Electric cars present the greatest technical challenge since the space race, and one that must be embraced wholeheartedly by the government, according to one of the UK’s top business leaders.

Carolyn Fairbairn, director-general of the Confederation of British Industry, will address an audience of international ministers and businesspeople at a major summit in Birmingham on Tuesday.

In her speech she will lay out the importance of government support in making electric cars affordable and ensuring British cities can support them.

She will also note the enormous societal shift and the scientific advances that would be required to make the UK a world leader in low emission vehicles, as promised by government ministers.

Building the vehicles is only half the story, she will explain, as people must be sufficiently motivated to “move away from a technology that has defined our lives for a century”.

“It’s here that government has a vital role to play. Through making vehicles affordable and by joining forces with business to invest in charge points across our road networks,” she will say.

“Governments can help design the zero-emission vehicle ecosystem that makes the low-emission choice the easy choice.”

10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Show all 10 1 /10 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A group of emperor penguins face a crack in the sea ice, near McMurdo Station, Antarctica Kira Morris 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Floods destroyed eight bridges and ruined crops such as wheat, maize and peas in the Karimabad valley in northern Pakistan, a mountainous region with many glaciers. In many parts of the world, glaciers have been in retreat, creating dangerously large lakes that can cause devastating flooding when the banks break. Climate change can also increase rainfall in some areas, while bringing drought to others. Hira Ali 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Smoke – filled with the carbon that is driving climate change – drifts across a field in Colombia. Sandra Rondon 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Amid a flood in Islampur, Jamalpur, Bangladesh, a woman on a raft searches for somewhere dry to take shelter. Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable places in the world to sea level rise, which is expected to make tens of millions of people homeless by 2050. Probal Rashid 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Sindh province in Pakistan has experienced a grim mix of two consequences of climate change. “Because of climate change either we have floods or not enough water to irrigate our crop and feed our animals,” says the photographer. “Picture clearly indicates that the extreme drought makes wide cracks in clay. Crops are very difficult to grow.” Rizwan Dharejo 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Hanna Petursdottir examines a cave inside the Svinafellsjokull glacier in Iceland, which she said had been growing rapidly. Since 2000, the size of glaciers on Iceland has reduced by 12 per cent. Tom Schifanella 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A river once flowed along the depression in the dry earth of this part of Bangladesh, but it has disappeared amid rising temperatures. Abrar Hossain 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A shepherd moves his herd as he looks for green pasture near the village of Sirohi in Rajasthan, northern India. The region has been badly affected by heatwaves and drought, making local people nervous about further predicted increases in temperature. Riddhima Singh Bhati 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A factory in China is shrouded by a haze of air pollution. The World Health Organisation has warned such pollution, much of which is from the fossil fuels that cause climate change, is a “public health emergency”. Leung Ka Wa 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Water levels in reservoirs, like this one in Gers, France, have been getting perilously low in areas across the world affected by drought, forcing authorities to introduce water restrictions. Mahtuf Ikhsan

Some cities around the world have already begun to embrace this change by providing special carpooling lanes open to electric vehicles, or free parking for electric cars.

Road traffic is a major contributor to the toxic air pollution that is choking many cities across the UK, and the transition to electric vehicles will help tackle this problem.

Switching to electric cars is also considered a vital step in meeting the country’s climate targets, and new research suggests that currently available vehicles are already poised to make a big dent in greenhouse gas emissions.

However, Ms Fairbairn will emphasise the need for more research and international collaboration to push this technology even further.

“The transition to zero-emissions presents the greatest set of technical challenges since the space race,” she will say.

“And like the space race, they’re not challenges business or the government can solve alone. There’s a vital third partner: our universities.”

The talk comes as Theresa May unveils a £106m funding boost for research and development in green vehicles, new batteries and low carbon technology.

This will be supported by an additional £500m worth of investment from key industries in the sector.

First ever electrified road for charging cars opens in Sweden

The prime minister will deliver a speech in which she outlines her desire to “put the UK at the forefront of the design and manufacturing of zero emission vehicles”.

“These measures will drive the design, use, uptake and infrastructure necessary for cleaner, greener vehicles – and in doing so, it will help us drastically reduce a major contributor to our global warming emissions, as we seek to meet the Paris climate change agreement,” she will say.

Transport secretary Chris Grayling revealed the government’s long-awaited “Road to Zero” strategy in July, which lays out a plan for phasing out the country’s high polluting petrol and diesel vehicles.

While campaigners welcomed the ambition to make the UK a leader in electric car manufacturing, they said the 2040 ban on sales of new fossil fuel-driven cars and vans was too far into the future and called for a more pressing target.

“If we are to protect nature from the increasing threats of climate change, we must be truly ambitious in cutting our emissions and aim for 100 per cent electric vehicle sales by 2030,” said Tony Juniper, executive director of advocacy and campaigns at WWF.

A coalition of businesses have added their voices to these calls, signing an open letter to the prime minister urging the government to be more ambitious with its targets.

“Taking the right action now would show clear global leadership and enable the UK to continue to be a leading market for low carbon transport,” said Lawrence Slade, chief executive of the trade association Energy UK, which was one of the letter’s signees.