German utility RWE has launched an electric vehicle pilot project in the densely populated Ruhr region.

Germany's A40 Autobahn has a special nickname -- "Germany's longest parking lot" -- because of the daily traffic jams that plague the notoriously congested highway. In such a high-traffic environment of frequent speed changes, EVs can demonstrate their advantages. After all, they're silent and clean.

Utility RWE from Essen last week handed the first 12 cars -- small EVs based on the Fiat 500 -- to project partners. Drivers will test them in commuter traffic along the A40 Autobahn, the most congested motorway in Germany. Drivers are able to power up at several charging stations that give out only 100 percent renewable power, RWE claims.

"RWE is bringing green electricity to the streets," Ingo Alpheus, a senior manager at RWE Effizienz, an RWE subsidiary, said in a statement. "Our goal is to make electric mobility usable as quickly as possible."

The company said it offers interested customers a packaged solution, comprised of an EV, the charging infrastructure and a renewable power contract. RWE said it aims to install around 400 charging stations until the end of this year. Later this year, a fleet of EVs from Renault will be integrated into the project. Their range is 60-100 miles.

The project is being run in cooperation with universities and regional energy agencies to learn how to best integrate the cars into the grid.

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

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, which is also a project partner in the Ruhr area EV test scheme, is expected to have one ready early next year.