Prince Charles plugs his eco-village vision with electric car scheme

When he lays the foundation stone for Knockroon this week, the prince is expected to highlight the importance of a new generation of all-electric, zero-emission vehicles in his vision for the East Ayrshire community.

Developers Ian and Anne Hope are working with the prince's Foundation for the Built Environment and ZeroC, the eco-home company based in Poundbury, Dorset, on the development.

With the site's visitor centre now open for sales and construction on the first homes under way, Ian Hope described how electric cars could be the vehicle of choice for residents. "There's still a need for individual drive cars, but we thought that the electric car would be really beneficial here," he said.

"We initially thought about a car club for the electric cars. But we thought that might be revised, with residents to have an electric car and pool car to be standard diesel or hybrid."

The prince has shown a keen interest in low-emission vehicles, and last year hosted an eco-car showcase on The Mall in London as part of a fair promoting sustainable living.

The Hopes have already enlisted the involvement of AF Noble, an Edinburgh car dealer and the sole stockist in Scotland for Nissan's new all-electric Leaf, which went on sale in March. They expect to have a demonstration model on site and promotional materials for the car in the visitor office.

Noble's head of electric cars, Jim Rowan, said that if he sold his cars to even just a quarter of Knockroon's planned 700 homes it would be a "huge" achievement.

The Leaf's range would allow local residents to drive to Kilmarnock and back for shopping and even get as far as Edinburgh if they stick to 45mph, on a single charge.

An M8 service station is also planning a quick-charge centre that would boost electric car batteries in about half an hour.

Knockroon is to be built over 15 years on the fringes of Cumnock, on land the prince bought as part of the 43 million purchase of Dumfries House.

Last year it was reported that the slump in the UK property market had dramatically reduced the value of the real estate and left the prince's charitable foundation heavily in debt after a 20m loan was taken out.

Knockroon, dubbed the Scottish Poundbury, has had strong local support in one of the most economically deprived areas of the UK but the Prince's conservative approach to architectural design has often provoked a reaction.

The visitor centre has been open three weeks but as yet no properties have been sold.

Showhomes will be constructed in the autumn and will go on the market at prices ranging from 100,000 for a one-bedroom flat to 260,000 for a detached house.