The new green and white licence plates will be available next year. ((Ontario Ministry of Transportation))

Ontario is set to introduce green-coloured licence plates that will be available to those with plug-in hybrids and battery-powered electric vehicles.

The new plates will be available next year, the Ministry of Transportation said in a release.

Electric vehicles with the plates will be able to travel in the province's carpool lanes until 2015 — even if only one person is in the vehicle.

Owners of eligible vehicles can also use recharging stations at GO Transit and other provincially owned parking lots. Owners of those vehicles will also have access to special parking spots at University of Toronto, some Wal-Mart locations, and at other private companies.

"The McGuinty government's plan is to have one out of every 20 passenger vehicles on Ontario's roads an electric vehicle by 2020," said Transportation Minister Jim Bradley in a statement.

Ontarians picked the design from a field of four choices in an online poll.