Low running costs of Electric Vehicles

Staff at Stockton Council have taken part in a trial, part-funded by low carbon technology agency Cenex, collecting data on the costs of driving a Mitsubishi iMiEV.

According to data from the scheme, the authority paid just £63 to run the electric car for 2,750 miles, the Evening Gazette reported.

Neil Ellison, sustainability manager at the council, told the news provider: "We knew the electric car would be very efficient but these figures are astonishing."

"The best performance we had was when we took the car up to One North East’s offices in Newcastle and achieved 350 miles to the gallon equivalent," he noted.

Government funding from the Plugged in Places scheme has been handed to the north-east, which will benefit from £7.8 million towards the installation of around 1,300 charging points by 2013. Currently there are 11 points in the area, installed under Stockton’s Charge Your Car initiative.

By Mark Stephens, www.energysavingtrust.org.uk

www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/business/Business/Transport-advice/Other-services/Travel-planning

www.cenex.co.uk/