West Sussex County Council has added the first fully electric cars to its fleet in the form of four Renault Zoes.

The Renault Zoe pool cars mark the council’s first fully electric cars

The Zoe Q90 Dynamique Nav models with the Z.E.40 battery are being used as pool cars, replacing grey fleet vehicles and cutting fleet costs and emissions in the process.

Based at County Hall in Chichester, the electric superminis are already proving popular and are booked out every day for use from the council HQ to and from destinations including Crawley and Shoreham on a single charge.

Loretta Haddow, team leader – fleet resource and support, at West Sussex County Council, said the Zoe’s 174-mile range and zero emissions had been key factors in the vehicle choice.

She explained: “We have had electric vehicles on trial and extended demos before and must have looked at every model out there but they have never been quite right for us.

“But the latest Zoe was the game changer for us and the extended range made it a viable option for the first time.”

Haddow added: “While range and emissions were the biggest factors for us, as a public sector organisation we still have to present a compelling business case before adding new vehicles to our fleet. In this case, the Zoe ticked all the boxes in terms of whole-life costs.”