

Manchester City Council chief executive officer Sir Howard Bernstein and Juergen Maier, head of industry at Siemens plc, took to the streets of Manchester yesterday 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.

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 us all to use more renewable energy as part of our every day source of electricity. With the development of electric cars, Smart Grid will also enable us to turn our cars into valuable electricity storage devices.

Juergen Maier, said: "Siemens is looking into all aspects of 'electromobility' including Smart Grid infrastructure. Cities like Manchester need innovative and sustainable solutions to meet the challenges of the 21st century and the Greenster here today highlights what is possible and what the future holds in achieving this."

Sir Howard, Manchester City Council chief executive officer, said: "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.

It's great to see Siemens - which has a strong presence in the city, employing more than 1,000 people - 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 - and 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.