A fleet of rentable golf-buggy style carts have hit the streets of London as the latest transport offering for locals in a ‘world-first’ trial.
Whilst many of us have become used to the sight of Lime bikes and E-scooters available to rent in cities across the UK, it could soon be possible to wizz around in an electric cart.
The 10 bright-yellow vehicles are available to use in the borough of Fulham in what is thought to be a “world-first” trial that will run until October.
Officially called Neighbourhood Electric Vehicles (NEV), the buggies have been created by Yo-Go and are designed to replace cars for for local journeys.
Speaking to the Standard, Yo-Go CEO Dr Sam Bailey said it is hoped the buggies will work as a “replacement for cars” instead of discouraging people from walking or cycling.
He said: “What we want to do is create something that feels more familiar, feels like driving something – where you’ve got a seat-belt, you’ve got a roll cage, you’ve got a roof, somewhere you can put some luggage – so that it’s sort of an easier swap, if you’re a car user, to move to something like this.”
The vehicles have a maximum speed of 20mph, and a range of between 30-40 miles. They cost 20p a minute to rent, but this falls to 10p a minute for members with a £10 monthly subscription.
To rent one of the buggies, you need to be aged 25-70 and have held a UK or EU driver’s licence for at least two years.
Just like schemes such as Lime bikes, the NEVs can be rented using an app, and are currently available from four locations in Fulham: Parsons Green, Finlay/Fulham Palace, Niton/Woodlawn, and Fulham Reach.
They can be driven on any local roads, but cannot be driven in the London Congestion Charging zone yet, although Yo-Go is working to change this. Unlike bike hire schemes such as Lime, they also have to be dropped off in the same place they were picked up from.
Dr Bailey added: “We’re fairly confident we’re a world-first. There are places you can go to which are golf-buggy only, where you’re on a resort somewhere, [for example] the big resorts in Florida where you park your car at the entrance and then drive around in a golf buggy.
“Part of the idea was, why couldn’t you make London feel more like that? Where you’re sharing the road with pedestrians, why can’t you make it nicer for them by making the vehicles less noisy, less polluting and less dangerous for them?
“The more vehicles you have that are like this, the more pleasant the roads become for everyone.”
On its website, Yo-Go says: Transport is the largest source of UK greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for 26% of total emissions. Road traffic is the biggest source of air pollution, and across London an estimated 1,000 people die each year due to poor air quality. But we can change this.
“If every car in Hammersmith & Fulham drove just 5 miles less per week it would remove more than 10 million miles of traffic from the Borough’s roads each year.”
Some 250 locals have already registered to use the buggies, and there are plans to increase the fleet to 50.
The trial has been welcomed by London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan, with a spokeswoman for the mayor saying: “We welcome new micro-mobility options in London, especially those that encourage Londoners to use their cars less or switch to cleaner modes of transport.
“It’s good to see boroughs innovating in this way and trialling new options and we will await the data and outcomes with interest.”
Related: Norway is on the cusp of phasing out fossil fuel cars