Last week local business Refresh Cartridges were pleased to be visited by local MP Kevin Foster at their Torquay Warehouse to celebrate the unveiling of a new electric van, which was recently purchased by the eCommerce business.
This van will be utilised to provide a local zero-emission same and next day delivery service to TQ1, TQ2, TQ3, TQ4 and TQ12 postcodes which encompasses much of the Torbay and Teignbridge area.
Director Chris Holgate said at the launch: “As an environmentally conscious business the decision to go electric was a no brainer. Where possible our sites run off green electricity and gas, we recycle everything that we are able and many of our products such as remanufactured cartridges are significantly more environmentally friendly than buying new.
“The thought of a dirty diesel van going from business to business delivering recycled cartridges just didn’t make sense and so we took the plunge and invested in electric. The van is nippy, economical and costs a fraction to run when compared with Diesel. I truly believe that EV technology is coming along in leaps and bounds and represents the future.
“Of course, economics also has a part to play. As well as being cheaper to ‘fill up’, our van incurs no road tax and with the convenient charging point outside the warehouse we eliminate the time that staff would spend every couple of days filling the tank’.”
Commenting on the launch Kevin Foster MP said: “It was great to join Chris and the team at Refresh to unveil their latest investment in green technology. Electric vehicles have come a long way in recent years and it is good to see them being embraced by companies here in the bay.”
The popularity of electric vehicles has dramatically increased in the last few years with 140,000 plug-in vehicles on the road today compared to just 3,500 in 2013. In the last year several manufacturers, including Volvo and GM, have pledged to eliminate traditional combustion engines entirely within the next couple of years. The UK government plan to ban the sale of diesel and petrol cars by 2040 as part of a drive to meet CO2 emission targets.
With prices continuing to fall, the range that an EV can travel between charge continuing to increase and numerous exciting developments surrounding the technology such as cheaper and higher capacity solid-state batteries on the horizon, the future certainly looks bright for EV.
Refresh Cartridges offer Internet style pricing and deal with both the public and local business. They can be contacted on 01803 449339 to either arrange a delivery or check stock in their Paignton, Torquay and Newton Abbot locations.
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