Hexham Electric Car Club

Transition Tynedale has established a transport group which has the intention of promoting and developing a number of low carbon transport initiatives to be piloted out of Hexham.

One of the projects the group has on its agenda involves the establishment of a Hexham based e-car club.

Benefits

The e-car club would make a car available to those who do not have a car, or from time to time need another. It would also make a car available to those who take public transport into Hexham but occasionally need to travel on elsewhere.

The e-car club would provide a financially attractive source of transport for organizations based in Hexham.  Car clubs offer a cheaper alternative to owning a pool car or reimbursing the use of employees’ vehicles.

With charge points already established at various locations along Hadrian’s Wall the car club will also offer opportunities for tourists visiting Hexham.

In addition to the utility benefits, the e-car club will provide a low carbon and low emission transport option in keeping with the aspirations of many people in Hexham.

Establishing the car club

The group has reviewed a range of car club options and whilst it is not yet clear what will be the final model it has decided to explore the possibility of taking advantage of the region’s Plugged in Places electric vehicle infrastructure project (www.ChargeYourCar.org.uk) and the electric vehicle demonstrator project (www.SWITCHEV.co.uk) to pilot a community managed e-car club using a Peugeot iOn for 6 months.

There is more information about the proposed vehicle on the back of this leaflet.
Transition Tynedale has already undertaken a market research exercise within its membership and this has demonstrated that there is an interest in a project of this nature.
Currently we are discussing the project with local stakeholders who would potentially be involved in using and supporting the operation of the project.

Hexham already has the benefit of having a rapid charger outside the Wentworth Leisure Centre and Transition Tynedale would aim to establish at least one more charge point and a car pick up point within Hexham town centre.

Let us know what you think

If you would be interested in using the car club or at least discussing how it might work for you then we’d be delighted to hear from you.  Please contact: Susannah Crump at info@transitiontynedale.org

The Peugeot iOn

• Range up to 80 miles
• Recommend trips of up to 50 miles while people get used to it
• Top Speed 80 mph
• Fully automatic and easy to drive
• Dashboard information showing remaining range – miles left and state of charge of the battery
• The range is affected by:
  • Driver behaviour – up to 20% variation (eco driving encouraged)
  • Speed of driving – it performs best in urban stop/start conditions, and motorway / high speed driving can use up to 10% more energy
  • Heater / Air Con – up to 30% of the range (if on constantly – extremely unlikely, especially over the summer)
• Charge Your Car (CYC) card provided with the car – which gives access to free parking and free charging at all NE public recharging points. A map can be found at http://www.chargeyourcar.org.uk (updated frequently)
• Roadside charging will take 4-5 hours on the upgraded posts, 6-7 hours on the standard posts and 30 minutes on the rapid chargers. It will be obvious from the post which type of charger it is, and the CYC card will operate all forms of charging.
• The iOn is covered by a 24 hour breakdown service. In case of breakdown it has to be lifted and transported on a flat bed trailer, it cannot be towed.
• Driver induction can be provided if required (subject to staff availability)