Info
Info

Highways England invests over £9 million in EV ‘try before you buy’ scheme

News

Highways England is super-charging a green incentive scheme with a multi-million pound investment that allows businesses to try electric vehicles for free before they buy.

Info

In an initiative designed to encourage a shift to cleaner, lower carbon vehicles, the company is handing £9.3 million ($12 million) to local authorities to encourage businesses with diesel van fleets to make the switch to electric. It works by offering the businesses a free trial of electric vehicles for two months.

Following a successful pilot with the Energy Saving Trust and a launch with Leeds City Council earlier in the year, councils in Coventry, Kent, Nottingham, and Sheffield are working to set up their own schemes. On World EV (Electric Vehicle) Day (9 September) the company has announced over £3 million ($3.87 million) of funding has been agreed with Bristol City Council.

It is among a host of measures Highways England is taking to improve air quality and tackle carbon emissions from road transport as the UK takes steps to become a zero-carbon economy by 2050.

The scheme has been made possible by Highways England's Designated Funds programme designed to benefit people, the economy and the planet with an overall investment of £936 million ($1.2 billion) between 2020 and 2025.

Jim O'Sullivan, Highways England Chief Executive, said: “This is a key example of how we are using designated funds to benefit the environment and communities around our roads as well as the people travelling and working on them.”

The company's Designated Funds programme has already delivered over 2,000 schemes between 2015 and 2020.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “Whether you're taking a trip with the family or commuting to work, with the wide range of models at competitive prices, it is now more cost-effective and convenient than ever to drive and charge an electric vehicle. This together with our continued support for R&D, will see talented UK-based SMEs flourish, as well as more than 6,000 skilled jobs created up and down the country.”

Over the last five months, electric vans used for the trial scheme in Leeds have also been driven more than 10,000 miles as part of the city's emergency coronavirus response. The vehicles have been used in a number of ways including delivering local food parcels to those self-isolating or shielding, transporting key council key workers and supporting the work of vital third sector organisations.

Councillor James Lewis, Deputy Leader of Leeds City Council said: “Since launching the EV Trials scheme with Highways England in January, we've had a great response. Hundreds of local businesses and charities have already signed up to the scheme and its fantastic to see so many organisations leading by example.”

“It's still early days, but it's really promising to see participants starting to invest in electric vehicles of their own. Every organisation choosing to switch to EVs is making a real difference—helping to clean the air we breathe and tackle the climate emergency,” the Councillor added.

Highways England's Designated Funds programme is divided into four funding streams aimed at making the biggest difference and delivering lasting benefits; environment and wellbeing, users and community, safety and congestion and innovation and modernisation.

Between 2015 and 2020 the programme has ensured that over 95% of England's motorways and major A-roads are within 20 miles of a rapid electric vehicle charging point. They have reduced the impact of noise for around 50,000 people living alongside motorways and implemented measures to reduce air pollution at identified hotspots.

Designated Funds programme has delivered more than 160 cycle schemes including upgraded crossings to improve connectivity with local communities and tackled 260 locations vulnerable to flooding with improved drainage and ecology.

Other achievements include 124 biodiversity initiatives, 150 safety improvements on single carriageway roads to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured and over 6,500 lights and traffic signals converted to LED.


The Latest News, Brought To You By
Highways England invests over £9 million in EV ‘try before you buy’ scheme
Modified on Monday 14th September 2020
Find all articles related to:
Highways England invests over £9 million in EV ‘try before you buy’ scheme
TaaS Technology Magazine
Info
SEAT Introduces Autonomous Mobile Robots In Its Barcelona Factory
Nano One And Johnson Matthey Enter Into A Joint Development Agreement For Lithium-ion Battery Materials
Gilbarco Veeder-Root Expands E-mobility Platform With Launch Of EVerse
Pininfarina And MT Distribution Join Forces To Create A New Range Of Vehicles For Urban Electric Micro-mobility
HELLA Brings Latest Passenger Car 77GHz Radar Technology Into Series Production
GHD Survey Reveals Half Of British Consumers Are Considering An Electric Vehicle In Next Five Years
Iteris Awarded $3.3 Million Contract By City Of Modesto For Smart Mobility Initiative
Former Google Head Of Energy Strategy Neha Palmer Joins TeraWatt Infrastructure
PCB Depaneling: Laser Technology Improves Quality And Efficiency For Automotive Applications
Nikola And Total Transportation Services Inc. Sign LOI For 100 Nikola Trucks
FEV Successful In Designing Low Emission, Efficient Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engine
European Launch: NIO To Sell Smart Premium EVs In Norway
Faction Raises $4.3M To Develop Light EV Driverless Fleets
Construction Begins On First-of-its-kind Electric Vehicle Battery Technology Centre And Pilot Line
EasyMile Raises €55 Million In Series B Round
Daimler Truck AG And Volvo Group Fully Committed To Hydrogen-based Fuel-cells – Launch Of New Joint Venture Cellcentric
Fisker Launches Resource For Environmental, Social, And Governance Policy, Practices And Reporting And
Toshiba Expands Scope Of Its Solid-State LiDAR Solution To Address Transportation Infrastructure Monitoring
Ford Boosts Investment In Solid Power
Renault Group And Plug Power Inc. Launch HYVIA
Dr. Matthias Jurytko Takes Over The Management Of The Fuel Cell Joint Venture Cellcentric
Faraday Future Selects Velodyne As Exclusive Lidar Supplier For Flagship FF 91
Uber, Mobilize, RATP And Blablacar Join Forces For Sustainable Mobility By Launching The “Mobilité360” Project
AAM And REE Automotive To Jointly Develop New Electric Propulsion System
Info
Info
×
Search the news archive

To close this popup you can press escape or click the close icon.
Logo
×
Logo
×
Register - Step 1

You may choose to subscribe to the TaaS Magazine, the TaaS Newsletter, or both. You may also request additional information if required, before submitting your application.


Please subscribe me to:

 

You chose the industry type of "Other"

Please enter the industry that you work in:
Please enter the industry that you work in:
 
X
Info
X
Info
{taasPodcastNotification} Array
Live Event