Member Article

Businesses encouraged to think electric vehicles

North East businesses will be given the opportunity to test drive electric vehicles next month, as part of an event to showcase the benefits of low carbon transport.

GreenFleet and Charge your Car have joined forces to hold the interactive event on Wednesday, March 7 at Gateshead College Skills Academy for Sustainable Manufacturing and Innovation.

Those in attendance will have the chance to try out a number of vehicles on the newly developed Performance Track, and will also hear from a range of experts about the benefits of introducing EVs to their business while funding for charging posts is available.

Such electric vehicles are tax deductable and running costs are cheaper than petrol or diesel models.

A £5,000 subsidy is currently available for businesses towards the purchase of electric cars, and more recently 20% funding has been introduced for the purchase of electric vans, up to a maximum £8,000.

In addition, Charge your Car, is offering grant support of up to 100% towards the installation of electric vehicle charging posts for businesses installing them on their premises.

Charge your Car project manager Josey Wardle, said: “Now is the time for the region’s businesses to introduce EVs into their daily transport function. As a result of Charge your Car, the North East is now the most connected region in the UK which means drivers are never far from an electric vehicle charging point.

“Allied to this, the region has also seen a good take-up of interest in electric vehicles, helped by the introduction of the Switch EV project which is enabling both businesses and individuals to trial a vehicle for a six month period.

“As a region, we’re now in a position to lead the way in the introduction of EVs and show businesses here just how much they have to benefit from going electric.

“GreenFleet North East is the first event of its kind and we hope it will encourage many more businesses and organisations to get involved and ensure they’re at the forefront of this pioneering sector.”

The free GreenFleet North East event will comprise of a two hour test drive experience, as well as presentations from experts such as Dr Colin Herron, managing director of Zero Carbon Futures, who will talk about North East leadership in low carbon vehicles.

For more information please see GreenFleet North East’s event listing.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .