Forest Green Rovers players in eco-drive (From Stroud News and Journal)
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Forest Green Rovers players in eco-drive
2:12pm Tuesday 12th March 2013 in News
By Hayley Mortimer, Reporter
FGR striker Matty Taylor in the driving seat of one of the electric Nissan LEAFS with striker Magno Vieira and winger Saul William
FOOTBALLERS at Forest Green Rovers are doing their bit to tackle climate change by driving electric cars to training.
While football clubs have a reputation for filling their car parks full of exotic sports cars and gas-guzzling 4x4s, FGR's are trialling 11 electric cars in an effort to slash carbon emissions by more than 80 per cent.
Forest Green chairman Dale Vince, founder of Ecotricity, said: "Travel is one of the biggest environmental impacts in football with teams and fans covering millions of miles every season by car and coach.
"With players living in Birmingham, the home counties and around the west country we worked out that each week our squad covers almost 10,000 miles travelling to and from training."
Dale believes that using the fleet of electric Nissan LEAFS will cut travel emissions by 83 per cent.
An EV rapid-charger powered by renewable energy from Ecotricity has been installed at the New Lawn stadium and can re-charge one of the cars in less than 30mins.
The team are already leading the way in green power - the New Lawn stadium is powered by solar panels and wind power and matches are played on an organic pitch trimmed by a solar-powered robot.
