With the mounting cost of travel in central London, we want to explore some ideas and suggestions that will help you stay Congestion Charge Free – and save some important revenue in this difficult climate.
The London congestion charge zone was introduced in 2003 with the aim of reducing traffic in the centre of the city. The current fee is levied at £15 per day, making doing business in the centre of the capital very expensive – possibly too costly for some smaller businesses. With this eyewatering cost of £450 pounds per month in mind, we have set out to look at different options.
Two vehicles we have identified as possible winners are:
- The Electric Piaggio Ape Classic
- The Carryall range.
Both support credible battery driven and road legal vehicles and both options have an impressive payload – in the case of the Ape Classic a huge 750KG payload. BROCHURE DOWN LOAD. This makes this electric vehicle perfect for delivery companies, who wish to be green and to stand out from their competitors with an iconic Italian three-wheeled vehicle.
Another light city centre business that the Ape Classic is perfect for is the Street Food and Beverage sector. Here at Mobile Retail we have been using this quirky and eye-catching van for years with thousands of  happy customers using their Ape for Pizza Vans and Ice Cream Vans; you might even have bought your own morning espresso from such an Ape Classic vehicle!
This electric van has a range of 50KM and can be recharged in as little as two hours – making it ideal for light city centre business missions. The cargo bed is an impressive 1.8 metres in length and 1.4 metres wide. Mobile Retail and our sister company Piaggio Commercial UK are the sole UK importers for this electric vehicle and, with prices starting from less than £20,000, it is worth considering for your next venture or as an addition to your existing fleet. Your potential saving using this type of van could be as much as £700 per month, when compared to a diesel van; this figure takes into account savings on the congestion charge as well as fuel costs.
Mobile retail has recently started converting a range of fully street-legal electric utility vehicles. These have a an impressive range of 75KM with room in the modern cabin for two people. This kind of street food vehicle is ideal for use on narrow paths in parks but is equally as happy on the open road. Depending on your requirements, customers can choose a tipper option or put on a purpose-built back box to use for
- Mobile Coffee
- Street food
- Electric Delivery van
- Digital advertising van or Digivan