Cambridge plots to make EVs commonplace
News
29 Mar 2016
Cambridge officials have announced plans to make petrol and diesel engines a ‘thing of the past’ in the city by the end of the decade.
The city’s planners are due to secure transformational funding to kick start a series of projects which aim to make electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid cars commonplace.
Figures show that most of the air pollution in Cambridge is caused by traffic, accounting for between 65 and 80 per cent across the city centre, with half of the pollution caused by buses and around 10-20 per cent caused by taxis and delivery vehicles.
If the city is successful in receiving a £5 million joint funding bid from the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV), it would see Stagecoach’s double decker Citi, Park and Ride and sightseeing buses passing through the city centre replaced with 89 modern Euro VI flywheel equipped vehicles.
The money will add to Stagecoach’s own funding of £17 million.The flywheel operates by capturing energy as the bus brakes and releases it to an electric motor which helps the bus accelerate, making it ideal for urban stop-start traffic conditions. The buses will then run in electric mode within the core city centre, where air quality is at its lowest.
Councillor Ian Bates, chairman of the county council's economy and environment committee, said: "We welcome this ambitious and innovative bid from Stagecoach and the level of investment they are prepared to make. This technology would be an excellent option for other authorities who are seeking to support the uptake of low emission vehicles in their urban centres without a costly outlay to upgrade the power grid that a fleet of full electric vehicles could require."
Zoe Paget, operations director of Stagecoach East, added: "These have been trialled in London and elsewhere in the UK with impressive results for fuel savings and emissions reductions. The flywheel captures energy as the bus brakes and releases it to an electric motor which helps the bus accelerate, making it ideal for urban stop-start traffic conditions. We are hoping our bid is successful so we can continue to invest in our city to further improve air quality.
