A car sharing pilot scheme across Oxfordshire is this month making 14 new EVs available for people to hire on an hourly or daily basis.
Oxfordshire County Council, Oxford City Council, Cherwell, South Oxfordshire, Vale of White Horse and West Oxfordshire district councils have partnered with car club providers Co Wheels, Enterprise CarClub, and Thame EV Car Hire to offer pay per use EVs on a 12 month trial basis.
Most of the vehicles – which can be hired by the hour or by the day – are brand new fully battery EVs with a range of between 150 and 250 miles each.
They will largely be based at the recently installed Park and Charge EV charging hubs in district council owned car parks across the county.
There will also be a new EV car club vehicle at the Energy SuperHub at Redbridge Park and Ride in Oxford for the same trial period.
Car club membership is required in order to use new vehicles, and residents living near the new EV car club locations should look out for promotional codes giving them free or discounted membership as an incentive to try the scheme for themselves.
Members can then hire car club vehicles in the scheme from £5.95 per hour, including insurance, plus 12p per mile.
Councillor Louise Upton, Cabinet Member for Health and Transport, Oxford City Council said, “In Oxford, we are lucky enough to have several electric car sharing services, however as part of our EV strategy, we are committed to expanding the number of car clubs across the whole city, including outside of residential areas.”