Turning the Highlands green
Feature
On 15 April, GreenFleet opened its doors to Scotland’s fleet decision makers and influencers at the Royal Highland Centre, Edinburgh, for the event’s eighth edition.
Opened and hosted by TV presenter and motoring journalist, Quentin Willson, the 2016 GreenFleet Scotland event saw a record number of attendees from local authorities, NHS, government agencies and emergency services, as well as SME’s and some blue-chip corporates.
GreenFleet stages the UK’s leading low‑emission vehicle events that promote and highlight the effectiveness of electric and plug-in vehicles, with the Scotland event staged in association with Transport Scotland, Energy Saving Trust and Scottish Enterprise.
Present at the show on Friday 15 April were vehicles from many top manufacturers such as BMW and Mini, who showcased the i8 and i3 cars from their popular iCollection, with both vehicles proving extremely popular on the day.
The Mini brand was represented by the new Clubman.
Also exhibiting on the day were Tesla; Fiat, Mitsubishi; Mercedes-Benz; Toyota; Nissan; Jaguar; Land Rover; Renault; Kia; Alfa Romeo; Volkswagen; Mini; Lexus; Citroen; Ford; Skoda; Honda; and Vmoto. The Tesla Model S proved extremely popular amongst delegates who scheduled their test drive slots as soon as they entered the Highland Hall.
Representing the local dealer network in Scotland were Eastern Western Group, Parks, Arnold Clark, Alex F Noble and Belmont Motor Group, with each bringing low-emission product to represent the aforementioned marques.
Information delivery
Industry experts were on hand to answer any delegate’s questions on the day, at the 12th E-cosse Forum, titled ‘The Future of Mobility’. Chaired by Quentin Willson, the Forum explored emerging technologies such as developments in the smart mobility, fuel cells and autonomous vehicles.
The 12th E-cosse Forum brought experts from the public and private sectors together, with speakers such as Rebecca Advani from Transport Systems Catapult, who discussed the opportunities and challenges associated with using autonomous vehicles. Professor David Hart from E4tech, who specialises in sustainable energy transport, spoke about fuel cell and hydrogen energy practices.
The E-cosse Forum also saw industry expert Lynne Goulding, from Arup, present a keynote on the research that is currently being carried out at Arup. Zak Tuk, head of Low Carbon Vehicle Policy, Transport Scotland, spoke about the country’s vision for the widespread adoption of low emission vehicles and provided an update on the current projects and plans for the future.
Andrew Benfield, from the Energy Saving Trust, highlighted the benefits of embracing low-carbon transport for businesses.
The EV Challenge
After upgrading the FEDEx (Fuel Efficient Driving Experience) to the EV Challenge in 2014, this year saw the Challenge consist of three categories. The EV Challenge was sponsored by Route Monkey and Automotive Leasing, with the help of Vehicle Partners, Nissan and Renault. In the Renault Zoe’s were reporters representing the media, from STV, The Scottish Sun and The Scotsman, while the Fleet category were driving Nissan e-NV200 vans. And new to the Challenge this year were Central Taxis, who had their own little competition in the newly-acquired Nissan Leafs.
Each team set off after a fanfare from Quentin Willson and Ian Murdoch, Transport Manager at the Energy Saving
Trust, and had to navigate around five checkpoints in Edinburgh. At each one there was an EV charge point, and the drivers took a ‘selfie’ and Tweeted it to verify they had passed through. When each team returned, GreenFleet’s very own EV technician measured the real time energy that was used over the 50 mile trial, and the winner was announced by John Curtis and Ian Murdoch.
This year the Media category’s winner was The Sun newspaper’s ‘Rookie Racer’ and road safety ambassador, Christie Doran, who proved that there isn’t always a ‘need for speed’ and that ‘age doesn’t matter’. Christie achieved 4.3m/kWh travelling 51.7 miles, with an average speed of 19mph and having saved 2kWhs by means of regenerative breaking and eco-driving.
The second EV Challenge winner was Robert Murphy, who has taken part in the EV Challenge for four years running and finally won on his fourth attempt. Current GreenFleet Public Sector Fleet Manager of the Year, Murphy drove a
Nissan e-NV200 and achieved 4.6m/kWh travelling 54.4 miles, achieved a max speed of 58mph but an average speed of 17.1mph.
The EV Challenge winners from the Central Taxis Nissan Leaf Category was Kevin Wood, who achieved 5.5 m/kWh.
Both GreenFleet Scotland and EVOLUTION Scotland are staged in association with Transport Scotland, Scottish Enterprise and Energy Saving Trust and plans are already in place for next year’s events.
Copies of the day’s presentations can be obtained from lauren.matthews@psigroupltd.co.uk
