Driving down fleet carbon in Scotland

The sixth GreenFleet Scotland event, which took place on 25 April at the Royal Highland Centre, allowed fleet managers to test drive over 50 of the latest environmentally-friendly vehicles.

Green supercars like the new Tesla Model S and the BMW i8 made their Scottish debuts, and sat comfortably alongside other eco-vehicles, such as the Nissan eNV200 electric van and the Mitsubishi Outlander plug-in hybrid electric vehicle.
    
Scottish Transport Minister Keith Brown opened the event, saying: “Electric vehicles are very often now indistinguishable from any other vehicle that you’ll buy and that’s a very important message to get across to people, saying that EVs are just what you expect from a vehicle in every other respect but they don’t have the environmentally damaging effects. I think that’s real progress.
    
“Some of the names we’ve got here today – BMW, Alfa Romeo, Audi – these are huge mainstream manufacturers putting a great deal of money and effort into producing some fantastic low-emission vehicles. It’s not all about high performance vehicles, but I do think they are a very effective way to showing how far electric vehicles have come.”

Impressive debuts
Nissan’s eagerly anticipated electric van, the eNV200, which was on display at GreenFleet Scotland before its official launch at the Commercial Vehicle show, attracted a lot of interest from fleet professionals, as did Mitsubishi’s Outlander PHEV, which can save company car drivers considerable amounts on their tax thanks to its low CO2 emissions of 44g/km.
    
The new Tesla Model S, a fully electric sports 4-seater sports car was seen for the first time in Scotland, and was a test track sell-out. The Model S is capable of 312 miles on a single charge, and can sprint from 0-62 sprint in just 5.4 seconds.
    
The hybrid supercar, the BMW i8, also made its Scottish debut, and attracted a flurry of crowds on its static display. This plug-in hybrid sports car is capable of accelerating from 0-62mph in 4.4sec, yet has low emissions at 49g/km. What’s more, BMW’s first electric vehicle, the i3, was available to test drive, and proved very popular out on the track.  

Debating the big topics
Throughout the day, seminars took place covering topics on the latest environmentally‑friendly transport issues. Ian Murdoch from the Energy Saving Trust Scotland gave an overview of the Scottish electric vehicle market, Andrew Taylor from the Scottish Government covered the government’s low emission strategy, and Nigel Holmes from the Scottish Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Association discussed Scotland’s hydrogen plans. What’s more, fleet managers could learn from their peers with case study sessions from various organisations that have successfully reduced the carbon output of their fleet.   
    
For example, Dr Steve Johnson Environmental & CSR Manager at Lothian Buses explained how the firm has reduced the carbon emissions of its 650 buses by investing in new hybrid vehicles and retrofitting old buses with emission-reducing technology.

Learning eco-driving skills

Visitors were also able to put their eco‑driving skills to the test by taking part in the Energy Saving Trust Scotland’s fuel efficient driving experience (FEDEx). Participants took to the real roads with eco-driving trainers for a test lap where their mpg was recorded. Then with simple driving tips from the trainer implemented, visitors were amazed at how simple driving-style changes could result in real fuel savings.
    
For the first time ever, a second day was added to the event for the wider Scottish public. Re-branding the event as EVOLUTION, the event on Saturday 26 April was hailed a success with 890 visitors through the door – way surpassing the target of 750.
    
Radio presenters from Forth 1 radio Boogie and Arlene, who promoted the event on their breakfast show by doing a BMW i3 electric vehicle challenge, also attended EVOLUTION, and test drove the Tesla Model S. Boogie commented on the show: “I never thought the event was going to be something so big. I thought there was going to be a few cars in a shed, but this is amazing! As for the Tesla, that is, without doubt, the most amazing car I have ever driven in my entire life.”
    
GreenFleet Scotland and EVOLUTION is staged in association with Transport Scotland, Scottish Enterprise and Energy Saving Trust.


Further information
www.events.greenfleet.net/scotland