Four electric Smart cars hit the roads of North East England today as a regional trial was launched to give hundreds of people the experience of driving electric vehicles.
The cars have been delivered to the region by Cenex, the UK’s Centre of Excellence for Low Carbon and Fuel Cell Technologies, and will form a six-month trial that will give more than 500 drivers the chance to drive an electric vehicle for the first time.
This trail was announced in September at the National Low Carbon Vehicle Event by Cenex and Regional Development Agency One North East, which is delivering for the UK’s first Low Carbon Economic Area for Ultra Low Carbon Vehicles. Cenex will deliver the trials in partnership with Newcastle-based consultancy Future Transport Systems and Newcastle University’s Transport Operations Research Group (TORG).
Members of the public are being invited to register their interest now in sampling the electric driving experience during a series of high-profile events which will take place over the next six months across North East England. Dates and locations will be confirmed in the coming months for events in key locations across the region. Anyone interested in taking part should follow the instructions at www.futuretransportsystems.co.uk/ev-test-drive.aspx and they will be added to the mailing list which will give details of how and when people can try out one of the Smart cars.
The cars’ first placement is with Newcastle City Council, where they are supplementing its vehicle fleet and being allocated to staff making trips around the city, as an alternative to using fleet cars with conventional petrol or diesel engines. The city council is the first of a number of local authorities and other public and private sector fleet operators across the region which will have use of the vehicles and will provide important feedback on their performance.
The cars will be equipped with specialist equipment from Newcastle University’s Transport Operations Research Group, which will help researchers to understand typical usage patterns and to help develop the region’s strategy for long term transport sustainability.
In the latter part of the trial, the cars will have an operational base at the North East’s new Low Carbon Vehicle Research, Development & Demonstration Centre, where they will be fitted with more sophisticated monitoring equipment to support technical experiments. The centre is being established near to Nissan’s factory in Washington within the Low Carbon Economic Area.
This is the first trial of its type and will be a forerunner to a separate trial of 35 new electric passenger vehicles in the North East which will also be monitored by Newcastle University and will include the Nissan Leaf; Smith Electric Vehicles’ people carrier, taxis and executive minibus and a new AVID Vehicles saloon car.
Dr Viv Stephens, Head of Business Strategy at Cenex, said: “The Smart Move trial will be one of the first visible steps in the electrification of road transport in the North East. We are very pleased to be working in partnership with One North East and the other organisations that are leading this broader initiative. The lessons we learn during this trial will not only accelerate activities here, but will also inform the national picture and our understanding of the perceptions of potential users of electric vehicles.”
Matthew Lumsden, Managing Director of Future Transport Systems, said: “We are excited to be a partner in this electric vehicle trial project with Cenex in the North East. These vehicles will give members of the public the opportunity to experience driving electric, as well as seeing the vehicles being utilised within fleets across the region.
“We hope that many members of the public will take advantage of this opportunity to test drive the Smart ED vehicles, and that the project will spark significant interest in the emerging developments surrounding electric cars and their recharging infrastructure.”
Chris Pywell, Head of Strategic Economic Change at One North East, said: “This important trial will help us to spread the message that electric vehicles are already a viable and clean alternative to the internal combustion engine.
“It is taking place as we begin the process of installing a world-class charging infrastructure across the region, and as the Low Carbon Economic Area is beginning to take shape, and will lead on to further trials of groundbreaking passenger vehicles in North East England.”
