Britain’s self-proclaimed ‘greenest community’ is making good use of the all-electric drive of a new Ford Transit Connect EV.
The eco-project based in Long Sutton, Lincolnshire made use of Ford’s light commercial vehicle for the day, to show how it can cost as little as £50 to live with it. The van was put to good use; taking children to school, delivering waste to be recycled and transporting home-grown crops.
Unity Gardens was created by award-winning eco-architect Dr Jerry Harrall (pictured), who said: "The electric vehicle is an obvious natural progression for Unity Gardens. The residents are generating more energy than they are using so it makes sense for them to take advantage of the excess to power an electric vehicle."
According to Dr Harrall, figures show that an average two-bedroom home consumes around 28,000 kilowatt hours (kWhrs) of energy per annum, while a Unity Gardens house will go through just 6,000 kWhrs of energy in a year.
Each home is carbon negative because it generates 7,500 kWhrs per annum thanks to its solar panels, meaning the whole scheme puts more energy into the National Grid than it takes out. The surplus going back into the National Grid of 1,500 kWhrs is enough to charge the Transit Connect Electric more than 50 times in one year, providing enough power to drive nearly 5,000 miles at an annual cost of about £46.50.
Residents live in earth-sheltered homes meaning they don’t need conventional heating systems and as a result are free from fuel bills.
The buildings The Unity Gardens sustainable community grow their own vegetables, manage hives of 150,000 bees, take care of more than 20 chickens and harvest rainfall for essentials such as toilet flushing as well as the watering of plants.
