OXFORD is set to lead the world into a petrol-less future.
eMotor feeding (Image: T. Heale)
Electric vehicle charging points are being installed across the city this month and how motorists use them will be reported to the Government by Oxford University.
The trial, already thought to be the largest on-street charging pilot in the world, could see drivers in Oxford help shape international policy, with university chiefs saying the scheme had ‘global scientific significance’.
Oxford City Council, in a project alongside Oxfordshire County Council, has this month begun installing the 100 electric charging stations in residential streets across the city to encourage drivers to go electric.
It is starting with 30 stations which will come online in October and be available to use for 12 months.
Ten of these will be available for the general public, 10 for Oxford’s Co-wheels Car Club vehicles, and the remaining ten for individual households.
This first phase of the trial will be monitored by researchers from the University of Oxford’s Transport Studies Unit (TSU).
Two of the green guinea pigs are husband and wife Yousaf and Ruby Mehmood of Littlemore.
Mr Mehmood bought the couple’s first hybrid electric car – a Mitsubishi Outlander – last October.
He was partly influenced by the heavy pollution when he was growing up in Pakistan.
He said:
“People are causing these problems and I felt as an individual it was something I should do, and it might motivate other people as well.”
Read more: The Herald