Low carbon cars a dream to drive

Given the chance to drive an electric vehicle, people get used to driving it very quickly. They find these cars simple to drive and even adapt to unfamiliar technologies like regenerative brakes within their first trip. These were among the conclusions from a major report published today by the UK’s innovation agency.

The report, Assessing the viability of EVs in daily life, analyses the experiences of 349 drivers who took part in this study funded jointly by the Technology Strategy Board and the Office of Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV). The vehicles were mainly pure electric vehicles with, in addition, some plug-in hybrids and fuel-cell electric vehicles. In all, total mileage during the course of the research was more than 1.5 million miles.

Transport minister Norman Baker said:
“This in-depth study provides important evidence to support the Government’s
policy which is set out today in the Ultra-Low Emission Vehicles Strategy. People find electric vehicles easy and fun to drive. In addition, they are less polluting and a vital part of the UK’s transition to a low-carbon, sustainable transport system.”

Among the key findings of this research study, jointly authored by Cenex and Oxford Brookes University, was how quickly perceptions changed as people got used to driving the electric vehicles. Issues like safety, range anxiety and charging were all examined and the conclusions were revealing.

Phil Smith, Chairman of the Technology Strategy Board, commented:
“The UK is committed to a low carbon economy and transport is a key area where change will be needed. This study shows how people will welcome and readily adapt to well-thought-out and effective innovation in this area.”
Before the trial, drivers did not anticipate any significant problems with charging their EV, or any safety issues. Drivers’ actual experience showed that charging was even more straightforward than they had initially imagined. Drivers had a preference for charging their vehicles at home rather than going to petrol stations to refuel.

EVs were compared positively to conventionally-powered vehicles in terms of safety. In pretrial interviews the key safety concern was the low noise of EVs. However, after three months drivers stated they generally paid more attention to pedestrians when driving at low speeds than they would have normally in other vehicles. They also preferred the more relaxing driving experience of an EV.

Little range anxiety was experienced during the trial because the vast majority of drivers kept comfortably within the capable range of the vehicles. Some 75% of daily use consumed less than 50% of the battery capacity. Only one in five trips took the battery below 50% state of charge (SoC) and only 1.5% went below 20% SoC. Drivers had generally assessed that the vehicles met their mobility needs before entering the trial.

Electric vehicles were seen as a viable mobility option by those taking part. Some 80% of trial participants could imagine replacing their internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle with an EV and 50% intended to do so. Over 90% would recommend EVs to other drivers.