Electric vehicles for Southampton City Council’s telecare staff

Southampton City Council’s City Telecare Services have acquired electric vehicles for its local First Responding team for use when doing emergency home visits.

The new electric Nissan Leaf vehicles are part of the council’s commitment to tackling climate change and is at the centre of the Green City agenda which is outlined in the Green City Plan which was published in March.

The Green City Plan details the approach and principles for the next 10 years. Delivering clean air is a key theme, with actions detailed to ensure the council reviews and implements methods that reduce air pollution. Addressing road transport emissions by decreasing the numbers of vehicles on our roads and encouraging drivers to switch to hybrid and electric vehicles is an essential part of the overall strategy.

All the council’s new and existing electric fleet are powered by 100% renewable energy and new charging units were installed at the City Depot Council transportation hub as part of the ongoing investment in Electric Vehicle infrastructure in Southampton.

Councillor Steve Leggett, Cabinet Member for Green City and Place, said: “We set ourselves ambitious, challenging goals to help tackle climate change, including being a carbon neutral council by 2030. We can only achieve this by leading the way with activities aimed at reducing our carbon footprint. We’re looking to invest in and modernise our fleet with an investment plan to increase the numbers of zero and low emission vehicles we operate across Southampton. The new community cars join a growing number of electric vehicles currently in operation cross the city. In June, we switched 24 older, diesel vans to 100% electric versions which is 10% of the fleet and have more due in the coming months.”