Gordon Brown yesterday spoke of his desire to see Britain become a major centre for the mass production of electric cars in a drive to reduce the nation�s dependency on oil.

Gordon Brown yesterday spoke of his desire to see Britain become a major centre for the mass production of electric cars in a drive to reduce the nation's dependency on oil.

Speaking at the inaugural summit of the Union for the Mediterranean in Paris, the Prime Minister noted how 70% of Europe's oil consumption was from transport, which underlined the need for the EU to push ahead with mandatory emission standards for new cars.

However, he explained that to drive innovation in the car industry an emissions target for 2012 was not sufficient but, rather, one for 2020 was needed to match those in the rest of the energy-reduction package.

The UK was urging a 40% cut, which could reduce road fuel consumption in Britain by an average of two billion litres a year and save the typical motorist around £500 a year in running costs, insisted the PM.

"To achieve such a target we will need to see the mass production of electric vehicles - conventional hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and fully electric vehicles. Electric vehicles are now available on our roads but they are specialist cars and vans available only in small numbers. I want to see the mass production of hybrid and electric drive technology in ordinary family models.

"And," he added, "I want to see those cars manufactured in Britain. So I will be meeting with leaders from the British motor industry next week to discuss their plans for hybrid, electric and other low-carbon car technologies."

Mr Brown said Britain was already discussing with other countries how a strong policy could be drawn up to promote the development of electric vehicles.

"I will propose that we convene a meeting of experts to exchange key information on infrastructure requirements and technology standards in advance of the London energy summit later this year."