Crowds are expected to line the roads through East Surrey next week for the double-motoring event of the year and a historic first.

The inaugural RAC Brighton to London Future Car Challenge is set to pass through the Life area on Saturday, November 6, followed by the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run the next day.

Organisers the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) have said many of the 64 vehicles entered for the Future Car Challenge will be being seen on UK roads for the first time.

The event will be a showcase for low-energy vehicles, and as a measure of its importance, many major motor manufacturers have decided to debut models previously unseen in Britain.

In fact, the entry list has established the event as one of the largest live promotions of eco-friendly motoring in the world.

The Future Car Challenge will showcase 19 electric vehicles, 25 hybrid vehicles, including three hydrogen and three plug-in hybrids, and 20 low-emission internal combustion engine vehicles.

Among the debuts, Volkswagen will be showing its new 2013 Golf blue-e-motion, a prototype electric vehicle which is powered by a series of lithium-ion batteries.

Three hydrogen fuel cell-powered cars have been entered – one each by Honda UK, Toyota GB and Mercedes-Benz UK.

Also new to the UK will be the Nissan Leaf, a five-seater car with an electric motor and a lithium-ion battery, giving a cruising range of about 100 miles.

Vauxhall Motors has entered a prototype Ampera hybrid electric vehicle.

So-called 'clean-tech millionaire,' Dale Vince, will also be taking part in the run, driving his 134-miles per hour Nemesis electric sports car.

Three Tesla Roadster Sport electric sports cars have been entered – the only series production electric sports car currently on sale – and the four-seater Tata Indica Vista Electric, which was unveiled in India earlier this year, will also be running.

A handful of light commercial vehicles will also be taking part, as well as two of the world's first electric 4x4 vehicles, entered by UK-based Liberty Electric Cars.

Special guests participating will include ex-Formula One driver, Perry McCarthy, and Pink Floyd drummer and avid car collector, Nick Mason.

Ex-Formula One world champion Damon Hill OBE said: "This event is an excellent way to bring sustainable motoring to the attention of the public.”

He said: “It's essentially a live public demonstration of the latest technology. “Spectators will see a wide variety of environmentally-friendly vehicles – city cars, family cars, sportscars and vans – in action on the public highways.

“There can be no better way to convince people that this is the future of motoring.”

He added: “The UK is a world leader in automotive technology, particularly in the cutting edge and highly competitive field of motor sport, and we are sure to play a central role in developing solutions to our global environmental challenges.”

RAC Motoring Committee chairman Ben Cussons said: “The quantity and quality of the entry list is testimony to the importance and appeal of the RAC Brighton to London Future Car Challenge.

“That so many major manufacturers have chosen this event to debut their latest environmentally-friendly models to the UK public is further proof that the RAC Brighton to London Future Car Challenge already has a high profile."

Starting at Madeira Drive, Brighton, the Future Car Challenge will use the traditional 60-mile veteran car run route, but in reverse.

Some 250,000 spectators are expected at the ceremonial finish in Regent Street, where the vehicles will join a display of more than 100 pre-1905 motor cars running in the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run – the world's longest-running motoring event - the next day.

The futuristic cars are expected to be passing through East Surrey on November 6 from about 9.30am, with the challenge starting in Madeira Drive, Brighton, at about 8am.

The route will see the entrants passing Gatwick on the A23, Horley on the A23 London Road, and on through Redhill, bound for Purley, Croydon and the London suburbs.