Portsmouth City Council has renewed its contract with Motorent for the supply of pool and hire vehicles.

The contract, which is a four year renewal of a previous four year contract, has a focus on electric and low emission vehicles.

As part of the deal there is a new Portsmouth City Council/Motorent phone app that lets employees book vehicles in the most convenient, “anywhere, anytime” manner, and a continued focus on exemplary customer service.

All of the pool and hire vehicles supplied by Motorent to the Authority will be either fully electric (compatible with the fast charging type 2 charging points) or low emission with CO2 under 100g/km and high MPG where possible.  

The fleet will comprise small, medium and large cars, including 7 seaters and SUVs, plus a full range of commercial vehicles up to 7.5t, minibuses both 9 and 17 seaters, including wheelchair accessible models. 

Each booking will be managed through the bespoke web portal or the Motorent app, both of which have been specifically designed for Portsmouth City Council.

The portal will handle the employee’s initial request, their line manager’s authorisation, and all communication between Authority, Motorent, and the employee.  A ‘confirmation of booking’ is sent by email and text to the driver which in the case of pool cars indicates the vehicle can be released, providing the potential for the driver to be mobile  within a maximum of 10 minutes from making the booking, and in respect of delivered  vehicles, within PO1 to PO17 postcodes Motorent are able to provide a vehicle in a maximum of 2 hours. 

Every vehicle is fitted with satellite navigation, tracking and Bluetooth, and in the case of the pool cars, each vehicle is supplied with a fuel card.

Joanne Kennedy, Motorent rental manager, said: “We are very excited that Portsmouth City Council have extended their relationship with us in such a substantial and innovative way.  We are committed to match their drive to ‘go green’ by providing them with the most environmentally friendly fleet possible. By using the latest technology in the vehicles to monitor and optimise driver behaviour, Motorent will continue to work with the Authority to enhance the positive environmental impact of these initiatives into the future."

Portsmouth City Council transport manager Mike Vickers added: "We are working to reduce the impact of our grey fleet and see Motorent as an extremely important partner in achieving this objective. Their approach over the last four years has been flexible, innovative and forward thinking and we are delighted to be working with them again over the next 4 years."

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