While we’re always talking electric cars on TheGreenCarWebsite.co.uk, many of you may be wondering just what all these exciting concepts and pre-production cars are actually like to use on a daily basis.
Well one firm may be able to give us a better idea-leading fleet management company-Inchcape Fleet Solutions has been trialling a number of different electric cars and commercials and is able, more than most, to tell us just what its like to rely on these vehicles as a mode of transport.
The Portsmouth-based firm latest electric experiences include a trial of the Peugeot eExpert, an adapted version of the Expert van developed by Allied Electric. The zero emission vehicle is one of only two built so far and has a range of up to 70 miles on a single charge and a top speed of 70 mph.
Despite the limited range, the report back from Inchcape is glowing. Having already evaluated a number of other electric vehicles, including light commercial vehicles from Smith Electric Vehicles based on the Ford range, the Mitsubishi i-MIEV city car, the MINI E and Tata’s electric vehicles, the firm feels confident that electric vehicles have a future as part of Britain’s fleets.
The company also tested a prototype of the Nissan Leaf towards the end of April, which is due to go on sale in the UK in 2011.
The company’s managing director, Terry Bartlett said: “We anticipate that electric vehicles will play a significant part in the operation of many fleets in the future.
“As we have a desire and an appetite to embrace new vehicle technology, and that includes electric vehicles, which is why we are gathering as much data on models as we can through our own evaluation.
“A number of our utility and public sector fleet clients have expressed an interest in electric vehicles and almost every tender document that we respond to asks us to advise on the fleet feasibility of electric vehicles. It is therefore vital that we have the knowledge and expertise to inform clients on the potential use of zero emission vehicles.”
