Drivers in the North East are among the most likely to consider an electric car, according to research.

Overall just two per cent of those surveyed would consider opting for an EV as their next car although in the North East this rises to five per cent.

The installation of charging points in the region, headed by regional development agency One North East, is helping to stimulate consumer awareness, confidence and interest in electric cars as the first EVs go on sale in the UK.

However, those in Scotland and Wales are the least likely to consider an electric model.

Of the 1,752 respondents to the survey, none of those from Wales and Scotland said they would opt for an electric car.

This, TheGreenCarWebsite.co.uk thinks is down to the large rural areas in Wales and Scotland and a lack of investment into public recharging points.

The North East is one of the first areas to gain funding through the scheme and will also become the manufacturing base for one of the first electric cars, the Nissan Leaf from 2013.

The region is set to benefit from 1,300 public charge points by 2013 thanks to its fund worth £7.9 million.

“People in the North East are demonstrating that they are significantly more open to the concept of electric cars than other parts of the country.

" It’s understandable that buyer interest in electric cars should be fragmented at this stage; even the manufacturers of these vehicles admit that an electric car is not for everyone,” says the website’s editor Faye Sunderland.

> The research was prepared for TheGreenCarWebsite.co.uk by Populus between May 13 and 16. Of 1,752 respondents asked about the fuel type they would opt for in their next car, just two per cent said electric across the whole of the Great Britain.