New electric vehicles give transport groups some va va voom

Six community transport groups based in Lanarkshire will benefit from new electric vehicles (EVS).

The vehicles are being funded from an award of £1.2 million by SP Energy Networks’green Economy Fund.

Three of the groups – Glenboig Development Trust, Getting Better Together Shotts and Cumbernauld Action on Care of the Elderly – have unveiled their new minibuses, vans, and people carriers.

The EVS will be used to support vulnerable, disadvantaged and elderly people across Lanarkshire to access vital appointments and community activities.

All three organisations have also offered their services to NHS Lanarkshire to assist with the Covid-19 vaccination rollout.

The new EVS will be used to replace ageing and increasingly unreliable diesel vehicles that put vital community work in jeopardy.

Glenboig Development Trust have received a van and a car to provide community support to children and young people, and deliver meals and wellbeing visits to the elderly.

Teresa Aitken from the Trust said: “This investment will benefit all aspects of our service users’lives, including their health.

“The vehicles really are a lifeline for so many of our service users, so we couldn’t be more grateful for the support we have received from SP Energy Networks.”

In the long term, the vehicles will enable the groups to reduce their carbon footprint, with an expected 32 tonnes reduction in CO2 emissions in the next year.

The other three organisations being directly funded by SP Energy Networks’ Green Economy Fund are: WAT IF; Rural Development Trust; and Larkhall & District Volunteer Group – allowing each of them to purchase 100 per cent electric vehicles that are low floor accessible.

The electric vehicles are being funded as part of SP Energy Networks’ £20m Green Economy Fund, which supports the Scottish Government’s ambitious plans to meet climate change targets.

SP Energy Networks is also helping deliver up to 44 new electric vehicle charging hubs across Lanarkshire as part of Project PACE.

The project is being delivered through a strategic partnership between SP Energy Networks and the Scottish Government and so far has provided 260MWH of energy to electric vehicles and enabled around 912,940 miles to be driven using clean, green transport.

Frank Mitchell, CEO at SP Energy Networks, said:“scotland has ambitious plans to be the UK’S first net zero country by 2045, but we must ensure no community is left behind.

“Helping communities build their own green economy and establish low carbon infrastructure is at the heart of our Green Economy Fund.”

For more information on the Green Economy Fund and the projects it supports, visit spenergynetworks.co.uk/pages/green_economy_fund.aspx/