Advert
E-Car Club
E-Car Club , featuring Renault electric vehicles, is the UK’s first 100 per cent electric city car club.
Launched in East London before a nationwide roll-out, E-Car Club will allow businesses to reduce the cost and footprint of their fleets, make electric vehicles available to local communities, and tackle the growing problem of urban air pollution.
E-Car club members have the opportunity to drive the Renault ZOE, the world’s first affordable, purpose-built all-electric supermini on a pay-per-use basis.
Renault currently leads the market in Europe, selling over 34,000 electric vehicles since its first model, Kangoo Van Z.E., hit showrooms in late 2011. It boasts a market share of 47% so far this year.
The Renault ZOE is priced from just £13,995 on-the-road after grant, plus battery hire from £70 per month.
The ‘Range OptimiZEr’ package of three major innovations (bi-modal regenerative braking, heat pump and Michelin EnergyTM E-V tyres) helps ZOE deliver the longest range of any purely electric vehicle in its class – 130 miles. In real world driving, this is likely to be around 90 miles, depending on driving style, road and weather conditions, making the ZOE a practical proposition for E-Car Club’s users
Thanks to its Chameleon charger, charging of the ZOE can take as little as 30 minutes at a Rapid Charge station. Charging in one hour is possible at Fast Charge stations, and the car will charge in just 3-4 hours at a standard 7kW public charge point.
The E-Car Club was founded in 2011, with investment from Sustainable Venture Partners and the Technology Strategy Board, to offer easy, affordable access to low carbon transport for both businesses and communities. The mixed-use model brings together the needs of corporate customers that have costly and carbon-intensive fleet requirements, with those in the local community who want easy and affordable access to low carbon vehicles.
The East London launch builds on the success of two pilot projects: a community-led project in Milton Keynes which started in October 2012 and a partnership with Luton Borough Council earlier this year. The company will be opening similar schemes in Oxford, University of Hertfordshire and Maylands Business Park in the coming months.
