Drivers Ready for EV Switch, Smart Move Trial Shows

A recent trial involving four electric smart fortwo cars found that most people were convinced they could use them as their regular car. Dubbed Smart Move, the trial was held by Cenex and One North East in North East England for a period of six months, between September 2009 and April 2010.

The electric cars were featured at three public events and 264 people got the chance to test them. According to Cenex, 72 percent said they would use an electric vehicle as their regular car after testing. This compared to just 47 per cent before the test drive.

One of the most significant findings of the trial was that so-called ‘range anxiety’. The maximum journey length was 17.8km, just 25 percent of the average range of the vehicles, which was 72.4km. This range anxiety also meant that 93 percent of journeys were begun with the battery charged above 50 percent, and people also begin to modify their driving style when the battery’s state of charge approached 50 per cent.

“The Smart Move trial has done a great deal to change perceptions of electric vehicles among the fleet managers and drivers who took part. There is clearly a need for better understanding of the advances that electric vehicle technologies have made in recent years, and we will be working with partners across the country to spread this message,” Robert Evans, CEO at Cenex, said in a release.

The electric smarts were fitted with remote data monitoring equipment supplied by ComeSys Europe, which continuously monitored their performance and transmitted data via a wireless link to Newcastle University’s Transport Operations and Research Group for analysis. Future Transport Systems (FTS) provided trial management support and regional contacts.