Staff working at Bath-based housing association Curo are now able to travel to appointments using the latest zero-emission technology, thanks to the purchase of an electric car unveiled during this month’s Big Commuting Challenge.
Curo successfully applied for £7,000 towards the cost of the Renault ZOE zero-emission car through B&NES Council’s Local Sustainable Transport Fund, with a further £5,000 coming from the Government’s Plug-in Car grant scheme.
Donna Baddeley, Curo Director of Corporate Services, said: “At Curo we’re always keen to find new ways to encourage colleagues to leave the car at home, and help to cut our carbon footprint.
“We recently invested in an electric bicycle for colleagues to use to get around Bath on business. To travel further afield, a bike’s not everyone’s first choice so we’re expecting to get even more mileage out of our new zero-emission car.
“The fact that it’s going to be charged by our own solar panels really adds to the shine!”
The electric car has its own charging point, supplied for free by B&NES Council, which delivers 7kW of power offset by electricity generated from Curo’s own 20kW array of solar panels.
To further encourage green travel, Curo works closely with B&NES Council’s Sustainable Travel Team to hold regular bike-to-work days and bike breakfasts, and has previously won a £5,000 grant to pay for a bike shelter for colleagues to keep their cycles.
Curo is also sponsoring Bike Bath and is a past award winner at the West of England Sustainable Travel Awards.
