The aim of the project, to be launched within weeks, is to test the performance of 150 electric vehicles in daily commuter traffic in the densely populated Ruhr area.

The German government, which is eager to reduce the dependency on imported oil and cut carbon dioxide emissions from car traffic, supports the program with around $10 million.

The EVs are to be integrated into the traffic along the A40 Autobhan -- the most congested motorway in Germany. The project partners aim to test the EVs' performance in the high-traffic environment, which requires frequent speed changes and produces many traffic jams, and see how the cars can be best integrated into the local grid.

RWE said it will, over the next year, build an extensive network of power charging stations in Muelheim, Essen and Dortmund.

The test fleet includes 40 Renault pre-serial EVs, including the minivan Kangoo Rapid Z.E. and the five-seat Fluence Z.E., both with an all-electric distance of 100 miles. RWE offers an additional 110 electric cars for lease on the basis of two altered Fiat models. Their range is 60-100 miles.

"The project unites technology with customer proximity and a new quality of life. Electric cars become visible and touchable in the region," Christa Toben, the economy minister of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, said in a statement.

Germany hopes to dominate the clean car market. The German government last summer unveiled a national strategy to have 1 million electric cars cruise its highways by 2020.

"In 2030, this could be more than 5 million. By 2050, traffic in towns and cities could be predominantly without fossil fuels," the National Electric Mobility Plan reads.

It earmarks $700 million for sustainable mobility research and development, including programs to develop the charging station infrastructure and boost battery technology, an area of expertise that has long belonged to Asia.

But the country's carmakers are a tad late to the green game, with the first German electric car expected to enter the market in 2012.

Renault could have one ready early next year. The French car giant has teamed with Better Place, the company founded by Israeli entrepreneur Shai Agassi, to snatch first-mover advantage when it comes to electric vehicles.

Their concept is aimed at extending the limited range of electric cars with a network of battery swap stations to be built by Better Place in several countries.

In Europe, the Better Place battery-swap model will be first tested in Denmark, a small country with a well-connected road system and a lot of green idealism.

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