TRANSPORT: Still have your doubts that the future's electric? Then read on...

Take one of the York City Car Club's new Nissan Leafs for a spin, and those doubts might just dissolve.

This little car is an absolute joy to drive. There's no need to bother with gear changes. Just flick the car into forward (or reverse, if that's what takes you), press your foot to the accelerator, and off you go.

There aren't even those messy gear changes you get in a petrol automatic. This little car leaps forward, silently and smoothly, on a single surge of power.

It's nippy, the steering is light and responsive, and the car is surprisingly spacious. There's a big boot, good visibility, nice cloth seating, sat nav, bluetooth, GPS...

I know, this burbling enthusiasm is getting a little embarrassing. But I honestly don't think I've ever felt so relaxed and comfortable driving around York city centre in queues of traffic. And I didn't even belch out any fumes while sitting at the traffic lights to annoy pedestrians and pollute York's air.

Stephen Lewis drives the Nissan Leaf around York

Ah, yes, you say, but we all know the problems with electric cars. They may be nice to drive - but they run out of power after a few miles, and then you can't find anywhere to charge them.

Well, this little car - and it isn't that little: it has four doors and a decent boot - actually does 91 miles on a full charge. Although that would depend, admits the city car club's Vicky Shipway, how many people were in the car; how you drove it; and whether you went up any hills.

"We tend to say it has a range of 70 miles," Vicky says. "It can do 70 miles quite easily."

Better still, it will charge up to 80 per cent of a full charge, giving you perhaps another 50 or 60 miles of range, in only 30 minutes - just time for a cup of coffee.

Charging the Leaf

There are still sceptics amongst you, I can tell. How do you know where to charge it, I hear you ask? Well, there are a surprisingly large number of electric charging points in York - see panel. And if you want to make a longer journey, you just check out an online 'zap map' which gives you details of electric charging points across the country, says Vicky (see details below). One of her colleagues, she said, recently took an electric car like this on a tour of the Highlands, and had a great time doing so.

There's no getting away from the fact, however, that this car is really ideally suited to city driving.

It's quiet, it's relaxing - and it isn't adding to city centre pollution.

Stephen in the Leaf outside York Minster

It is that latter reason, perhaps above all others, that explains why the city council is so pro-electric - introducing a fleet of electric buses for its Park & Ride service (yes, we know, they were temporarily taken off the roads when one caught fire: but they're back in operation now) and setting up a network of electric charging points around the city.

"Using electric vehicles means a 50-60 per cent reduction in CO2 and fuel-related emissions of air pollutants," says Cllr Ian Gillies, the council's executive member for transport - himself a former cab owner.

That is why York is "leading the way regionally" with the installation of a network of electric charging points in public car parks, shopping parks, Park&Rides, hotels and even at York Sports Village, Cllr Gillies says. York also recently became the first Yorkshire city to introduce a network of ‘rapid chargers’.

All of which is why City Car Club has chosen to introduce two fully-electric cars here - the first city in England in which it has done so.

The car club operates in 19 cities across the UK, including London, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Bradford and Huddersfield.

It keeps a fleet of cars in each city - parked in various car parks scattered around the city centres - which are available for use by members: generally people who only use a car occasionally and don't want the trouble and expense of buying their own.

York has had a fleet of City Car Club cars for several years. But the two Nissan Leafs are new arrivals. They are parked up in the Nunnery Lane car park when not in use, where they can be charged. And if you are still unsure of the benefits of going electric, taking once of these for a spin just might convince you.

Vicky Shipway of the city car club, in a Nissan Leaf at Nunnery Lane

Vicky Shipway has little doubt that, at least for city-based car clubs such as hers, cars like this are here to stay. "We definitely see these as the future," she says.

After taking one for a spin myself around the traffic-clogged streets of York, I must say I tend to agree...

Electric charging points in York
There are electric charging points across York, including at Nunnery Lane car park, Waitrose, the Novotel, the York Pavilion Hotel, the York Eco Depot, Bootham Row car park, Union Terrace car park, The Groves, the York Designer Outlet, the York Sports Village, and Park & Ride sites. For a full list - and for details of electric charging points across the UK - visit openchargemap.org/site/poi

York City Car Club

Membership of the York City Car Club is £60 per year, payable annually or in monthly instalments. This gives you access to a fleet of 29 cars in York.

Cars range from the small Toyota Aygo, to the slightly larger Toyota Yaris and Vauxhall Corsa right up to a seven-seat Toyota Verso and a Peugeot van. Plus, of course, the two new electric Nissan Leafs.

The cars are left parked at various locations around the city, including the Nunnery Lane, Union Terrace, Peel Street, Bishopthorpe Road and St Leonard's car parks, Park & Ride sites, Fulford Road, York University and many more.

To use a car, simply book online, specifying the day and time you'll need it, then turn up, and swipe your membership card across a plate on the windscreen. This unlocks the car. For petrol cars, the car keys are locked in a handset kept in the glove compartment. You open this using a pin number you'll be given, take the key out, and drive away.

Cars cost from £4.95 to £8.95 an hour to use, depending on size, and you also pay petrol, usually 21p a mile.

York's Nissan Leafs, which are parked in the Nunnery Lane car park, cost £6.20 an hour to take out - but you only pay 5p a mile for power.

When you go to pick up your Leaf, it will be in charging mode, so that it is always fully charged when you collect it. You'll be given a swipe card to disconnect the charging cable. Store this in the car, and use your membership swipe card to get into the car. You release the key in the usual way, but there's no ignition. You start the car by pressing the brake pedal and then the power button next to the steering wheel. Then you're off... and your view of motoring might never be the same again.

• To find out more about City Car Club, visit citycarclub.co.uk