The electric car is becoming increasingly popular around the country as a value-for-money means of transport, and staff at the Royal United Hospital in Bath now have access to two them.
Co-wheels cars can already be seen across the country
The Trust is participating in an innovative scheme, which offers staff electric cars to use during the working day, with an option to pay to use them for private use too.
The cars are provided by Co-wheels Car Club, and Bath and North East Somerset Council and Sirona Health and Social Care are also signing up to offer a similar option to their staff.
The cars are operated using a smart card, and have state of the art telematics fitted and the hospital is to upgrade the existing charging points on site, from medium to super-fast, so that the cars can be fully charged in under two and a half hours.
Luke Champion, Environment Manager at the RUH, said: “Our staff will need to register as ‘car club’ members to use these electric cars for both business and private use. So far 39 staff have registered as members.
“The travel cost incurred for business use is just 60p per mile, which is 7p cheaper than the mileage rate incurred by the Trust if someone has to use their own car for business purposes. The cars can also be used for private use at a very reasonable charge; £8 for an evening and £26 for the entire weekend.
“These electric cars are an economical and greener form of transport. It’s a great scheme and there’s a lot of enthusiasm for it.”
Co-wheels is a not for profit social enterprise, working in partnership with NHS Trusts, Local Authorities and Social Enterprise providers, to promote sustainable travel. The organisation has electric cars in many locations across the country, including the Lake District, Newcastle and Oxford.
