Ambulance service gets electric car

Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust will be trialling a low emission hybrid electric vehicle over the next few months as part of its emergency fleet in the York area.

The Vauxhall Ampera car will operate as a rapid response vehicle responding to emergencies in the city in the trial which aims to see how such vehicles might be used by the Trust in the future.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service is the first ambulance service in the country to run a long-term trial of an active low emission vehicle. The service is committed to reducing its carbon footprint by 30 per cent by 2015

Richard Smith, Fleet Manager for Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust, said: “We are very excited to be the first to run a trial with an electric-hybrid frontline ambulance vehicle that will respond to incidents as well as help to reduce our emissions. As it has both electric and petrol power we are reassured that it is a viable alternative. Also, by reducing our emissions, we will be contributing to the improvement of York’s air quality.”