The City Council has successfully applied to become one of twelve cities selected to bid for a share of the Government’s £35m fund to encourage the introduction of electric vehicles.
After getting through the initial application process, Nottingham City Council has been invited to submit a detailed bid for a share of the £35m ‘Go Ultra Low’ available to create centres of excellence for low emission vehicles. It is expected that the Government’s funding decision will see up to four cities share the cash, with the announcement set to be made in the autumn of 2015.
Nottingham’s bid features the creation of a city centre low emission zone supported by electric buses and a city wide network of electric vehicle charging points. A package would be available to businesses to encourage them to use low emission vehicles, with events, advice and grants to support uptake. There would also be an equivalent residents and community package, offering discounts, incentives and access to City Car Club electric cars.
Councillor Jane Urquhart, Portfolio Holder for Transport and Planning at Nottingham City Council, said: “After getting over this hurdle the City Council now has the chance to develop its electric vehicle vision further. At the heart of this is providing a comprehensive network of charging points for both residents and businesses to use. Making the city centre a low emission zone would improve air quality and make the environment there much better. The introduction of electric City Cycles and Car Club vehicles will give people access to low emission vehicles and we propose to develop a demonstration site so that residents and businesses can see that switching to low carbon transport is easier than they might think. The City Council will work with local energy suppliers to see how locally generated electricity can be used to power our electric transport vision.”
If successful, the funding would further enhance Nottingham’s Electric City transport vision that already features Europe’s largest electric bus fleet, electric charging points at the Park and Ride sites’ Eco Hubs, the development of the European Union funded electric tourism bus and the imminent expansion of the Nottingham Express Transit network that will increasingly use locally generated electricity for its power.