Co-Wheels launch fully electric car club in the Lancaster district 

Lancaster City Council has teamed up with national car share scheme Co-Wheels to launch an all-electric car share club.

Fully electric vehicles are now available to hire in Lancaster city centre and Morecambe town centre (close to the promenade) from as little as £5.50 an hour.

Insurance, cleaning, servicing and refuelling are also included in the cost. Cars are equipped with charge cards and charging guides to assist users in trying out this green mode of transport.

Jonathan Collinson, Business Development Manager of Co-Wheels, said: “There are a lot of great initiatives and effort going in to reduce carbon emissions in the Lancaster district. We are absolutely delighted to work alongside the Council in providing low carbon vehicles as part of a pay-as-you-go car club for residents and businesses to use.

With the majority of cars sitting on the drive 97% of the time, we’re making it more accessible for people to have the option to hire an electric pay-as-you-go car for the 3% of time they do need to use a car, rather than owning their own vehicle – it’s far cheaper and better for the environment this way.

Lancaster City Council are providing the fully electric cars, which are also used as their staff pool cars, and have welcomed the launch of the scheme.

Councillor Kevin Frea, cabinet member for the climate emergency, said: “The council has ambitious plans to become net zero carbon by 2030 and has already make great strides towards achieving that aim within its own services.

“One of the ways we’re doing that is by making electric vehicles available to our staff for short trips around the district. I’m delighted that through this partnership with Co-Wheels we are now able to make these cars available to the general public as well.

“By using an electric vehicle instead of a petrol or diesel car, people will not only be helping us to reduce CO2 emissions but also contributing towards improving local air quality.”

When booking a car, a handy location map on the Co-Wheels app or website shows where the nearest one is. Keys aren’t needed as members are provided with a smartcard to access the car. Members can also book cars in any of the Co-Wheels locations around the UK.

Car clubs have been shown to reduce car dependence with, on average, each car club car removing between 10 and 15 privately owned cars from the road. Use of walking, cycling and public transport also increases with the introduction of a car club.

To protect vehicle users, Co-Wheels is carrying out extra measures to ensure the highest level of cleanliness. Every vehicle is professionally cleaned regularly and all touch surfaces are cleaned with a new long lasting disinfectant that keeps surfaces germ-free for an extended period.

For more information visit www.co-wheels.org.uk/lancaster.