11.10.2012 E-Car launches all-electric car club

The UK’s first all-electric car club E-Car has launched in Wolverton, Milton Keynes, as part of a new nationwide network.

E-Car is offering Milton Keynes residents and businesses the chance to sign up to the scheme and hire a Nissan LEAF or Peugeot iOn for around £5.50 per hour.

Members of the scheme are given a smart card and pin code and once they have booked a vehicle online, by phone or on their mobile, they can walk to where the cars are parked, tap the card on a reader in the screen, unplug the charging cable and drive it away.

There are three ways for businesses to access an electric vehicle through the E-Car scheme:
* Pay as you Go – businesses join the club and add drivers to their account with monthly itemised billing on account holder’s usage hours;
* Business Account – if a company is going to hire a vehicle for a few hours per week, a business account entitles them to a 20% discount and the ability to block book vehicles in advance. Usage can be tracked online and costs are invoiced monthly;
* E-Car hosting – if a hub isn’t available locally, businesses can provide a publicly accessible parking space for a vehicle and E-Car will take care of the rest. Businesses can replace or extend their existing fleet with E-Car managing the fleet on their behalf.

Each E-Car club is set up in cooperation with local communities and low carbon groups to ensure it runs the type of vehicle that potential users require.

“We believe E-Car is being launched at a very exciting time for motorists as many want to experiment with driving an electric car before they make the decision to own one,” explained E-Car chairman Andrew Wordsworth. He continued: “We hope to grow the E-Car network over the coming months.”

Nissan’s fleet sales director, Barry Beeston, also added: “We welcome the launch of E-Car as it makes LEAF accessible to a number of consumers and business users who previously may not have had access to an electric vehicle... E-Car has some excellent corporate services set up which are increasingly important as companies aim to reduce their carbon footprint.”

E-Car’s mission is to increase mobility while reducing travel costs and emissions. E-Car will be also launching in North Oxford later this autumn.

To find out more about E-Car Club, email the team at info@e-carclub.org or visit the E-Car website at www.e-carclub.org.

Newspress