Edinburgh College has deployed two new Nissan e-NV200 electric vans for use by its facilities staff.

(L-R) Judith Eadie, Automotive Leasing, with Ross Milligan of Edinburgh College and
Jim Rowan from Alex F Noble & Son.

Funded under the Scottish Government’s Switched On Fleets scheme, the new vans replace existing diesel vehicles and will save the college money as well as cutting its carbon footprint. A comparison carried out between one of the college’s diesel vans and an electric van shows that the diesel is about 500% more expensive to run – at 12p per mile compared to 2p for electric.

The vans were supplied by local Midlothian Nissan car dealership Alex F Noble & Son in collaboration with Automotive Leasing and join two existing electric vans on the fleet – in total the college now runs 14 electric vehicles including for its zero-emission pool car fleet, established in 2012. It has charge points at all campuses that are available for staff and the public to use. As well as staff use, students can benefit from the vehicles.

The college also educates students on the future potential for electric vehicles and college offers two annual scholarships for engineering students to learn more about electric vehicles.

In partnership with Edinburgh Napier University, the college is also carrying out research into electric vehicle travel and looking at how effective they are in cutting carbon emissions and their long-term viability as alternative transport.