Zipcar Offers Ampera EREV to Londoners

The U.K. version of the Chevrolet Volt is about to get a workout in London.

Car-sharing company Zipcar signs an agreement with Vauxhall, General Motors’ U.K. subsidiary, to have the Ampera join its London fleet of self-service pay-as-you-go vehicles for a 6-month pilot program.

It’s the first time in the U.K. that a car-sharing club has offered access to an extended-range electric vehicle. Zipcar members can reserve the Ampera online or by using their smartphones.

The Amperas’ full-body-wrap liveries of country meadows will make them easy to spot in London.

“Thanks to the Ampera’s unique technology, on any given day, Zipcar members can be doing multiple short trips using only the stored electric battery power or longer trips powered by electricity generated by the onboard range extender,” Zipcar U.K. General Manager Mark Walker says in a statement.

“For the first time in an electric vehicle, members need not worry about range or recharging.”

Zipcar is working with five London boroughs – Camden, Croydon, Islington, Wandsworth and Westminster – to provide dedicated charging points.

Because many trips taken by Zipcar members are less than 35 miles (56 km), the company expects a large number of journeys will use electric power only.

Zipcar has about 700,000 members and 9,000 vehicles in urban areas and college campuses throughout the U.K., the U.S. and Canada. It offers its members more than 30 makes and models of self-service vehicles by the hour or day.

In the U.K., Zipcar operates in Bristol, Cambridge and Oxford in addition to London. It has more than 1,700 vehicles in 11 makes and models available at locations across the capital.