AS PART of an ambitious plan to green up the Church, the Bishop of Reading has switched to an electric car.
The Rt Revd Olivia Graham believes that the environmentally-friendly vehicles are the future and a key way to tackle the climate emergency.
The Diocese of Oxford, to which Anglican churches in Wokingham borough belong, wants to be as carbon neutral as possible and the new vehicles are one way to achieve that.
“I think the internal combustion engine has a very limited shelf life,” said Bishop Olivia.
“Governments and manufacturers are moving towards electric.
“As the bishop leading on the environment for this Diocese, I felt it was really important to be an early adopter of this technology.
“I’m really pleased that electric cars have been made available for bishops.”
Her decision follows in the footsteps of the Bishop of Dorchester, the Rt Revd Colin Fletcher, who last year became the first bishop in the Oxford Diocese, and possibly the Church of England, to invest in an electric car.
His new vehicle purchase coincided with the launch of an electric charging point at Church House Oxford.
And the Bishop of Buckingham went electric six months ago, which means all of the bishops the in the diocese are now driving environmentally friendly cars.
“Electric cars are getting more and more viable as more charging points are available,” Bishop Olivia said.
“The Government is making grants available to people who want to install charging points at home.
“I was in Oxford recently and was delighted to see that I could park in the Westgate Centre and charge the car up for free.
“There are all sorts of advantages to electric cars.”
She added that it was getting easier to switch to electric cars, which have lower running costs.
And she’s a big fan of her new set of wheels.
“It is lovely,” Bishop Olivia said.
“Electric cars are surprisingly zippy with very good acceleration. There’s something about the instruments that show you how much energy you use as you accelerate and save as you slow down.”
