Testing Capacity with Edge Anderson's EV Fleet Trial
Dublin-based consultant motor engineering company Edge Anderson took part in the SEAI - ZEVI Electric Vehicle (EV) Commercial Fleet Trial. The company's Managing Director Colm O'Connell and colleagues used this experience to see if an EV could support their day-to-day business travel needs.
Background
Edge Anderson & Company Ltd https://edgeanderson.ie/ were established in 1967 and are the oldest Motor Assessing Company in Ireland. They are also a leading Independent Consulting Engineers and Assessors company providing consulting services for vehicles across different categories and industries including finance, the legal profession and the agricultural sector.
EV Fleet Trial
Edge Anderson decided to sign up to the ZEVI-SEAI EV Fleet trial because, as their Managing Director Colm O'Connell puts it, "the future is electric."
Transport represents a big cost for their business as they spend a lot of time on the road travelling and meeting clients.
The prospect of a three-month trial with an electric vehicle was not to be passed up. Not only would it help the team at Edge Anderson to learn about the benefits and perhaps the challenges of driving an EV for business, but it would give them a really good understanding of the potential cost savings and carbon emissions cuts that could be made by switching to electric.
Edge Anderson were given a Skoda Anniak EV 60KW battery-powered electric vehicle for the duration of their trial.
They also got a 22kw charger installed at their office. Colm and his team found the installation to be a very efficient procedure, which lasted approximately half a day. The charger is managed with an app that allowed Colm to operate the charger remotely from his phone. The team who installed the charger conducted a complete test of its charging capability before they left the site.
Learnings
Colm and his team found that planning their travel route was essential during the trial. They knew they would need access to EV charge points along the way and knowing where they were located along the route helped ease any range anxiety.
The Skoda did have one helpful feature the team relied on. It could calculate the battery charge required to cover the distance entered into the navigation. The EV would also recommend pit stops along the route where the driver could take a break and charge the battery. It would even share info on how long it would take to charge the car and whether the charge points were free to charge from.
Colm recommends to fully take advantage of the technology available within the vehicle, to help eliminate "range anxiety" with fail-safe back-up options.
Look for the highest battery capacity affordable within the vehicle when considering purchasing an EV.
Recommendations
In addition to utilising and fully taking advantage of all of the technology on offer to the driver and passengers within an EV, Colm recommends researching the battery capacity of the EV.
"Look for the highest battery capacity affordable within the vehicle when considering purchasing an EV."
What's Next?
Edge Anderson are now reviewing switching some of their fleet to electric. There's optimism that EV technology is becoming more widely available and accessible to the Irish EV market.
"Battery capacity is increasing rapidly through technology. We can see a situation where we can get an acceptable EV range that would suit our needs."