Glasgow City Council is taking a step forward for a cleaner, greener city with the addition of 10 electric, zero emission vehicles to its fleet, from Allied Electric. 

The vehicles are the first of 40 trial vehicles built by Allied Electric for the local authority. The cars will be tested throughout the city as part of a £3.8million project led by Allied Electric.  The initial 10 Peugeot eExpert cars will be followed by a further 30 Peugeot ePartners, scheduled for delivery in September 2010.

The trial is part of the Low Carbon Vehicle Demonstrator initiative, a £25m project funded by the UK Government’s Technology Strategy Board and the Department for Transport to create test beds around the UK for more than 340 low carbon vehicles.

The trial vehicles, that have a battery range of between 80 and 100 miles, will be integrated into the council’s existing fleet and that of other partner organisations to gather reliable information and feedback on the viability of including these vehicles in fleets, long-term. 

The vehicles will be used for a variety of purposes within Glasgow City Council including site visits for planning officers, social workers making home visits and staff that visit various schools in the city.   Plans are also in place for electric vehicles to be trialled through partner organisations such as the fire service and the Scottish Government, with use also scheduled for other consortium members.

Allied Electric’s managing director, Paul Nelson, commented: “The delivery of these first ten vehicles is the culmination of a strong forward-thinking partnership between ourselves and Glasgow City Council, Axeon, Scottish Power, Strathclyde University and Scottish Enterprise. This first batch of vehicles for the Glasgow Technology Strategy Board project hopefully signals the beginning of widespread usage of zero emission vehicles throughout the city.”