The electric car club has been active now in the village for 6 months, in which time we have saved over a tonne and a half of carbon dioxide by comparison with the same use of a similar petrol car. We have also cut Nitrous Oxide emissions using a similar comparison. An increasing number of people are using the cars, so much so that one of our residents was picked by The Mail on Sunday to be a spokesperson for the club:
Rosanna Hunt from Harbury in Warwickshire, believes she has found the ideal solution by hiring an electric car through the E-Car Club whenever she needs transport – saving on the cost and hassle of looking after the vehicle herself.
The health research assistant, currently on maternity leave with six-month-old daughter Tania, says: ‘The electric car is still relatively new technology so I thought the best way to try it out would be to hire a car rather than buy one. At £5.50 an hour including the cost of electricity it is great value.’
She adds: ‘Many people wonder about the power of these vehicles. But it is more nippy than my old Ford Focus petrol car and I have no problems whizzing along motorways.’
Rosanna says: ‘Hiring makes great savings – I only use a car once or twice a week.’
So far the members have driven 3,500 miles in these non-polluting cars.
From now until the end of January there is a great deal on offer from our commercial partner E-Car Club ( http://www.e-carclub.org). Anyone joining now will get £25 of free drive time at £5.50 per hour. This has to be used by February 1st.
The cars are also used for helping people on low income referred to us by social agencies to get to important appointments. We launched this e-Wheels service on 26th October, since when we have provided nearly 50 hours of free transport, using our wonderful team of volunteers.