It's a totally green machine!

8th July 2011

When sustainable builder Tim Fenn of Benson -based Green Factory Ltd decided to apply for a £1000 grant from Sustainable Routes he wanted to spend it on “something fun and interesting”. His choice of an electrically–assisted Human Powered Vehicle has certainly had the required effect on his clients.

The eye-catching velomobile was built in the UK at a cost of £5200. It combines pedal power with lightweight materials, aerodynamic design and a rechargeable battery for extra power on hills. Tim uses it for client visits up to 40 miles away and can reach the centre of Oxford in the same time it would take to drive, park and ride.

As an effective replacement for a car, the bottom-line benefits of the velomobile can be measured in vehicle running costs. Tim aims to save the equivalent of 5000 miles a year in fuel. The batteries are to be charged by a wind turbine on the company’s premises – making it truly zero carbon. What’s harder to measure is the buzz it creates: Tim says, “When you turn up to clients in this, you don’t need to say anything about being green!”

Visit http://www.green-factory.co.uk/ to find out more

Sustainable Routes is a pioneering scheme, funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), available to businesses, excluding franchisees, who want to cut travel costs by adopting new ways of working. The grant of up to £1000 is available towards reducing business travel costs for small or medium sized enterprises (SMEs), employing fewer than 250 people, which have been trading for at least two years and are located in the South East of England - Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes, Hampshire and Isle of Wight, Kent and Medway, Oxfordshire, Surrey and Sussex.