Community nurses in Dundee and Perth will plug into cheap fuel within weeks.
NHS Tayside is about to take delivery of two new electric cars, to be used by community nurses making short trips between patients. The cars don’t need special charging sites and run off electricity from a 13-amp socket the normal domestic source.
However, their purchase price is much greater than the health authority would normally pay for its runabouts, and a Transport Scotland grant will bridge the gap.
Ernie Patullo, NHS Tayside’s head of environmental management, said he hoped the purchase price of the cars will come down in future, making them more affordable to ordinary motorists.
Continued fuel rises could make the cars more attractive to more people.
“In an ideal world we’d probably like to replace a lot of our fleet with electric vehicles,” said Mr Patullo, who says the health authority is keen to reduce its ‘carbon footprint’.
“Going electric is just so expensive.”
The health authority has ordered two Mitsubishi i-MiEV cars, which cost over £30,000 each, although running costs are extremely low. It is estimated that each car will travel 12,000 miles on just £300 of electricity.
“We would normally pay between £10,000 and £12,000 to replace a vehicle for a community nurse,” said Mr Patullo. “A fund is now available to public service organisations that makes up the difference between what you would normally pay to replace a vehicle and the cost of buying an electric vehicle.
“If the vehicle cost £30,000 and we normally pay £10,000 then they will pay £20,000 gap funding to meet the additional cost.”
He said other benefits are reduced carbon emissions and a higher public profile for the alternative transport.
Mr Patullo said it takes six to eight hours to fully charge an electric car and it would be done overnight or during the day, depending on when they are used. He understood a vehicle can travel more than 60 miles before it needs to be recharged, and that would be sufficient for community nurses making short trips between patients.
He acknowledged that electric cars are not affordable for the majority of people for now.
NHS Tayside expects to take delivery of the cars before the end of the month.