REA appoints head of electric vehicles

The Renewable Energy Association has appointed long-term EV advocate Mathew Trevaskis as its head of electric vehicles.

Trevaskis’ new role at the REA will be to encourage the use of Ultra-Low Emission Vehicles, such as plug-in hybrids and fully electric vehicles, in the UK.

He will be growing the REA’s EV offering, the work of which will focus on the integration of EVs into the electricity grid, the need for new infrastructure, government energy, transport, and the potential for EVs to act as a form of distributed storage.

Matthew’s experience in the electric vehicle arena stretches back to 1999 when he bought a road-registered electric Peugeot moped because he was "fascinated" by the technology.

In addition to this, he also founded Ecodrive in 2005, first an EV fleet trialling company and now an independent transport consultancy.

Commenting on the announcement, Matthew Trevaskis said: "I'm very excited to be joining the REA at this time in the development of renewables and the challenges faced by the motor industry.

“I see great opportunities in the convergence of renewable generation, on all scales, with the move towards greater numbers of plug-in vehicles, especially the longer-range yet affordable EVs now coming to market.

“The motor industry needs to shift its drivetrains rapidly towards zero emission operation, especially where vehicles are used in our towns and cities that are suffering acute air quality issues.”