The programme is funded by the Department for Transport, to help public sector organisations procure hundreds of low carbon vehicles, in order to reduce CO2 emissions and develop the low carbon expertise of the UK.

The programme's principal aims are to test whether there is a sustainable long-term market for such vehicles and to provide evidence of the potential for this technology to reduce CO2 emissions.

In addition, the programme will also seek to counteract the market delay in developing affordable, sustainable vehicles by harnessing public sector demand to stimulate the vehicle supply market for low carbon and electric vans.

'We are delighted to have been selected to provide our technology for this landmark government programme,' said Andrew Yeoman, MD of Trimble MRM. 'Through the use of our solutions and consultancy we will be providing a platform to help Cenex realise the impacts of electric and hybrid vehicles.'

Alongside the traditional telematics such as locating, routing and monitoring vehicle usage, Trimble technology will be providing reports on the battery life of the vehicles and their mileage while the overall environmental impact of the vehicles will also be monitored.

With an initial £20m being available to help public sector organisations meet all of the additional costs in procuring lower carbon vehicles, there is the potential for a further £30m of funding if early results prove successful.

'Cenex's principal focus is on catalysing the market into using low carbon vehicles through a real understanding of their benefits and performance capabilities,' said Philip Richards, LCVPP programme manager, from Cenex.

'After a rigorous tendering process, we appointed Trimble MRM because of its proven knowledge, keen pricing and backup from a multinational organisation.'