Auto industry leaders and government officials will meet on Monday to discuss how they can kick-start the mass-market production of low-carbon and electric vehicles in the UK.
Energy, automotive and planning experts and government representatives from more than 15 countries will be debating many of the technological challenges and key barriers to the development of electric cars.
"The UK's automotive sector has a global reputation for research and development, design, engineering and manufacturing," said business minister Ian Pearson.
"The development of electric vehicle technology is an opportunity for the UK to take the lead and, given the current state of the global economy, we need to seize that opportunity now."
Currently, fewer than 0.1 per cent of the UK's 26 million cars are electric, and the UK has a long way to go if it wants to be a world pioneer in electric cars.
Automaker Renault and French utility EDF recently announced a government-backed scheme to build a nationwide electric car recharging network in France by 2011.
The announcement followed the development of similar projects already under way in Israel and Denmark.
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