New electric car joins Daventry District Council's low emission fleet

DDCs community development co-ordinator Tim Cantwell and Environmental Improvement Officer Alice Ellis with the Nissan Leaf at the new charge point.

The Nissan Leaf has been bought with the help of a grant from the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) for use by staff whose jobs involve occasional business travel.

A fast electric charge point has also been installed in the undercroft car park off Welton Road to provide additional charging alongside the increasingly popular free public charge point in the Lodge Road car park.

DDC was awarded 75 per cent funding towards these projects through a Government scheme that aims to help the public sector adopt low emission vehicles and create infrastructure to aid the take-up of electric vehicles.

The council is one of only 19 local authorities across the country to receive the OLEV funding as part of the Government’s ULEV (Ultra Low Emission Vehicles) Readiness Programme.

The latest move underlines DDC’s commitment to being at the forefront of environmental innovations in transport.

The council’s other pool car is a hybrid-electric Mitsubishi Outlander, which is also used as the chairman’s official vehicle. And DDC’s environmental health team runs an electric Renault Kangoo Maxi ZE, allowing the council to make a carbon saving of about 1.8 tonnes a year as well as being £2,500 cheaper to run over a four-year span than a diesel-powered equivalent.

The council is now writing a strategy with the aim of installing further charge points across the district and is seeking people’s views to help find suitable locations.

People are urged to fill in the short survey at www.daventrydc.gov.uk/consultation.

Councillor Jo Gilford, environment portfolio holder on Daventry District Council, said: “The electric car revolution is here and we want to be at the forefront of that as a council. All the major manufacturers now have a number of electric vehicles in their fleets and the performance of these vehicles is good and improving all the time.

“As well as setting an example, we also want to encourage local residents to go electric too. That is why we are developing a strategy to improve the infrastructure for electric vehicles, and I would urge people to fill in our short survey and tell us if they are considering buying an electric car in the future.”