The Hyde Group is teaming up with Elektromotive, City Car Club and the City’s Green led Council to take part in the ‘RAC Brighton to London Future Car Challenge’ on 5 November.

In a bid to demonstrate the viability of electric vehicles and, in particular, electric vehicle car clubs, which have historically been faced technical challenges, the fully-electric Mercedes Vito Van, leased by Hyde and recharged by Elektromotive, will be driven by local Green Councillor Alex Phillips. The 60 mile Future Car Challenge route goes from Brighton’s Madeira Drive to the finish line on Pall Mall, London.

The BREEAM Excellent Rated Open Market development features a number of other interesting environmental and sustainable initiatives including measures such as solar power, rainwater harvesting and exhaust-air heat pumps to generate heat and hot water. When the project is complete in 2013, the electric Mercedes Vito Van will become part of Brighton & Hove’s first electric car club. Set up by Hyde and operated by City Car Club, the van will be part of the company’s large network of vehicles available for its members to use in the city. The van will be used by the Open Market traders to provide an environmentally responsible delivery service to retail their fresh, locally sourced produce, without harming local air quality.

Cllr Alex Phillips commented, “I am delighted to be taking part in this challenge, and I hope to use the least amount of energy - but we'll see! Great ideas such as shared electric vehicles help save money and provide access to sustainable transport alternatives for those who need them.”

This pioneering initiative is made technically possible thanks to Elektromotive’s innovative “Rapid Charging Point”, which is able to recharge the van’s battery to 80% capacity in under 20 minutes. Calvey Taylor-Haw, Elektromotive Managing Director commented “This is the first “rapid charge” electric vehicle charging infrastructure to be installed in Brighton & Hove. Elektromotive was the logical partner for Hyde to select to work with for this exciting and ground breaking project”.