A2Dominion, lead developers of the UK’s first eco town, has joined forces with Fleetdrive Electric to drive forward its plans to enable sustainable travel choices at NW Bicester.
The aim of the new partnership is to accelerate the transition to electric and ultra-low emission vehicles on the first Exemplar phase of NW Bicester.
North West Bicester is the UK’s first eco-town. It is a Masterplan to bring more homes and jobs to Bicester. The first phase is known as the Exemplar and this phase received planning approval in July 2012.
The partners have shaped a range of electric car initiatives designed to engage, encourage and educate future residents about the benefits of EVs and practical usage.
The aim is to get some 10% of residents switching to an ultra-low emission vehicle (pure electric or plug-in hybrid) by 2017.
These initiatives include subsidised EVs for champions within the community to share their experiences of using EVs, pop-up neighbourhood test drive events and ‘try before you buy’ flexible leasing options that give residents the opportunity to access ultra-low emission vehicles for short periods to find out which vehicle could be practical for them.
The partnership is being launched at a special event on Thursday February 26th, at the John Paul II Centre in Bicester.
Bicester stakeholders and residents y will have the opportunity to test drive a range of ultra-low emission electric vehicles including Tesla Model S, BMW i8 and i3, Audi e-tron, VW E-Up, E-Golf, Mitsubishi Outlander Phev and Nissan Leaf.
Louise Caves, Strategic Partnership Manager for NW Bicester, said: “Travel accounts for some 32% of a typical UK carbon footprint with private car use alone accounting for 18% of this. As lead developers of the UK’s first eco town, A2Dominion is committed to shaping a range of options and initiatives designed to encourage people’s choice of travel to be as environmentally friendly as their home.
“We’ve planned for a range of alternative modes of travel to minimise CO2 emissions and enable residents to make sustainable transport choices and built features into the design to make travel by foot, public transport, bike or electric car an easy option.”
As well as boasting an electric car club, car charging points will be available communally and optionally available to all homes on the first Exemplar phase.
For more information on the Bicester eco-town, visit www.nwbicester.co.uk.
A2Dominion
