Company Car Today Guide to Electric Vehicles in Association with Nissan
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Special supplement www.companycartoday.co.uk Your independent source of fleet news, reviews and interviews IN ASSOCIATION WITH Guide to adopting ELECTRIC VEHICLES Why pure EVs make sense for your fleet, and how to successfully deploy them for maximum benefit EV GUIDE CONTENTS Introduction There’s no hotter topic in the UK fleet industry at the moment than powertrains and the switch to alternative fuels, rather than the petrol and diesel engines that have propelled vehicles for more than a century. It’s clear that the change will happen, more straightforward than you might numbered, and electric vehicle are going with more of a focus than ever before on expect, and will make sense on a whole to be taking up the slack as we move climate change and, increasingly, local air series of levels, from environmental forward. So, get ahead of the revolution pollution. As good as the latest internal and social to financial and corporate. and use this handy guide to help you combustion engines are, there’s an We look at everything from the grant understand how easy it is to adopt accepted wisdom that it’s something system and running costs benefits of electric vehicles, where they can that is on its way out, soon to be electric vehicles to how the network of fit into your fleet and what the benefits replaced by the new wave of advanced public charging points operates, and also to the company and driver will be. It’s plug-in powertrains. talk to various experts, plundering their great to be making business decisions But abandoning something so ingrained knowledge to see what fleets can learn based on environmental impact, but the and moving to a whole new mindset of before they take the plunge. We also fact remains that it has to make financial how to shift your drivers and goods examine developments in the EV sector, sense. Which electric vehicles now do. around isn’t easy. Which is why Company mainly around charging improvements, Car Today has teamed up with Nissan to and look at the principle of vehicle-to- pull together everything a business or grid charging, where unused power can driver needs to know about how to make be sold back into the national grid. the switch as seamless and easy as All the Government’s stated possible. Armed with the right environmental targets make it clear that Paul Barker knowledge, it’s actually a great deal the internal combustion engine’s days are Editor, Company Car Today CONTENTS 06 14 16 EV ADVICE Electric experts share their knowledge and experience. 04 SWITCHING ON TO EV MOTORING NISSAN’S EV RANGE Ditching the conventional 18 EV pioneer brand has something needn’t be intimidating. to suit your business needs. 06 THE COST V2G CHARGING BENEFITS 20 08 16 How the latest technology could We explore the grants and earn your firm free electricity. tax benefits of an EV fleet. FUTURE CHARGING RUNNING COSTS 22 08 Looking ahead to the future Why electrically powered of recharging an electric vehicle. vehicles could save you cash. 10 THE CHARGING 10 NETWORK 04 20 An ever-expanding network will remove range concerns. 14 BUDGET 2018 We explore the implications of Chancellor’s statement. PB COMPANYCARTODAY.CO.UK COMPANYCARTODAY.CO.UK 3 PLUG IN TO ELECTRIC Switching on to electric vehicles Electric vehicles are seen by most as the future of transportation, but adopting new technology can be intimidating. David Motton explains why it needn’t be Electric vehicles are no longer the cars maximises the environmental of the future – they’re the cars of today. benefits of running an EV. Big improvements in range, charging Then there are the cost benefits. speed, and infrastructure mean electric Tax-wise and in terms of fuel bills, both vehicles are now an appealing choice employees and employers stand to for ever-increasing numbers of fleets benefit from running EVs. The sums and business drivers. become even more appealing in 2020/21 From the fringes of the motor industry when the company car Benefit-in- a few years ago, EVs are now firmly in the Kind tax rate for EVs drops to just 2%. mainstream. In 2017, sales of pure electric Employers will also gain in 2020/21, vehicles were up by 32.5% and in 2018, with a significant drop in national pure electric vehicles have continued insurance contributions. to grow their market share as overall And of course, electricity is a whole lot car sales have declined. cheaper than petrol or diesel. The exact It’s not hard to see why, when you price will vary depending on the