Test driving an electric car as fuel prices at new high

By David Saville BBC Radio Lancashire

Mitsubishi say their electric car costs £270 for 12,000 miles of driving

In the week that diesel prices hit a new high - averaging over £1.33 a litre - BBC Radio Lancashire investigates an alternative - the electric car.

Electric vehicles no longer means only slow-moving milk floats, as advances in technology mean electric cars are going on sale with top speeds of over 80mph.

Nine vehicle manufacturers are creating electric cars which are going on sale this year and next.

The first to hit the showrooms is the Mitsubishi i-MiEV.

I borrowed one for a test drive.

It's surprising how quiet the car is. You turn the ignition key and expect to hear an engine start, but all you get is two beeps and a green light on the dashboard and off you go.

Fuel costs are considerably cheaper, according to Mitsubishi's own figures a full charge would cost £2.09 or £270 for 12,000 miles of driving. Users with an Economy 7 electricity tariff will find the costs are halved.

Coat and gloves

The company say the cars are capable of covering 93 miles on a full charge but Mitsubishi Manchester sales executive Brian Sandford qualified that by saying: "It does really depend on how hard you drive the vehicle. It's absolutely perfect for around the city or around the town."

The air conditioning and heater also put a drain on the battery and I began to wrap-up warm with coat and gloves to try and preserve the battery.

Driving the car around Lancashire I noticed how quickly you use up battery power on the motorways, so I started using the A-roads. The route may be more 'stop-start' but it means I could go a lot further on one charge.

ELECTRIC CARS AND AVAILABILITY DATES Mitsubishi i-MiEV: Jan 2011 Smart fortwo electric drive: Jan 2011 Peugeot iOn: Jan 2011 Nissan Leaf: March 2011 Tata Vista: March 2011 Citroen CZero: Early 2011 Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid: Early 2012 Chevrolet Volt: Early 2012 Vauxhall Ampera: Early 2012

Away from home there are currently few places to charge the vehicle in Lancashire, however Sainsbury's supermarket in Colne has fitted a PodPoint charging post.

The post has two 13 amp sockets and is activated by a membership card fob. Deputy store manager Aiden Hale says: "All new stores in the future will have environmental features in them, including the electric car charging points."

'Local employment'

The store's been open since July 2010 but in that time Mr Hale admitted he'd not seen anyone use the charging point until now: "There's been a couple of enquiries but I'm yet to see an electric car come into the store for charging."

"I think in the current climate, with petrol prices heading the way they are, there are certainly other ways for vehicles getting around."

A firm in Walton Le Dale is also hoping to increase the number of charging points on the streets and in car parks.

EVCS - Electric Vehicle Charging Systems Ltd. - have developed charging systems for all kinds of locations.

Mark Whittle from the firm believes the growth in electric car use will give a boost to the local economy: "As the market increases our production is going to increase and we'll need to take on more staff."

"We're building the units locally in Buckshaw Village... so it's all local work and local employment."

There are some motorists in Lancashire already using electric vehicles. The University of Central Lancashire has three electric Megavans which are used to move items around the city centre campus including recycling, traffic cones and furniture.

Pollution

Clair Challen, the university's travel plan co-ordinator says: "We've got four electric charging points here. We've actually put them in at the request of a student."

That student is Paul, who lives in Knott End and has commuted into Preston in a G-Whizz electric car for just over a year now. "It would probably take me just over a gallon of diesel to get from home to university which is just over £5 whereas in this it costs me just over a £1," says Paul.

"The downside is the batteries need replacing every three years."

That could cost him over £2,000.

And costs currently seem to be the biggest obstacle. The Mitsubishi i-MiEV is currently on sale at just under £24,000.

The government has also contributed a grant of £5,000 towards that as part of an £43m initiative. Transport Secretary Philip Hammond told BBC News at the launch: "The point of supporting this technology is to get it up to scale."

However, he acknowledged that how the power was generated was an issue.

"There's no point in switching the car fleet to running on electricity if the electricity emits vast amounts of carbon dioxide."

The green credentials of electric cars are being trumpeted but if the electricity to run the cars is still made by burning fossil fuels then the pollution is just being shifted from the exhaust pipe to a power station chimney.