Members of Smartgo workplace travel networks across the UK can now make savings on buying or leasing a new Nissan Leaf electric car.

As part of the agreement between Nissan and specialist sustainable travel consultancy Go Travel Solutions, the vehicles will be available with significant discounts worth thousands of pounds to existing Smartgo members, on top of the existing Government grants, to encourage sustainable travel.

Recent figures published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show that electric car sales in the UK have risen dramatically during the past 12 months. While only around 500 electric cars were registered per month at the start of 2014, this has now risen to an average of around 2,400 per month in 2015, with the total UK light-duty electric fleet now estimated to number more than 45,000 electric vehicles.

The Smartgo workplace travel networks are located nationwide with more planned. Smartgo has been developed and is coordinated by Go Travel Solutions to provide employers and their staff with financial, health and time saving benefits for commuting and business travel. Smartgo membership now includes over 200 businesses across the country representing more than 95,000 employees.

Russell Higgins, EV workplace manager at Nissan GB said: “We are excited to partner with Go Travel Solutions to give Smartgo members the opportunity to learn about and experience the electric side of driving. As a further incentive to consider an electric vehicle, we are pleased to provide Smartgo members with access to substantially-enhanced discounts on the Nissan Leaf.” 

Robin Pointon, managing director of Go Travel Solutions added: “With more grants available to help with purchasing of electric vehicles and with a better infrastructure for charging, there is a growing take-up of electric vehicles amongst UK drivers and the Nissan LEAF is leading the market. This is a tremendous financial saving for members of our Smartgo networks across the UK. With reduced purchase costs and running costs of just 2p per mile, the business case for electric cars gets ever stronger.”