The partnership followed a tender exercise and sees Ecotricity become the preferred supplier of green energy for Volkswagen Group customers in the UK.  This means that any customer purchasing an electric vehicle from one of the Group’s brands will be offered, at point of sale, the option to adopt Ecotricity’s 100 per cent green tariff for their home and vehicle energy supplies.

The news comes shortly after the Volkswagen Group’s Chairman, Prof Dr Martin Winterkorn, announced on the eve of the Frankfurt Motor Show that the company had its sights set on market leadership in electric mobility by 2018. 

Andrew Bannister, head of environmental management for Volkswagen Group (UK) said: ‘We’re delighted to be able to offer those customers who are making a choice to purchase an electric-powered car the option to adopt a green energy package, meaning their motoring can be powered by 100% renewable energy.’

Ecotricity founder Dale Vince OBE added: ‘As someone who drives an electric vehicle, it is important where your fuel comes from. Ideally an electric car should be charged using 100% renewable energy; otherwise you are still powering it from fossil fuels.’

He added: ‘We’re really pleased to be working with Volkswagen, a company which is bringing lots of new EVs to the market and wanted to find the best green electricity to embed as part of its offer to customers buying electric vehicles.’

The first Volkswagen Group electric car to go on sale in the UK will be the Volkswagen e-up! city car. Available from November, the first deliveries are expected in January 2014. 

From mid-2014 the e-Golf will also be on sale, followed at the end of the year by the Audi A3 Sportback e-tron plug-in hybrid.