The ongoing CABLED trial (Coventry and Birmingham Low Emission Demonstrators) in the UK has revealed that drivers’ confidence in electric vehicles is increasing.
Six months in, it shows that the percentage of journeys exceeding 45 miles has grown by three per cent to five per cent between quarter one and quarter two of 2010 and over the same period the average daily mileage recorded leapt from 100.53miles to 124.2miles. The average cost for participants is between 25p and £1 a day.
Analysis of the data by Aston University compared the driving patterns of 25 Mitsubishi i-MiEVs over two quarters.
The results so far show that the Mitsubishi i-MiEV can travel around 80 miles when fully charged and drivers use less than 30 per cent of their total vehicle charge on a daily basis. The average charge time is two hours and drivers regularly charge their vehicles whether the battery is half full or near empty.
The most popular time to charge a vehicle is overnight but with around eight in 10 journeys using less than 18 per cent of the battery there is evidence to suggest there is a need for intelligent technology that allows electric vehicles to interact with the grid.
Neil Butcher, a project leader from CABLED co-ordinating partner Arup, believes the future is bright for the mass uptake of electric vehicles with “range anxiety” decreasing as drivers become more familiar with their vehicles.
