THE proud owners of a car powered entirely by electricity have spoken of the difficulty of keeping the new vehicle on the road.
Jamie Chandler, sales director at Elphicks Estate Agents in The Street, Ashtead, purchased a Renault Twizy for staff at the business to use to get around the area.
He has so far been forced to charge the vehicle at public points in his home town of Epsom and in London, but told the Advertiser he is disappointed there are no similar facilities in Ashtead – or in the rest of Mole Valley.
"I bought the electric car for our estate agents," he said. "It just makes sense with all the little runs around the village we do, but there are no public charging points.
"Everyone seems to agree that it needs to happen but no-one is providing me with a definite answer. I'm just looking for clarity."
The Twizy, which has been branded with the company logo, is a battery-powered, two-seated vehicle with a maximum range of 62 miles.
Mr Chandler added: "It does make huge sense for people who are just making short journeys. Everyone's talking about going green but no-one's doing anything about it.
"I just want to know what the plan is. It's a real chicken-and-egg situation. People will only start to buy the cars if they can see the charging points around."
Councillor Chris Townsend, leader of Mole Valley District Council, told the Advertiser: "A cross-party group of members worked together to develop a car parking strategy for the period 2013 to 2018. As part of that work they gave the issue of electric vehicle charge points some serious consideration.
"The working group came to the view that, at this stage, the council would not provide any EV charge points. Members were not convinced that there was sufficient demand for them at the moment."
He added: "Councillors are not closed to the idea of electric vehicles. The matter was discussed at both the scrutiny committee and executive meetings when the strategy was considered by both of those bodies, and approved by the executive.
"The council will review its position on electric cars if demand increases."
