Largest public EV trial in UK with i-MiEVs completed - some facts

EVs... are not anymore the type of car living in our fiction, you know - in the distant future, cars will be electric, they won't have wheels etc - they are here and it won't take so much time until we see them on a regular basis. The Leaf has won the 2011 Car of the Year award in Europe and although Toyota and Honda still hold back from this electric "race", people will soon have a variety of models to choose from.

The limited range and the lack of infrastructure in most countries are limiting factors and it will take time until everyone is able to choose between a "normal" car and EV, but now that the largest public EV trial in UK has ended, at last some real-world data is available. Below are some interesting facts from the press release.

The first stage of the Government-supported UK-wide project to trial low emission vehicles started with the 25 Mitsubishi i-MiEVs (Mitsubishi innovative Electric Vehicle) in Birmingham. The vehicles were handed over to independent drivers in Centenary Square, on 12th December 2009.


Collating the real-life usage of electric vehicles through the data logging devices that were fitted to the i-MiEVs has allowed essential analysis to take place so that there is an understanding of the demands and requirements of electric vehicles for consumers.

The i-MiEV has proved its reliability and usefulness during the official trials. For example, the average daily mileage has been confirmed at just 23 miles, which is well within the i-MiEVs 93 mile range, and drivers used the entire speed range of the car of 81 mph, showing they are happy to drive at motorway speeds when required.

The ultra-low running costs of the i-MiEV are a key advantage over other cars, with additional incentives including:

• Fuel cost only £270 for 12,000 miles driving (£2.09 per full charge based on an average of £0.10 per kWh)
• If using an Economy 7 tariff, this cost could be as little as £135 for 12,000 miles driving (£1.05 per full charge based on an average of £0.05 per kWh)
• Low servicing costs and downtime – only approximately 4 working parts compared to over 300 in a typical internal combustion engine
• Exempt from road tax
• First year capital allowances for fleet vehicles
• Zero benefit-in-kind company car tax
• Exempt from London Congestion Charge
• Free parking in some London boroughs and cities such as Milton Keynes
• High residual values at 38% after 3 years and 30,000 miles

The most up to date results are to be published later this month, so stay tuned...