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Today saw the first London
consumers taking delivery of
their smart fortwo electric
drives, as part of the UK’s
biggest electric vehicle trial.
Owners of Eco Age, an ethical
store, design consultancy &
green hub;
Livia Firth and
Nicola Giuggioli
received the keys from motoring
broadcaster and self-confessed
electric vehicle fan,
Quentin Willson.
Nicola Giuggioli, CEO at Eco
Age; "For us, at Eco Age to be
part of the smart electric drive
trials is amazing and has such a
great synergy with our business.
The smart electric drive is the
perfect city car, you can park
it anywhere and it has
zero-emissions so we can drive
around guilt-free. I can't wait
to see the face of our clients
when we arrive for our eco
surveys in our smart electric
drive."
Quentin Wilson, motoring
journalist and broadcaster
comments: “The fact that
Mercedes-Benz, the people who
invented the car, say that the
future of driving is with the
advent of cars like the smart
electric drive, is a monster
milestone for electric
vehicles.”
Funded by the Government’s
Technology Strategy Board, the
nationwide trial is the first of
its kind with over 340 vehicles
being trialled on the UK roads.
The programme sees 60 smart
electric drives exclusively
tested by residents in London
and the South East for 12
months. A further 40 will be
trialled by residents in the
West Midlands.
David Bott, Director of
Innovation Programmes at the
Technology Strategy Board said:
"It’s great to see the smart
fortwo electric drive being
handed over to the first
drivers. This London based
experiment is part of a much
larger UK–wide trial funded by
the Technology Strategy Board
and the Department for
Transport. Low carbon vehicles
are being put into the hands of
real drivers in eight different
projects. Vehicle performance
and user behaviour is being
monitored by computers in over
340 cars and data from trials
across the UK will be collated
and published in an act of open
innovation designed to support
the development of Low Carbon
Vehicle technology”
Boris Johnson, Mayor of London,
said: “We are now on
the brink of an exciting era of
cleaner, greener electric
motoring. London is already
taking steps to ensure drivers
in the capital will be able to
embrace this new technology and
plug in with confidence.”
The handover coincides with the
publication of the smart
Plugged-In report, commissioned
to understand the UK perceptions
around electric vehicles. The
report reveals that the London
consumer is ready to embrace the
electric revolution with about
two-thirds of consumers stating
that they’re willing to consider
an electric vehicle if the
charging infrastructure is
improved. Other key report
findings reveal:
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86% of Londoners think it is
their community’s
responsibility to make sure
residents living there can
live ‘greener’ lives with
easier local recycling
facilities, electric vehicle
charging points and cycle
lanes.
-
66% of Londoners think the
area where they live would
be less polluted if there
were more electric cars
-
71% of Londoner’s admitted
they make a conscious effort
to drive less in order to
save money (asked of
drivers)
-
Londoners are the most vocal
to their council about how
they can improve the area
where they live. 33% of
Londoners claim to have made
improvement suggestions to
their council (compared with
a UK average of 24%)
News provided by
www.electric-smart-car.co.uk
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