MEDIA RELEASE

Moray car club launches ‘carbon neutral’ electric cars

A pioneering community-based car club for Moray is to be officially launched by local MSP Richard Lochhead in Forres on Saturday 22^nd February and will showcase more affordable and sustainable transport solutions, including two zero-emissions electric vehicles.

Moray Carshare is intended to serve residents of the IV36 postal code area of Morayshire in the north-east of Scotland and has cars available at three locations in and around Findhorn and Forres.

At present nine cars serve 47 members with the latest acquisitions - an award-winning Nissan Leaf and diminutive two-seater Renault Twizy - promising state-of-the-art electric propulsion, lower running costs and a radically reduced ecological footprint.

The official launch will take place in Forres at 11am on Saturday, February 22^nd, and four of the cars will be on display.

The addition of the two electric cars has been facilitated by a grant from Developing Car Clubs Scotland, which is funded by the Scottish Government. The convenience and viability of the electric car project has also been enhanced by the installation of a charging station in Findhorn funded by Energy Savings Trust Scotland.

An added bonus is that the charging station in Findhorn is supplied by clean renewable energy generated by four nearby wind turbines, with the possibility that a system of ‘smart’ charging could be developed to ensure that the electric cars are charged when the wind is blowing and the turbines spinning. It is hoped that this idea will be explored further by Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh as part of the ORIGIN project, funded by the European Commission. (ORIGIN is a collaboration to orchestrate efficient and balanced use of locally generated energy from renewable solutions and is being validated in three eco-communities in different climactic settings.)

The grant from Developing Car Clubs Scotland has also secured two fuel-efficient petrol-powered economy cars that are proving highly popular with cost-conscious members.

Moray Carshare manager Gordon McAlpine said the aims of the car club are to provide appropriate and cost-effective transport for its members and to do so in ways that minimise negative impacts on the environment.

“We also see the Moray Carshare as an example of how we can create a sense of community and fun by sharing resources in a way that benefits all. People get to know each other through the car club.

“The benefits to members are that they save money compared with buying and maintaining their own car, while for some the main advantage is that they have convenient access to a car they could not afford - or justify - on their own.

“Other benefits are that increased awareness of the financial and environmental costs of using a car leads to more conscious choices of the most appropriate vehicle for a particular trip - the options include the electric cars which are ideal for shorter hauls, the two fuel-efficient new-generation runabouts, an estate car and another car with a more powerful engine and a tow hitch.”

Richard Lochhead MSP, who is also Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, said: “Utilising cleaner and greener means of travel is hugely important in reducing the impact that we make on our environment and projects like Moray Carshare make a significant contribution to that. That positive impact is not just from the active membership of the car club but also through the increased awareness in our community of the alternative travel arrangements that they help to promote.

“In addition to the Moray Carshare project there will soon be a public network of electric car charging points across Moray, which I believe will increase people’s confidence in using electric cars, knowing they can get their vehicle re-charged at a variety of locations.

“The mix of different projects supporting the use of electric vehicles will appeal to different people and help change people’s perceptions and lead to greener travel.”

The car club is open to new members who hold a valid driver’s licence and agree to abide by the rules of operation, with bookings made via the Internet using an online booking system. Members pay a joining fee, a monthly fee and charges based on mileage and the number of hours the cars are used.

Developing Car Clubs Scotland is funded by Transport Scotland and delivered by national transport NGO Carplus.

Chas Ball, Carplus Chief Executive, said: “The impressive rate at which the Scottish car club network has grown over the last few years highlights the important role played by the Scottish Government in facilitating the growth of this sector by funding support through the DCCS programme. Data shows that car club membership in Scotland has grown by an average of 23% over the last two years, which exceeds the 9% growth for car club membership in England and Wales (excluding London) over the same period. Across Scotland there are now over 7,000 car club members with approximately 102 people joining a Scottish car club every month. We hope this car club will encourage further growth of car clubs in Scotland and the wider use of electric vehicles.”

Developing Car Clubs Scotland is keen to see the car club concept expanded both in cities and rural areas, and will monitor the running costs and experiences of participants.

