Winner announced for zero emission transport challenge

Electric vehicle campaign Go Ultra Low has announced the winner of Ben Fogle’s Hero to Zero Emission Miles Challenge, a national school competition which encouraged pupils to choose zero emission travel.

Pupils across the UK accumulated a total of 5,717 “zero emission miles” over the course of a week, more miles than it takes to get from the UK to Japan. This amounted to over 1.5 tonnes of CO2 emissions saved, equivalent to boiling over 600,000 kettles.
 
Over 600 schools across the UK took part in the challenge, which invited children between the ages of 7 and 11 to compete to achieve the most “zero emission miles” by walking, cycling, using public transport, or travelling in an electric vehicle.
 
The competition was run in conjunction with a series of lesson plans, aligned to the KS2 core curriculum, which saw over 100,000 pupils taught about the importance of zero emission travel and the benefits of electric vehicles. In the lessons, pupils learnt how their individual choices, such as using low and zero emission travel, can help society collectively reduce its carbon footprint. By using zero emission transport, the pupils learnt how driving in an electric vehicle can help improve local air quality, as fully electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles driven in electric mode produce no tailpipe emissions.
 
Go Ultra Low ambassador Ben Fogle will meet the winner Lottie Cleevely of the competition from the Churchdown Village Junior School near Gloucester. Lottie achieved an impressive personal total of 208 “zero emission miles” over a 7-day period, through walking and being driven in an electric vehicle. This amounted to carbon savings of 57.2kg over a one-week period. As a personal prize, Lottie will be presented with tickets to the ABB FIA Formula E Championship in London this year, donated by DS Techeetah driver, Jean-Eric Vergne, where they will watch high-performance electric cars racing against each other.
 
The runner-up’s family will also receive an EV over a weeklong period with free access to the Polar network provided by BP Chargemaster. This will allow them to experience an EV first-hand and realise the benefits of owning one, including low running costs, great performance all whilst helping to contribute to cleaner air quality.
 
Alongside their personal prize, Ben Fogle will take part in an assembly at the winning school along with Minister for Transport George Freeman MP, and EV expert Charlie Fraser, from Go Ultra Low member Octopus Electric Vehicles. Charlie will discuss the process of building electric vehicles and share his experiences of working in electric mobility, with the aim that some pupils may consider a future career in the industry.
 
Go Ultra Low ambassador Ben Fogle, writer, broadcaster and adventurer, said: “I’m all for encouraging the younger generation to make more sustainable travel choices, and I enjoyed reading the pupil’s entries of where they could travel to using low emission transport. It’s great to see how engaged the next generation is regarding EVs and sustainability. I’m proud of my involvement in this challenge and would like to congratulate Lottie again on accumulating an impressive 208 zero-emission miles.”