Hybrids could soon be remotely switched to drive on electricity when local air pollution is high, using technology which is about to undergo on-road trials in Leeds.

The project will remotely activate EV mode on Tevva hybrid trucks when air quality is low.

Project ACCRA will showcase a system which uses live air quality and traffic information to instruct vehicles when they need to be driving with their combustion engines switched off. The aim is to enable local authorities to curb air pollution without adding costs for motorists and businesses.

The project is a collaboration between Leeds City Council, vehicle manufacturer Tevva Motors, network systems developer Dynniq, and air quality specialist EarthSense, and will use geofencing to define areas where cars and vans must operate on electric power. Cenex and the Transport Systems Catapult will analyse the results to see whether it can be rolled out to other areas.

Steve Carroll, head of transport at Cenex said: “Using real-time air quality data to automatically instruct vehicles driving into high pollution areas to switch to zero-emissions driving, has the potential to transform urban transportation regulation and save thousands of lives.”

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