The latest plug-in vehicles and expert advice will be available at this year’s Fleet News Company Car in Action.

The Government has announced its continuing support for plug-in vehicles by allocating £500 million to help drive their uptake.

But many fleet decision-makers remain unconvinced by the technology, despite an increasing number of manufacturers bringing fully electric and hybrid models to market.

The EV-hybrid Zone will help fleet decision-makers get to grips with the different applications and better understand what could work for them and their drivers.

Expert advice will be on-hand to ensure visitors are able to assess the benefits of choosing a plug-in vehicle and what Government support is available.

And, most importantly visitors will be able to climb behind the wheel of the latest plug-in vehicles and experience for technology for themselves.

Cenex - the UK’s first Centre of Excellence for low carbon technologies – will be running an Electric Vehicle Surgery for fleet decision makers at CCIA, which takes place on June 10 and 11, at Millbrook Proving Ground.

Throughout the free-to-attend, two-day event, Cenex’s technical team will be on hand to offer free, personalised and impartial advice as to whether EVs can be deployed within a company’s fleet operations.

Attendees will be able to compare up to three vehicles and will receive a dashboard report of potential savings including CO2 reduction, running costs and tax savings, all calculated using real world drive cycle data.

“Gone are the days of the ‘diesel only’ policy,” says Robert Evans, CEO of Cenex. “The trend for vehicles to offer plug-in capability is now well established and EVs are becoming a viable alternative to diesels for a range of fleet applications.

“We are excited to be offering fleet decision makers the opportunity to evaluate the viability of a range of low carbon vehicles within their fleet operations, allowing them to explore alternative vehicles that may be better suited to their operations.”

Supporting Cenex within the EV Zone will be Fleet Innovations, who will discuss their mileage capture system that collects driving duty data to better calculate a Fleet’s potential saving from EV use; and Arval, who will be able to undertake in-depth calculations of the total cost of ownership savings available from alternatively fuelled vehicles.

As demand is expected to be high for the Electric Vehicle Surgery, attendees are encouraged to pre-book an appointment with the EV consultation team by calling 01509 635 750.

The EV/Hybrid Zone will feature up to nine plug-in vehicles, from BMW, Renault, Kia, Smart, Peugeot, Toyota, Vauxhall, Volvo and Nissan, all of which will be available to be driven and tested on the tracks.

Included in the eight-vehicle line-up will be the BMW i3, which is available as a battery-only car or with a motorcycle engine range-extender option.

The i3, which was named UK Car of the Year 2014, is a compact four-seater with a plug-in range of up to 100 miles and has been engineered with trademark BMW characteristics.

It will be joined by the Volvo V60 plug-in hybrid, which works by the front wheels being powered by a five-cylinder 2.4-litre turbo diesel producing 215 horsepower, while the rear axle is powered by an electric motor producing 70 horsepower, all while only producing 48g/km of CO2 on the combined cycle.

Overall, 25 manufacturer brands will be represented at CCIA, giving visitors the opportunity to test drive up to 300 models, unaccompanied around 50 miles of track.

For more information about Company Car in Action 2014 and to register you attendance, visit www.companycarinaction.com.

 

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