Your Homes Newcastle takes part in electric car trials

Your Homes Newcastle (YHN) has reinforced its commitment to environmental sustainability by taking part in the My Electric Avenue electric car trials.

Thirteen employees were chosen for the 18 month long trial which involves taking on a private lease of a Nissan LEAF and monitoring the impact of charging multiple electric vehicles at any one time on the national grid.

The My Electric Avenue project is designed to help understand the demand on the electricity network when electric cars are commonplace. In the North East the trials have seen overwhelming demand with 55 people across four residential clusters, and YHN’s business cluster, signed up to take part.

David Henry, environmental sustainability co-ordinator at YHN said: “There were lots of people keen to get involved with the trials so when we heard that there was an opportunity to form a business cluster, and test the impact of multiple vehicle charging from our own head office, it was the opportunity we’d been waiting for.”

YHN has become the only business cluster in the North East and is one of only two across the UK. Over 50 employees registered to take part in My Electric Avenue and in the end 13 names were drawn out of a hat.

Six charge points have been installed at YHN’s offices on Benton Park Road, close to the UK’s biggest residential cluster in South Shields. The chargers are being used on a daily basis now the trial is underway.

Zero Carbon Futures was set up to deliver a range of local, national and international programmes geared up to advance North East England as a European leader in the production of low carbon vehicles. Lois Warne, technical advisor, said: “The trials offer a unique opportunity for communities and businesses to test drive an EV and to experience the many benefits that they provide.

“It is essential that we are prepared for when electric cars become commonplace in years to come. The technology that is being trialled through the project will monitor and control the electricity demand from charging electric cars and, in the long-term, will save expensive and potentially disruptive work being carried out to upgrade the electricity network.”

For further information about My Electric Avenue visit the website www.myelectricavenue.info