THE Royal Agricultural University (RAU) is getting its first electric vehicle charging point this month thanks to a partnership with Cirencester manufacturers Viridian EV.

The new charge point, donated by the manufacturers, will use a state-of-the-art, three-phase power system to charge vehicles to full within four hours, and will be used to help transition the university’s vehicle fleet to electric over the next five years.

The RAU, due to its environmental commitments and new Travel Plan Strategy, has three solar PV arrays on campus to help power the chargers, as well as only purchasing grid electricity from renewable sources.

Pearl Costello, RAU environmental officer, said: “We are delighted to be encouraging sustainable travel options with our new charger, to support our many environmental initiatives on campus and in our teaching.

"We hope to help people see that electric vehicles are a viable and exciting option with many benefits.”

In a rural area, electric vehicles low emission option – they reduce local air pollution, cost as low as 3p per mile to run, and are supported by government grants to run.