This weekend, Arval employee Dave Pearson, took delivery of a brand new Mitsubishi i-MiEV (Mitsubishi innovative Electric Vehicle) as part of a Government-supported UK-wide project, to trial electric and ultra low emission vehicles. He will be using the car for the next year, reporting back on his experiences along the way.

Dave, a Sales Support Executive at Arval’s Birmingham office, collected the car from the CABLED (Coventry and Birmingham Low Emission Vehicle Demonstrators) consortium in Centenary Square, Birmingham alongside automotive expert Quentin Willson on Saturday.

The trial is led by global engineering consultancy Arup, with CABLED representing the largest of eight regional teams to participate in the £25 million Technology Strategy Board’s Ultra Low Carbon Vehicle Demonstrator competition.

To support Dave in the trial energy provider E.ON has fitted a charging point at his home while Arval has installed a designated charging point at their offices. Throughout the year Dave will be working with Arval’s Consultancy team to build a picture of the strengths, weaknesses and practicalities of using the fully electric vehicle.

Dave comments,
“When Arval announced that an employee would get the opportunity to be involved in the trial I jumped at the chance. As well as reducing my environmental impact, it is a great opportunity to be an early adopter of this new technology and reduce my travel costs in the process.”

Danny Clenaghan, Director at Arval and head of the company’s Environmental Impact Group adds,
“We have been using electric vehicles for nearly two years and it’s crucial that we continue to be receptive to new technologies and new modes of travel. This is a zero tailpipe emissions vehicle which will save money and the environment so we are delighted to be involved in the trial. When we started speaking about the trial we received a great response from employees and having spoken to Dave, he is really looking forward to using the vehicle.”

The Mitsubishi i-MiEV is a fully electric city car with zero tailpipe emissions. It has a top speed of 81 mph, a range of 100 miles  and can be trickle charged from flat to full in seven hours at any UK three-pin socket – costing under £1 for a full charge. In addition the i-MiEV can be fast-charged from flat to 80 per cent in just 30 minutes.

Neil Butcher, Arup’s project leader of the CABLED consortium said: “Today’s launch is a landmark occasion for the UK automotive industry, and this project will begin to examine the points where the vehicles meet the built environment – energy generation, battery charging and driver behaviour. This is an important first step on our roads to a low-carbon future.”

ENDS
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For further information please call Graham Nichols, PR Manager, on 01793 884453 or e-mail graham.nichols@arval.co.uk.

Editor’s Notes

About Arval 
Arval is the leading fleet and fuel management company in Europe, owned by BNP Paribas, one of the largest European banking groups, with substantial buying power and a commitment to quality through over 30 years fleet management experience. Arval is a people lead company, with specialist teams dedicated to businesses from start-ups to FTSE 100 companies. Arval is investing significantly in technology to improve fleet efficiency and has a comprehensive range of products covering contract hire, fleet management, fuel management, leasing, personal motoring schemes, accident management, breakdown recovery and short term hire.


About Mitsubishi Motors’ Environmental Credentials
Mitsubishi Motors has been developing electric vehicles since the late 1960s and selling them since the early 1970s. The i-MiEV has been developed by Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, and has been a sell-out success since going on sale in Japan in July this year, The 1,400 units allocated by Mitsubishi for the 2009 Japanese market have flown out the door and an impressive 1,500 orders have already been placed in Japan from the 2010 build allocation. European production is expected to begin in October 2010 with left hand drive i-MiEV’s available in markets across Continental Europe towards the end of the year.

Mitsubishi Motors is also investing heavily in carbon reduction programmes at every stage of its operations, including design, production, tailpipe emissions and end of life recycling as a part of its Environment Initiative Programme 2010 and its Environmental Vision 2020.

More information on Mitsubishi Motors’ environmental credentials can be found at www.mitsubushipress.co.uk and via pressoffice@mitsubishi-cars.co.uk.


About the CABLED consortium
The West Midlands consortium, called CABLED - short for Coventry and Birmingham Low Emission Demonstrators – is made up of 13 organisations, led by Arup, a company with experience that crosses all areas that touch this project, from vehicle design to planning to infrastructure and energy. The consortium will develop and demonstrate 110 road-worthy vehicles to be trialled in the two cities over 12 months. Part funding for the project has been approved from the regional development agency, Advantage West Midlands.

Each of the six vehicle manufacturers – Jaguar/Land Rover, Mitsubishi/Colt, Mercedes Benz/Smart, Tata Motors, LTI and Microcab Industries – are contributing their own vehicles towards the low carbon scheme, which includes a mix of fully electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids and hydrogen fuel cell cars.

Electricity providers E.ON are delivering charging points for the trial with assistance from the city councils of Birmingham and Coventry.

Three of the Midland’s leading universities play a major role in the scheme with Coventry University undertaking the selection process of drivers, Aston University analysing vehicle usage data and the University of Birmingham contributing access and expertise gained from its hydrogen fuelling station, which is currently one of the very few of its kind in UK. A new hydrogen station is planned for Coventry University.


The Technology Board’s Ultra Low Carbon Vehicle Demonstrator Competition
As part of the Low Carbon Vehicles Innovation Platform, £25 million has been allocated to eight highly innovative, industry-led collaborative research projects in the field of ultra low carbon vehicle development and demonstration. The competition, which culminated in June with the announcement of successful applicants, focused on encouraging the development of industry-led consortia that can deliver in bringing significant numbers of vehicles onto roads quickly. The competition winners will deliver over 340 new innovative cars on the road in eight locations around the UK in the next six to 18 months.


About the Technology Strategy Board’s contribution
The government-backed Technology Strategy Board is working with business to speed up the development of low carbon vehicles, towards the point where they become a practical reality and UK business can benefit from the future commercial opportunities.

The winning projects have received a total of £25 million as part of an ongoing commitment to invest jointly with the industry to speed up the introduction of low carbon vehicles. This will support the investment already made by the consortia themselves and is the most significant step to date in the UK of a co-ordinated move towards low carbon transport.

To meet the UK’s commitment to an 80% cut in carbon emissions by 2050, the carbon output of transport - currently a quarter of all UK emissions - has to be significantly reduced. The vehicles that we drive need to be part of the solution.

The journey towards low carbon transport will not be easy but the demonstrator programme is a major step in the right direction. With over 340 cars being trialled in several regions across the UK, and with the involvement of large and small manufacturers, RDAs, local authorities, universities and infrastructure companies, it is the biggest project of its kind to date.


About the Technology Strategy Board
The Technology Strategy Board is a business-led executive non departmental public body, established by government. Its role is to promote and support research into, and development and exploration of, technology and innovation for the benefit of UK business, in order to increase economic growth and improve the quality of life. It is sponsored by the Department for Business, innovation and Skills (BIS). For further information please visit www.innovateuk.org.