Electric car club trial extended until September 2024
A year long Oxfordshire car sharing pilot scheme, launched in April 2023, is being extended by six months due to popular demand, with more vehicles to be added to the scheme shortly.
The trial features electric vehicles (EVs), which can be hired on an hourly or daily basis from district and city council owned car parks around the county. They are currently in place in Bicester, Banbury, Kidlington, Eynsham, Henley, Wallingford, Abingdon, Witney and Oxford.
The pilot has been organised by Oxfordshire County Council and supported by Oxford City Council, Cherwell, South Oxfordshire, Vale of White Horse and West Oxfordshire district councils to assess the demand. The vehicles are provided by hire companies Co Wheels, Zimbl, and Enterprise CarClub.
Councillor Pete Sudbury, Deputy Leader of Oxfordshire County Council with responsibility for Climate Change, Environment and Future Generations, said: “I’m extremely pleased to see the positive response to EV car clubs in many of the towns and villages involved in the pilot. I welcome the extension to the scheme, which will mean even more residents and businesses can try out these shared cars for themselves.
“Car clubs can play a key role in reducing carbon emissions in Oxfordshire, as well as reducing the number of individual vehicles on our roads and helping people to reduce the cost of living. If you haven’t tried them out, now’s your chance.”
Since the start of the pilot, more than 500 new members have signed up to use the EV car clubs and the vehicles have been hired over 2,000 times.
It is estimated that a successful car club vehicle can take on average 20 individually owned cars – often petrol or diesel vehicles – off the road.
The continued success of the scheme is dependent on increasing use of the vehicles in the pilot, so residents are encouraged to make use of introductory offers available and try out their local vehicle while they can. If the vehicles continue to be well used, some of the current sites could be considered as long term locations for car club EVs, and a wider rollout could also follow in other locations.
Eynsham car club user, Lisa Hynes, said: “We have used the Co Wheels car in Eynsham and it’s been brilliant.
“It’s right in the centre of Eynsham and has meant that we haven’t needed to buy an additional car as we can use the Co Wheels car as and when we need it. We have really enjoyed driving an electric car too.”
EV car clubs give people the chance to use an EV when they need one, without the expense of owning or leasing one outright. Car clubs can make it much more affordable for people who don’t drive every day and provide real-world experience of driving electric without a long-term commitment.
EVs in the scheme can be hired from £5.95 per hour, including insurance, plus 12p per electric mile. Residents can make use of promotions, reduced membership and driving credit offers as part of the pilot scheme.
Updated details about where your nearest car club location is, and information about promotional offers, can be found on Oxfordshire County Council’s website.
Lessons learned from the pilot will feed into a countywide car club strategy being developed by the county council later this year.
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