energy consider the advantages of running an provider’s tariff, but a full overnight Xxxx EV. What’s more, some of the perceived charge should cost around £5 – a fraction downsides are down to outdated opinions of the price of filling up at the pumps. or misunderstanding the technology. LIVING WITH AN EV WHY CHOOSE AN EV Even the most hardened EV-sceptic can 80% in around 60 minutes, though An EV is the greenest car you can run see the cost benefits of running an EV. charging time may be affected by a on your fleet. There are no tailpipe But, they will tell you, EVs have short number of factors. But that’s plenty of emissions because, well, there’s no ranges, take an age to charge, and the time to stop off for a sandwich and a tailpipe. No CO2 to change the climate, infrastructure simply isn’t sufficiently coffee, but not so long that it renders the and no NOx to harm local air quality. The well developed to make switching to EV working day unproductive. more we swap from internal combustion transport a practical choice. There are well over 1300 CHAdeMO engine cars to electric vehicles, the Let’s take those in turn. Much- rapid chargers across the country, and cleaner the air we all breath will be. improved batteries and ever-more that number is growing fast. Of course, there’s an environmental efficient motors have improved the Most charging takes place at home cost to generating the electricity in the range of EVs enormously in just a few or the office, where there’s less need first place, especially if the energy used short years. The original Nissan Leaf for such speedy charging. Using a 7kW to charge the car’s batteries comes had a range of 109 miles. Today’s car can charger, the Leaf can be fully recharged in from a coal-fired power station. But achieve 168 miles, WLTP combined figure. 7.5 hours. So an overnight charge at the cleaner the energy production, the So, travelling from London to Birmingham home or a top up while at work can cleaner the EV becomes. Switching to a on a single charge is a realistic prospect. replenish the battery in full. low-carbon or renewable energy supplier For journeys longer than the EV’s range, the network of public charging DRIVING AN EV points is developing fast. Zap-Map. Another myth: EVs are slow. Anyone “ As range increases com shows the location of charging who has driven a modern electric car points across all different networks and will quickly debunk that one. Electric and charge times lists more than 18,000 connectors at motors deliver maximum torque from a over 6600 locations. Hundreds of new standing start, and so accelerate very reduce, the list of connectors are being added every month. quickly into any gap in traffic. Today’s reasons not to choose The idea that you’ll be waiting around Leaf with its 110kW electric motor has a for hours if you do need to stop and 0-62mph time of 7.9 seconds. The top an EV is becoming charge is another misconception. Plug speed of 89mph is much lower than most a Leaf into a CHAdeMO rapid charger and conventional cars’ but still 19mph higher ever-shorter ” the battery will go from 20% to than the motorway speed limit. 4 COMPANYCARTODAY.CO.UK COMPANYCARTODAY.CO.UK 5 In some EVs, you hardly have to touch the brake pedal at all. That’s because when you lift off the throttle, the car converts kinetic energy into electricity through regenerative braking to replenish the battery while you drive. Activating ‘B mode’ in the Nissan Leaf, for example, increases the strength of the regenerative braking, maximising the car’s range. You can go even further by pushing the e-Pedal button, which allows the driver to use a single pedal for accelerating, with the friction brakes and regenerative braking system powerful enough to bring the car to a halt. Push down to accelerate, lift off to brake, and with a bit of forward planning only the one pedal is needed. The brake pedal is, suddenly seem unrefined compared therefore, for hard braking only. with a smooth and quiet EV. Users who need the ultimate in Press the ‘Eco’ button and the electric luggage space may find an estate better motor’s output is restricted slightly, REASONS TO THINK TWICE suits them. However, with more and further extending the distance you There really are few downsides to more EVs coming to market, there’s an can travel on a single charge. running an EV on your fleet, but it would ever wider choice of bodystyles to match Spend some time driving an EV and it’s be unrealistic to pretend an electric the needs of different drivers. surprisingly hard to go back to a petrol car is the ideal choice for every driver.