British Gas will be the preferred supplier of vehicle charging points for Renault's new range of 100% electric zero-emission cars and vans.

British Gas is also the preferred supplier of Renault’s Alliance partner, Nissan.

The agreement with Renault means that British Gas will supply and install electric vehicle charge points in homes and businesses.

Renault launches the electric Kangoo Van Z.E. later this year, followed by the new Fluence Z.E. and Zoe cars and a tandem two-seater, the Twizy.

Customers will pay from £995 including VAT for the domestic installation of a charging point.

Charging points are more convenient and safer than plugging vehicles directly into the home electricity system and will cut the charging time by a third.

Research shows that 59% of charging in 2020 will be at home, compared to 32% at work and only 9% will use public charging.

British Gas customers will also benefit from three years of its free Home Electrical Care which gives the customer unlimited call outs for all home electrical repairs, including parts and labour. 

It has also announced an electricity tariff designed specifically for electric car owners.

This will make it cheaper to charge vehicles overnight and could save customers as much as £1,200 a year compared to owners of petrol vehicles.

British Gas is trialling the tariff with customers this summer and the new tariff will be fully available from the beginning of 2012.

All customers on the tariff will have a smart meter installed which will give them access to 'time of use' tariffs.

Research commissioned by British Gas suggests that by 2020, electric vehicles could account for approximately 10% of all cars sold in the UK.

This equates to 260,000 UK households owning an electric vehicle.