RESIDENTS in County Durham can now hire an electric vehicle for the day, as part of a new car club service designed to make the roads of the region greener.
As part of a project partnership between Durham County Council and Derwent Valley Car Club, a new electric vehicle hire service in Shotley Bridge has just opened.
The car club has three fully electric cars available to borrow, which residents can hire for an hour up to a full day – dependent on their needs.
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Alongside the launch, an electric vehicle charge point has been installed on Front Street in Shotley Bridge, where one of the vehicles is based.
The remaining two vehicles are based in Rowlands Gill and Blackhall Mill.
For those interested in hiring the vehicles, it will cost £5 a month to join the scheme and the hire rate is £4 per hour for the first three hours, then £3 for every hour after that, or £30 to hire the car for a day.
Volunteer drivers from the club are also available to use the car to take people to hospital appointments if required.
Speaking about the initiative, Cllr Mark Wilkes, Durham County Council’s Cabinet member for neighbourhoods and climate change, met the club to officially open the scheme.
He said: “We are delighted to have been able to work with Derwent Valley Car Club to help it launch its electric vehicle car club scheme. Every car club vehicle can remove up to 20 non-electric cars off the road and will create a new option for residents who are looking to switch to greener modes of transport.
“The service has been set up particularly to help families who have returned to workplaces on a hybrid-basis, where they no longer need to run two cars every day and can borrow an electric vehicle as they need from the club.
“Over time we hope to be able to roll this scheme out further across the county, working with partners like Derwent Valley Car Club which are doing a truly amazing job.”
The electric vehicle hubs have been funded by Scaling On-Street Charging Infrastructure (SOSCI), which has given money to allow the council to install a minimum of 100 electric vehicle charge points across the county in the future.
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