The region's ambulance service is taking a step towards a greener future by trialling new electric rapid response vehicles.

The East Of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) welcomed the arrival of three electric vehicles last month for the start of a two-year trial to learn more about how they can be used to best effect.

The service, which has a fleet of around 70 cars and almost 500 ambulances, is waiting for technology to advance further before trialling electric ambulances.

Eastern Daily Press: One of the new electric rapid response vehicles, the Skoda Enyaq iV 80x, which is being trialled by the East of England Ambulance Service NHS TrustOne of the new electric rapid response vehicles, the Skoda Enyaq iV 80x, which is being trialled by the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)

The new vehicles include two Skoda Enyaq iV 80x vehicles which will be used as rapid response cars, attending urgent calls such as cardiac arrests.

The third vehicle is a Vauxhall Vivaro-E van which will be trialled in various roles, including as a falls response vehicle and as a mental health response vehicle.

Eastern Daily Press: One of the new electric rapid response vehicles, the Skoda Enyaq iV 80x, which is being trialled by the East of England Ambulance Service NHS TrustOne of the new electric rapid response vehicles, the Skoda Enyaq iV 80x, which is being trialled by the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)

Tom Abell, chief executive of the trust, said the new electric rapid response cars are “much faster” than their diesel equivalents.

He said they can do 0 to 60mph in around six seconds, which is about half the time it takes a diesel rapid response car.

They can be charged to 80pc in around 30 minutes using the quickest charger.

“Clearly the challenge with it is going to be range, but actually in terms of their general performance actually they are superior in many ways and they’re zero emission which is fantastic,” said Mr Abell.

He said the trial will help the service learn what the range of the vehicles will be in practice – how far they can be driven before needing to be plugged in and recharged.

An NHS England grant of £250,000 is helping to fund the trial, including paying for new charging infrastructure.

Eastern Daily Press: One of the new electric rapid response vehicles, the Skoda Enyaq iV 80x, which is being trialled by the East of England Ambulance Service NHS TrustOne of the new electric rapid response vehicles, the Skoda Enyaq iV 80x, which is being trialled by the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)

Mr Abell added: “The east of England is a very diverse geographical area … We know that this technology works very well in urban areas and cities.

“We need to look at how it will work in more rural communities and what is the charging infrastructure and the ways of working that we’re going to need to put in place in order to be able to support this technology moving forward.”

The trial comes as EEAST also searches for new ambulances, after an inspection found that 94 members can't drive the current Fiat vans being used due to their heights and body shapes.