The Inmotion! Electric Vehicle (EV) scheme has now seen 18 South Yorkshire businesses reap the financial benefits of using EVs.
With 24 vehicles leased to the companies in the Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield area, the fleet has covered more than 56,500 miles, saving over 27 tonnes of CO2 from being emitted at the tailpipe.
The project was run by sustainable transport partnership Inmotion!, with backing from local councils and the Department for Transport. It provided grants for businesses to put towards the cost of a plug-in van or car to help local companies switch to greener and cheaper transportation.
The project has also installed 13 free, publicly available charge points at ten locations in the region to help keep the EV fleet moving. Firms as small as an artisan bakery to Meadowhall, one of the largest shopping centres in the UK, have benefited from the funds.
Mark Daly, Sustainable Transport and Mobility Officer from Sheffield City Council, has led the Inmotion! project since its inception in 2013, together with representatives from South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive and the region’s local authorities. He said: “I’m delighted that we have been able to help South Yorkshire businesses access zero emission, cost effective vehicles.
“Electric vehicles offer a greener future for local transport needs and their use is already helping to combat air pollution and carbon emissions. The numbers of electric vehicle drivers using our network of free-to-use charge points installed across the county has also grown significantly to over 1,000 times per month.”
