Calthorpe Estates joins in UK's largest public electric car trial
January 2010
Calthorpe Estates is participating in the first stage of a Government-supported UK-wide project to trial electric and ultra low emission vehicles in the West Midlands. The award winning property investor and developer is one of 25 independent drivers who will test Mitsubishi i-MiEVs (Mitsubishi innovative Electric Vehicle) from CABLED (Coventry and Birmingham Low Emission Vehicle Demonstrators) over the next 12 months.
The vehicle will be used by staff to travel around the 610 hectare Calthorpe Estate in Edgbaston and to offer carbon neutral viewing of properties, including a valet service providing pick up and return.
Graham Standring of Calthorpe Estates commented: “Sustainability is a core element of our ethos and we are continually looking for new ways to reduce our carbon emissions.
This is evident with our latest development – the £40m BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rated Calthorpe House – where we will be installing an electrical charge point for the car.
Being involved in the project was a natural choice for us and we are all very excited to be not only using it but contributing to an important trial.”
Led by global engineering consultancy Arup, CABLED is the largest of eight regional teams to participate in the £25 million Technology Strategy Board’s Ultra Low Carbon Vehicle Demonstrator competition as well as being the first to begin vehicle trials.
Regional Development Agency Advantage West Midlands has supported the CABLED consortium from the start and has invested £2.5million in the project, ensuring the region’s participation in the competition.
The project is worth £15 million and will trial 110 vehicles on the roads of Birmingham and Coventry. UK-wide, 340 vehicles are being tested using funding from the Technology Strategy Board and the Department of Transport.
The Mitsubishi i-MiEV is a fully electric city car with zero emissions. It has a top speed of 81 mph, a range of 100 miles and can be trickle charged from flat to full in six 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.
Drivers selected for the trials of the Mitsubishi i-MiEV and 85 other consortium vehicles were chosen through an application process led by Coventry University. Five other manufacturers within CABLED will roll out vehicles in 2010, including Jaguar/Land Rover, Mercedes Benz/Smart, Tata, LTI and Microcab industries.
The consortium also benefits from a firm commitment to developing the necessary infrastructure to co-ordinate the trials from E.ON, Birmingham City Council and Coventry City Council, who will provide electrical charging points for vehicles across the two cities as well as access to the University of Birmingham’s hydrogen refuelling station. During the trials, Aston University will be analysing and reporting its conclusions from the data generated by the vehicles.
Photocaption: Richard Allen and Graham Standring of Calthorpe Estates collect their electric low-emission vehicle
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