The British county of Oxfordshire is launching a pilot car-sharing scheme to reduce carbon emissions this month, offering residents hourly or daily access to 14 units of electric vehicles.
The Oxfordshire County Council and five district councils have collaborated with car club providers — Co Wheels, Enterprise CarClub and Thame EV Car Hire — to provide pay-per-use EVs on a year-long trial basis.
This initiative allows people to use an EV when necessary without the financial obligation of owning or leasing a vehicle. This reduces costs for those who don’t drive daily and lets them experience driving an electric car without any long-term commitment.
“Introducing EV car clubs right across the county is a key step in cutting our carbon emissions, as well as reducing the amount of individual vehicles on our roads and helping people to reduce the cost of living,” said Jenny Figueiredo, Oxfordshire County Council’s EV Charging Project Manager.
Residents must have a car club membership to use the vehicles. Those who reside close to the EV car club locations can look for promotional codes to get special discounts.
Members can rent a car from the car club for as little as £5.95 ($7.42) per hour, which includes insurance and an additional charge of 12p ($0.15) per mile.
A successful car club vehicle is estimated to replace up to 20 individually owned vehicles — typically petrol or diesel-fueled.
The EVs will be stationed at Park and Charge charging hubs in district council-owned car parks across Oxfordshire, including Bicester, Banbury, Witney and Abingdon. During the same trial period, an EV car club vehicle will also be available at the Energy SuperHub at Redbridge Park and Ride in Oxford.
The Oxfordshire County Council finalized a £5.4 million ($6.73 million) initiative last year to set up an EV charging point network throughout the county. Additionally, it established a zero-emissions zone in central Oxford to eliminate polluting vehicles.