Visit www.moraycarshare.com

Ends

February 2014

Notes to editors:

Moray Carshare has evolved from Park Carpool which was founded in 2007 with 15 members and three cars, but a recent survey in Forres indicated interest from the wider Moray community and the need for a new name that reflected the broader geographical spread of members and potential members.

Inquiries to:

Gordon McAlpine

carpool.admin@findhorn.cc

01309 691 934

So … we need a new name to reflect this change … and a logo to go with the name. And that is where you come in! We have decided to hold a competition so local designers, artists and others can design a suitable logo to go with our new name....Moray Carshare !

Prize

The winner of the competition will:

* receive a bottle of champagne and a box of chocolates

* have their name publicised at the launch and on our website

* receive a £30 voucher that can either be used to pay for their joining fee,
  or towards their car club subscriptions, if they are already a member.

The logo should in some way be a reflection of our purpose: as defined by our name, our vision and our mission:

Name = Moray Carshare

Vision = A world in which everyone has access to affordable and environmentally friendly travel options that build community and trust.

Mission = To be an effective, ethical association, responsive to the needs of existing and potential members in the IV36 area:

- Providing a variety of environmentally friendly vehicles, and

- Creating community through sharing resources with care and respect.

If you want some inspiration from looking at logos of other car clubs, use this address in your browser (http://www.carplus.org.uk/car-sharing-clubs/car-clubs/) and then, for example, click on “Scotland”. Then click on the town names one at a time. Then click on one of the blue icons (pinpoints) that appear on the map and you will see some information about that car club, including their logo.

The main use of the logo will be as part of the stickers we will put on the doors of our cars to attract attention to the car club. We suggest the stickers must include the logo and our website address (www.moraycarshare.com). It could optionally include our name, if it is not included in the logo. Obviously, our name is implicit in our website address. It is up to you what you think would work best on the sticker.

We would like you to include a design for the sticker as well as for the logo.

The logo will also appear on our website, on our letterhead paper and on future signs.

The logo will appear in various sizes according to these usages. The size of the car stickers will be restricted by the size of the door on our smallest car – the Twizy. The space available is 80 cm across the top, 60 cm across the bottom and 30 cm high.

Free choice. For your information, the current cars we will use the stickers on are silver (2), white, light blue (2) and black. But in the future we are likely to buy different colours of cars. The stickers could be either transparent or have a background colour.

The winner will be chosen by a small panel of judges including representatives for the carpool management, for the local community and for graphical design expertise.

Entries should be sent to carpool.admin@findhorn.cc by 11pm on Friday 3^rd January.

If you require any further information, please contact the car club manager (Gordon McAlpine) at the above email address or on 01309 691 934.

Park Carpool achieves 99% availability

Our community car club – Park Carpool – continues to thrive. During the month of January, a car was available for more than 99% of the time! In other words there were only 4 hours in that month when all 7 of our cars were booked out. Since we increased the number of cars back in November it seems that we can provide a better service to our members, since there will now almost always be a car available when they need one.

We currently have 33 members, and we are open to more people joining. We currently have 6 cars stationed at The Park and 1 in Findhorn village, near Station House. If more people living in the village joined we would be able to buy a second car to base there. And we have also been considering whether to place a car at the other end of the village – e.g. around Dunes Road or Fyrish Road.

The main advantage of car clubs is that, unless you use a car every day, it is likely to be a more affordable way of meeting your needs for flexible transport.

We changed our pricing scheme last year to make membership more affordable for people who do not use a car so often. The monthly membership fee is now just £15. And if you do not use the cars at all in a particular month, then you only pay half that - £7.50. On top of that, members pay 52p for each hour they have a car booked out. The carpool pays for petrol, and mileage charges start at 18p a mile – to cover the cost of fuel.

Car clubs also have a positive effect on reducing our ecological footprint. Research has shown that when each journey has a cost associated with it, then we become more aware of transport choices. Thus, carpool members tend to use other transport methods (like walking, cycling, buses and trains) more often than private car owners.

If you might be interested in joining Park Carpool and would like more details, please contact me on carpool.admin@findhorn.cc or 01309 691 934.

Love, Gordon McAlpine.