The 100% electric Nissan LEAF has played a major part in the launch of a new nationwide electric car club in Wolverton, Milton Keynes.
Three of the 100% electric five door Nissans have been purchased by E-Car Club. It will be offering Milton Keynes residents and businesses the chance to sign up to the scheme and hire a LEAF 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 LEAF is parked, tap the card on a reader in the screen, unplug the charging cable and drive it away.
E-Car’s mission is to increase mobility while reducing travel costs and emissions. E-Car will be launching in North Oxford with a further two Nissan LEAFs later this autumn.
There are three ways for businesses to access a LEAF 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 zero emission vehicles with E-Car managing the fleet on their behalf.
“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,” explained Barry Beeston, Nissan’s fleet sales director.
“E-Car has some excellent corporate services set up which are increasingly important as companies aim to reduce their carbon footprint,” he added.
“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.
“We hope to grow the E-Car network over the coming months,” he added.
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.