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Brian Marnie, a self-employed driver for Tele & Handys Taxis of Balgray Place, Dundee was the first driver to own a fully electric wheelchair access taxi in the Tayside & Fife area after receiving a Nissan e-NV200 from the electric vehicle specialist, Vic Young Ltd, in January 2020.
With Dundee being a pioneering city for reducing carbon emissions and recently building the first charging hub station for electric cars – Mr Marnie looks to have made a wise investment, especially considering the benefits of possessing an electric car for business purposes:
Battery range
Powered by a 40kWh lithium-ion battery, the zero-emission wheelchair access taxi purchased from Vic Young Ltd in South Shields – North East England has a range of up to 124 - 187 miles on a single charge. Drivers can also have peace of mind knowing that the battery has an 8 year / 100,000 mile warranty.
After driving the 100% electric Nissan e-NV200 for over a month, Brian Marnie said: "The taxi is great. I wish I could have bought one years ago as I will be saving a fortune on fuel and service costs. My concerns with regards to charging anxiety were totally unfounded- the fear was greater than the reality. I've never had an issue with the vehicle running flat. Vic Young showed me the savings- the man was right. Customers love the drive compared to diesel; a smooth, quiet drive compared to diesel; plus the fact that I have done my bit for the environment. A lot of Dundee Taxi Operators have shown a keen interest in the vehicle."
Charging times
Rapid chargers in public locations such as supermarkets and service stations will charge the electric wheelchair access vehicle from 20% battery to 100% in approximately 45-60 minutes. An installed ‘fast home charger of 7kW’ will charge the vehicle to 100% battery in 7.5 hours. It can also be charged via a typical 3-pin mains plug in 11-18 hours. Averagely, the cost per electric car mile is 4.78p.
Vic Young, managing director of Vic Young Conversions, said: “Providing electric vehicles to Scotland is a great achievement for us. I firmly believe the market is ready to go all-electric with vehicles for trade and industry. As an added bonus for Dundee taxi drivers, Transport Scotland’s electric vehicle interest free loan goes up to £35,000, covering the cost of a new fully electric/plug-in hybrid vehicle.”
Electric commercial vehicles
North East motor dealer - Vic Young Conversions has created a range of fully-electric vehicles suitable for commercial use to meet demand from urban businesses and traders created by the UK government-backed zero carbon agenda:
Congestion charges
Until now, unless drivers worked in London they weren’t concerned about congestion charges. However with an increased number of key cities such as Birmingham, Bristol and Newcastle Upon-Tyne just launching, or with plans to soon launch clean air zones, the £0 congestion and clean air zone charge for electric vehicles may potentially become critical for businesses looking to reduce vehicles costs.
A typical lightweight commercial van would amount to £100 a day in clean air zone charge and an additional £11.50 a day congestion charge. Multiply that by 5 days a week / 52 weeks a year and the annual costs for a single vehicle are staggering. The potential savings of driving an electric car are enormous.
