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.

Road pricing is the only way to combat congestion, according to the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM).

In a recent report from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) it was suggested that "radical changes" needed to be implemented in order to tackle the problem of congestion.

Suggested solutions to combat the issue, included the greater use of private investments in the road networks as well as road pricing and congestion charging.

Kevin Delaney, head of road safety at the IAM, said road pricing was the only way to combat the problem but added that the difficulty would be convincing the public of this.

He said to have any visible impact the pricing would have to be done at a local level, otherwise people will not see the benefit of the initiatives.

According to the CBI, road congestion currently costs the UK economy around £7-8 billion each year, which is expected to more than double by 2025 if nothing is done to reduce traffic levels.

Car production in the UK rose again in February, official figures released today (March 18th) showed.

Levels of production increased by 62.7 per cent last month, compared with February 2009, when the industry was definitely hit by the economic downturn, data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has revealed.

Rising by 74.2 per cent, commercial vehicle production noted an even sharper increase last month.

Paul Everitt, chief executive of the SMMT, which supports and promotes the interests of the UK automotive industry, said that the fourth month of consecutive growth was "encouraging news" for the new car industry.

He said that it was important for manufacturers and the government to work together to make sure there is investment in new products and technology for future growth to be sustained.

The SMMT has already called on the government to implement new measures to encourage industry and boost consumer confidence to help the automotive industry recover from the recession.

Some second-hand car dealers are flouting the law, according to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), the UK’s consumer and competition authority.

The OFT has identified some problems in the £24 billion second-hand car dealer market and has vowed to crackdown on the law breakers.

Relevant regulation is adequate but more has to be done to ensure dealers are aware of the law and customers are aware of their rights, according to the OFT, which aims to make markets work well for consumers.

Dealers who do not comply with the law will face the threat of enforcement action from Trading Standards or the OFT.

The majority of used car faults come about within the first three months after purchase, which suggests that many may not be of a satisfactory quality when they are sold, which makes the repairs the responsibility of the dealer, the OFT report said.

However, nearly 30 per cent of buyers surveyed said they had contacted their dealer about the problem and they were not rectified.

The result of this is that customers who have experienced problems have spent an estimated £425 each on repairs to faults that the dealer was obliged to correct.

Ford is investing £1.5 billion in all four of its UK facilities over the next five years, to make the brand more eco-friendly, after it secured a loan guarantee of £360 million from the government.

Business secretary Lord Mandelson announced the government would provide Ford with the loan in a bid to aid the manufacturer’s £450 million application to the European Investment Bank.

Support and funding from the UK government should boost Ford’s chances of having its loan approved by the bank too.

Ford’s research and development centre in Essex is the country’s largest automotive engineering facility and will be responsible for developing new low-carbon technologies for the car maker, along with its Dagenham plant.

Fiesta and Focus ECOnetic models have already been produced by the brand, with diesel engines in the cars producing carbon emissions as low as 98g/km.

By 2012 all new cars produced in the European Union (EU) must emit less than 120g/km of CO2.

In order to achieve this goal, manufacturers can use a combination of improved vehicle technology coupled with the use of biofuels.

From 2013, the Nissan plant in Sunderland will manufacture the brand’s new fully-electric vehicle, the LEAF.

Some 2,250 jobs at Nissan will be safeguarded, and more across the UK supply chain, by the total investment of £420 million by the manufacturer.

It was confirmed last year that the Sunderland factory, which is the largest car production plant in the UK, would be responsible for the manufacture of the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, included in the car, from 2012.

The UK is the third country in the world to be chosen for production of the electric model.

This is the latest in a line of investments in the north-east low-carbon industry.

Earlier this week, it was announced that the government would be investing £8.4 million in a new training centre specifically for the low-carbon vehicle industry.

Low-carbon skills will be taught to students aged 14 and over as well as those already working in the low-carbon industry already, at Gateshead College.

Skilled jobs will be protected at the Ford plant in Bridgend after the car maker received government support for its five-year investment plan, it has been reported.

Ford is proposing to invest £1.5 billion in eco-friendly engines and environmentally-friendly technologies and has received the backing of business secretary Lord Mandelson.

Around 2,000 people work at Ford’s Bridgend factory and the initiative is also being supported by the Welsh Assembly government.

Ieuan Wyn Jones, deputy first minister for the assembly government, said he welcomed the five-year investment plan as it would secure jobs as well as boost the green economy in Wales.

This will give Wales the opportunity to compete in the global market when it starts producing low-carbon vehicles, he added.

The Welsh government has invested £13.4 million in the plant through its Single Investment Fund.

Incentives to encourage new car buyers to go green have already been announced by the UK government.

From January 2011, those buying ultra-low carbon cars will receive £5,000 off the price, which will account for around 25 per cent of the overall cost.

An all-time high is expected to be recorded soon for the UK’s petrol prices, it has been claimed.

The AA, one of the leading breakdown cover providers in the UK, has called for an investigation to be conducted into the 17 per cent rise in European wholesale petrol prices since January.

Britain’s largest motoring organisation has said the price increase will mean pump prices rise even higher than the July 2008 record level.

Wholesale prices reached $795 (£519) last week. With the weak pound wholesale prices have been lifted from 32p per litre to above 39p per litre.

The AA believes the easiest way to combat the problem of rising prices would be for the government to freeze the fuel duty increase on April 1st, which is due to increase, adding 2.5 to three pence per litre on the pump price.

According to UK Petrol Prices website, which allows its users to search for the cheapest petrol prices in their vicinity, the average petrol price across the UK is 116.3p per litre today (March 17th).

A new version of the Alfa Romeo MiTo is being launched with next generation diesel technology.

The MiTo model aims to lower emissions and fuel consumption for the Italian carmaker and the new MultiJet II engine does this without compromising the performance of the model or driver satisfaction.

It is available in three trim levels, Turismo, Lusso and Veloce, which increase the MiTo’s sporty compact car credentials.

Since the model was first launched in 2009, the engines used in the cars have boosted the economical yet powerful diesel derivatives.

The new engine provides the car with improved acceleration and power while being more eco-friendly than its predecessors.

It can control the quantity of fuel injected into the cylinder, with high precision, managing eight injections per fuel cycle.

There is also higher flexibility of the management of the multiple injections, which means more optimised diesel combustion is achieved each cycle.

All second generation MiTo models with a 1.3 litre MultiJet engine meet EURO5 emissions regulations, with just 112g/km of CO2 produced by the car.

The European Union has set targets stating that all new cars produced in Europe by 2012 must emit less than 120g/km of CO2.

A new scheme, aimed at providing refresher driving courses to rusty or lapsed drivers, has been launched by the AA charity.

The AA conducted a survey of its members and found that nearly half felt they would benefit from driving refresher courses.

Some 93 per cent of those questioned thought that lapsed drives would gain most from the course, with 86 per cent believing older drivers would benefit the most with improved confidence and refreshed skills.

According to other data compiled by Britain’s biggest motoring organisation, which has more than 15 million members, around five million Britons have taken a break from driving, which left them feeling less confident and caused them to lose their skills.

The charity’s new scheme will see 2,000 free-of-charge courses offered to lapsed or rusty drivers to boost confidence and improve their skills.

Drive Confident packages will consist of two one-hour sessions with an AA qualified instructor.

A recent survey conducted by the Institute of Advanced Motorists found that, 68 per cent of motorists believe mandatory re-testing for over 70s would improve road safety.

This was despite data from the organisation showing that older drivers only account for around four per cent of injury crashes.