Toyota Proace Electric Joins City Business Trial Initiative

The new Toyota Proace Electric is joining a new city electric vehicle initiative that lets potential users discover the benefits of zero emission vans before deciding on a purchase.

Nine Proace Electric vans have joined the Electric Van Experience (EVE) hosted by Nottingham City Council, with a further three to be added to the council’s own vehicle fleet.

Councillor Sally Longford, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Energy and Environment said: “The Electric Van Experience is a great opportunity for local businesses and organisations to test drive a range of vehicles, giving them the chance to experience first-hand the financial and environmental benefits.

“With the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles in 2030, and our own ambition of becoming the UK’s first carbon neutral city by 2028, we want to support local businesses and give them the confidence to make the switch to greener vehicles permanently.

 “We know that different businesses have different needs, and we can provide a variety of vans to suit any purpose. The Toyota Proace was an obvious choice – with a high capacity battery and a one tonne payload, it offers one of the best ranges and load capacities currently available on the market.”

Stuart Ferma, General Manager Toyota and Lexus Fleet said: “Nottingham City Council’s initiative demonstrates the acceleration of interest in the benefits and opportunities of a new generation of electric-powered vans and we’re confident that Proace Electric will prove a popular and effective choice. Together with its recent national awards, Proace Electric has made an instant strong impression and we’re looking forward to increasing our market reach with the addition of the Proace City Electric small van to our line-up later this year.”

Nottingham City Council uses the EVE programme to support local businesses and individual traders by letting them borrow an electric van before buying to make sure it will suit their needs. Loan times can vary up to 30 days.  Signing up to take part has been made simple and the scheme is open to voluntary and public sector organisations as well as private businesses in Nottingham, More information about EVE is available here.

The vans were purchased through the council’s ULEV procurement framework and will be maintained by Nottingham Electric Vehicle Services (NEVS), the exclusive service centre run by the council.

The Electric Van Experience has been funded with a £2.69m grant from Highways England. Highways England’s Customer Services Director, Melanie Clarke, said: “We’re keen to play our part in helping to improve air quality and tackle carbon emissions.

“Our work with Nottingham City Council is just one example of us working with local authorities across the country to encourage businesses to make the switch to electric vehicles.”

The Toyota Proace Electric medium-duty panel van is available with a choice of a 50 or 75kWh lithium-ion battery, giving a zero-emission driving range of up to 205 miles.  Fast charging to 80 per cent battery capacity can be achieved in less than an hour and there is no compromise in load-carrying ability or payload.  More information about the Toyota Proace Electric and other models in the Toyota Professional light commercial vehicle range are available here.

ENDS