A new fleet of fourteen electric cars will soon be available to hire.
People in Oxfordshire looking to get behind the wheel of an electric car will have the opportunity to do so this month.
Oxfordshire County Council are rolling out a car sharing pilot scheme which will allow people to hire on a daily or hourly basis new electric vehicles.
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Councils in Oxfordshire, including Oxford City Council, 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.
The county council’s cabinet member for travel Duncan Enright highlighted that this was “one of the first areas in the country to introduce this sort of scheme”.
He said: “We’re in the early days of electric vehicles. This is an opportunity for Oxfordshire residents to try them out at a reasonable cost.
“It is also a way to try out car sharing, which could be much cheaper than owning an extra car.”
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People will be able to access an EV on a short term basis and it is not yet clear how much demand from the public there will be for these cars.
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These EVs will be located across Oxfordshire, including Bicester, Banbury, Witney and Abingdon.
In total, there will be 14 locations where the EVs can be picked up from.
The EVs will have a range of between 150-250 miles each and the majority will be located at EV charging hubs in district council owned car parks.
A car club membership will be necessary in order to use the new vehicles and cars will be available to hire from as little as £5.95 per hour.
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Enterprise CarClub Director Daniel Gursel said: “We are delighted to work with Oxfordshire County Council to launch this service.
“Car club is a great option to meet changing travel patterns for both residents and visitors to the area as well as helping reduce private car ownership and give people the opportunity to drive an EV.”
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