It’s nowhere near as fast as a motorcycle ambulance or as spacious as a regular emergency van, so what exactly has the Chevrolet Volt’s British cousin, the Vauxhall Ampera, to offer to an ambulance service?

Well, that’s something we will have to wait to find out as the UK’s Yorkshire Ambulance Service wants to see how low carbon vehicles like the Ampera might be incorporated into the NHS Trust’s emergency fleet of more than 900 vehicles (emergency and Patient Transport Service) and achieve its goal of reducing its carbon footprint by 30% and spending on fuel by 2015.

Richard Smith, Fleet Manager for Yorkshire Ambulance Service, commented: “We are very excited to be the first ambulance service to trial an electric vehicle that will respond to incidents, reduce our emissions and provide significant savings on fuel costs.  As it has both electric and petrol power we are confident that it is a viable alternative.”

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New Vauxhall Ampera Ambulance Service Vehicle trialled by Yorkshire Ambulance ServiceNew Vauxhall Ampera Ambulance Service Vehicle trialled by Yorkshire Ambulance ServiceNew Vauxhall Ampera Ambulance Service Vehicle trialled by Yorkshire Ambulance Service