Nottingham City Council is set to open its own electric-vehicle service centre — believed to be the first in the UK run by a local authority.

The Nottingham Electric Vehicle Services (NEVS) centre, sited at the council’s Eastcroft depot in the city centre, will offer MOTs and servicing to customers in the city and beyond; it will also maintain the council’s growing fleet of ultra-low-emission vehicles (ULEVs).

The council is well on target to convert 22% of its fleet to ULEVs by 2020 (as part of a local plan to improve air quality in the city), and the NEVS centre will allow it to enter a market that is currently under-served but is on the verge of rapid growth.

Councillor Adele Williams said: ‘The NEVS centre will become an integral part of the city’s electric infrastructure, helping to support the council’s ambition to be carbon-neutral by 2028.

“We have already achieved our energy strategy target of a 26% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2020, and we are on track to meet our 2020 target of 20% of energy generation from low-carbon sources.

“The centre will enable us to maintain our own vehicles and those of other councils and businesses, providing a hub for electric vehicles in the East Midlands.

“We want to provide this service to members of the public as well, and we hope to roll that out later in the year, so our Eastcroft depot will be able to service and MOT electric vehicles in addition to petrol and diesel cars.”