Motoring Nation Car News and Pictures
A group of 11 UK organisations are the first to be awarded ‘Go Ultra Low Company’ status – including Microsoft UK, University of Birmingham and London Fire Brigade. These organisations are leading the electric motoring revolution by using electric cars and vans, plus pledging to buy even more.
The new Go Ultra Low Company initiative, launched today by campaign group Go Ultra Low, has been endorsed by government and the car industry, and sets the new ‘green standard’ for business motoring.
Transport Minister Andrew Jones said: “It’s great to see a growing number of British fleets going green and I would encourage other businesses to learn from these Go Ultra Low companies and benefit from the huge fuel and tax savings offered by electric vehicles.
“The UK is a world leader in the uptake of low emission vehicles and our long-term economic plan is investing £600 million by 2020 to improve air quality, create jobs and achieve our goal of every new car and van in the UK being ultra-low emission by 2040.”
Public and private sector organisations that already use EVs, or offer them to employees as company cars, will be eligible for Go Ultra Low Company status, providing there’s a commitment for EVs to make up at least 5% of their vehicle fleet by 2020.
This qualifying criteria mirrors Government forecasts that EVs will represent 5% of total UK new car registrations by the end of the decade. The Government has earmarked over £600m until 2020 to support the plug-in vehicle grant, expand the charging infrastructure, and boost the electric car industry.
The London Fire Brigade runs a car fleet of 57 vehicles, 100% of which will become electric in 2016. The University of Birmingham operates 15 plug-in cars and vans – representing 16% of its total fleet. Currently, 6% of Microsoft UK’s fleet are EVs, with plans to increase this share to 15% by October 2016 and 20% by April 2017.
