A new £4.5 million research programme has been launched by the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI), it has been reported.

The programme intends to identify the economic, technical and cultural barriers that the electric car industry could face.

As part of the initiative, three separate studies will be conducted by various universities and organisations around the country.

The studies will address any upgrades that are required to the electricity grid and recharging infrastructure to support the high number of electric vehicles.

They will also look into consumer reaction to the vehicles, the economics of the vehicles and the benefits to carbon emissions, once the rollout of cars begins.

Chief executive of the ETI, Dr David Clark, said the project aimed to act as "a guiding light" supporting recent green technology investments that have been made in the UK.

The government announced at the end of last month that it would invest £450 million in an initiative to provide support to the ultra-low carbon car industry.

As part of the scheme, new green car buyers can receive £5,000 off their new car purchase from January 2011.

This incentive should reduce the price of the car by around 25 per cent.

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