Member Article

Bdaily interviews Josey Wardle from Charge Your Car

Ahead of this year’s Big Eco Show Bdaily is talking to key partners of the event, to get their take on the North East’s eco-efforts. This week, we talk to Josey Wardle, project manager of Charge Your Car.

Charge Your Car is the North East project to install electric vehicle charge points throughout the region ensuring that EV drivers can travel simply and easily. Josey spoke to us about the importance of the electric vehicle industry, and the ways businesses can benefit from using EVs.

“Electric vehicles are appropriate for most people, and the benefits for business are huge. Journeys of up to 100 miles are much cheaper using the cars, bikes and vans we run. A trip of 90 miles would cost a company around £15 in petrol or diesel, whereas it would only cost £2.60 using an EV. There are tax advantages as well, because EVs are excepted from company tax for five years and there is no road tax.

“Maintenance costs are much lower for the types of vehicles we deal with, so it is a much more efficient way to run your business day-to-day, plus it’s better for the environment.”

The Big Eco Show on the 19th September will be an opportunity to engage with Charge Your Car, and Josey told Bdaily about how they are involved with the event.

“We’ve been working alongside Daisy Green, who are organising the day, and we know the Big Eco Show is going to be a great platform to show North East companies how they can use EVs to better their business. We jumped at the chance to be involved because it is so important for people to experience these vehicles for themselves.”

Charge Your Car will be running test drives on the day of the show, which businesses can sign up to prior to the event.

“We’re bringing EV dealers from across to region so people can take cars out for a spin and experience how good the vehicles are. We’re bringing a range of EVs, including the Renault Fluence, the Nissan LEAF, Vauxhall Ampera and Peugeot iOn. We’ll also be bringing the Renault Kangoo ZE van, and the Renault Twizy bike. People can try any of the models, which can be booked in to test drive through our website www.whynotelectric.com.”

“People absolutely need to test drive these cars to see for themselves how good they are. There have been massive advances in battery technology and wheel power, and there are continuing improvements in the field. The more businesses use EVs and LCVs, the better they will become in efficiency, range, and lifespan.”

Bdaily asked about the interest Charge Your Car had already seen in the North East.

“We’ve had a number of taxi companies take on electric vehicles, which just goes to show the number of journeys and distance an EV can go. Taxi drivers have told us they can do their whole shift after just one charge of the car. Local authorities and private businesses have also engaged with us and have saved money using our vehicles.”

“We’re using the Big Eco Show as an opportunity to raise awareness about the sector, educate people about our ‘Plugged in Places’ charging points and get the word out there that EVs are the best vehicle solution for businesses.”

Josey talked about why Charge Your Car got involved with the Big Eco Show, and what it’s like to drive an electric car.

“The main aim for our project is to educate, and businesses can use tools like the fuel calculator on our website to see the comparative costs between petrol and electric vehicles. We want to spread the word to businesses in particular to show them EV advantages through test drives and speaking to us.

“We lease a car through the project, and I love driving an EV; they’re really zippy and people look shocked when I overtake them. They go off like a rocket! The vehicles are automatic so the speed of uptake is very fast.”

Businesses attending the Big Eco Show can book in for a test drive and calculate how much could be saved using EVs and LCVs through the website www.whynotelectric.com.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .