We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Business Car website. However, if you would like to, you can change your cookies at any time
The start point for the best source of fleet information |
Nottingham, Bristol, Milton Keynes and London have been awarded funding to promote electric vehicle technology in the future.
The four cities have won portions of the £40m Go Ultra Low City Scheme pot, after successfully bidding for the funding.
The funding - part of the Government's £600m package to encourage the uptake of green vehicles - has been awarded to cities that have designed schemes that will encourage people and businesses to switch to electric cars.
The winning cities said they would deliver cutting edge technology, including installing rapid-charging hubs and street lighting that double as charge points and a range of proposals that give plug-in car owners extra local privileges, such as access to bus lanes in city centres. Around 25,000 parking spaces will also be opened up for electric vehicle owners saving commuters as much as £1300 a year, the Government claimed.
London has been awarded £13 million to create 'Neighbourhoods of the future' prioritising ULEVs in several boroughs across the capital, while other proposals include a dozen streets in Hackney going electric with charging infrastructure such as car-charging street lighting, while Harrow will develop a low emission zone offering parking and traffic priority to owners of plug-in vehicles
The Government has given Milton Keynes a £9 million share of the pot to open a city centre Electric Vehicle Experience Centre which will provide consumer advice and short-term vehicles loans, while the city also plans to open up 20,000 parking bays for free to EVs and co-brand bus lanes as low emission lanes, giving plug-in vehicles the same priority at traffic lights as local buses
Bristol, meanwhile, will get £7 million to offer residents free residential parking for ULEVs, access to three carpool lanes in the city, over 80 rapid and fast chargers across the city and a scheme encouraging people to lease a plug-in car for up to four weeks.
Nottingham will use £6 million of funding to install 230 chargepoints, offering ULEV owners discount parking and access to over 13 miles of bus lanes along key routes across the city. The investment will also pay for a new business support programme letting local companies 'try before they buy'.
The scheme is also providing £5m of funding to Dundee, Oxford, York and regions in the North-East. New charging hubs will be installed in Dundee, while York will install solar-canopied park-and-ride centres.
"These Go Ultra Low Cities have proposed exciting, innovative ideas that will encourage drivers to choose an electric car. I want to see thousands more greener vehicles on our roads and I am proud to back this ambition with £40 million to help the UK become an international pioneer of emission cutting technology," said transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin.
"The UK is a world leader in the uptake of low emission vehicles and our long-term economic plan is investing £600 million by 2020 to improve air quality, create jobs and achieve our goal of every new car and van in the UK being ultra-low emission by 2040."
BusinessCar magazine ©2019
Business Car Magazine © 2020 | Business Car is part of NS Media Group.
