An investigation is underway in St Albans into the possible introduction of an electric car scheme for use as pool cars by district council staff.

%image(15551567, type="article-full", alt="Co-founder and Development Director of E-Car Club Chris Morris, Pro-vice Chancellor of Regional Affairs Stephen Boffey and Mayor of St Albans Annie Brewster launch the E-Car Club at the University of Hertfordshire with the help of "The Twig"")

Mayor of St Albans Cllr Annie Brewster commented on the possibility after recently launching a similar scheme at the University of Hertfordshire in Hatfield.

The university is providing staff, students and the wider community with the environmentally-friendly travel alternative to help reduce the cost of owning and running a car.

Cllr Brewster launched the pay-per-use car club, which offers three electric cars to hire by the hour from either the university’s College Lane or de Havilland campus via a membership programme.

She said: “This is the first time I have been in an electric car and I am struck by the amazing quietness and welcome the lack of fuel odours.

“Other than that, it feels just like a conventional automatic, as electric cars do not require gears.”

Cllr Brewster said the council is investigating the initiation of an e-car scheme for use by the authority’s employees.

And if given the go-ahead, the scheme could be extended for use by the public in the evenings and weekends as charging points are increasingly being installed throughout the district.

St Albans has a “roaming agreement” with Transport for London’s source London network, with 1,300 charging points across the capital, Watford and South Mimms.

Electric vehicle twin-headed charging points are available in many parts of St Albans, including at Waitrose, the city station and Hall Place Gardens.