We are grateful to Chargemaster for inviting us to their Preview Event ahead of the opening of the new Electric Vehicle Experience Centre (EVEC). The event took place on Friday evening 21 July 2017 ahead of the official public opening on Saturday 22 July. The EVEC is located on Crown Walk in the main Central Milton Keynes shopping centre.
The event ran from 6-8pm and included welcome speeches from David Martell, Chief Executive of Chargemaster, and Ted Foster, EVEC Manager.
The new EV Experience Centre under wraps (Image: T. Larkum)
It has a fairly good location near the middle of the main shopping centre; it’s on Crown Walk, next to the big Boots store. It looks smaller than I expected, at least on the outside. Currently there isn’t much to see – the windows are blanked out and there was someone on the door in front of a sign saying ‘Invited Guests Only’.
EVEC’s BMW i8 plugin hybrid (Image: T. Larkum)`
Two plugin cars were on display at the intersection of Crown Walk and Silbury Arcade – a BMW i8 and a Kia Optima PHEV.
EVEC’s Kia Optima plugin hybrid (Image: T. Larkum)
We have been invited to the official EVEC launch so I’ll report back after that.
Milton Keynes is the best place for EV spotting. It has so many electric cars that you get to see all sorts.
Here’s an odd mix charging up at lunchtime today. At the left is a Vauxhall Ampera, essentially a rebadged GM Volt, and no longer made. In the middle is the ubiquitous Renault ZOE.
On the right is a Mercedes C350e, the first electric Mercedes I’ve seen in the flesh.
Milton Keynes is probably the leading city in the UK for its support for electric vehicles (EVs). Today I went into the main shopping centre to have a look at the progress on the forthcoming EV Experience Centre.
The new Tesla showroom in the Intu shopping centre (Image: T. Larkum)
On the way I checked out the new Tesla showroom (in the Intu centre) which I hadn’t visited before.
Red Tesla Model S in the new MK showroom (Image: T. Larkum)
I was impressed to see that in the fairly small space they had fitted in a red and a white Model S, and further in a black Model X.
Milton Keynes already has a great reputation for its support of Electric Vehicles, from its vast infrastructure of electric charge points to the UK’s first Electric Vehicle Experience Centre due to open later this month.
Now TESLA the American automaker, energy storage and solar manufacturer has set up shop in Milton Keynes Intu shopping centre, displaying their high end electric cars in an impressively slick showroom.
Strolling past this afternoon it was certainly eye catching and there seemed to be a genuine buzz from many passers-by when they noticed the giant letters spelling ‘TESLA’.
The two story car showroom isn’t the first to appear in the Milton Keynes Shopping Centre, a Mercedes store appeared a few weeks previous. This new trend seems to coincide with a greater change and understanding of how consumers are now purchasing. The idea of viewing a car in a showroom and then ‘shopping online’ for the best price is becoming ever so much more the norm, much like shopping for the latest smart TV.
To celebrate more than 100,000 plug-in cars having been sold in the UK, 25 electric and plug-in hybrid cars drove from London to Milton Keynes [on] Sunday 18th June.
Organised by Chargemaster, the road trip covered around 100,000 meters in cars as diverse as the Nissan Leaf to the Tesla Model X, and BMW’s i3 to the Volvo XC90 T8.
The convoy all safely completed the journey of a little over 60 miles, showcasing the variety of plug-in cars on sale in the UK at the moment.
Coinciding with the sales milestone were two celebrations of Chargemaster’s own – 100,000 home charging sessions have been carried out on a single week, and Chargemaster’s Polar network has seen 100,000 public charging sessions so far in 2017.
David Martell, Chief Executive of Chargemaster, said:
“Today was a pivotal moment for the EV market, to mark a significant milestone in vehicle adoption and to celebrate two 100,000 milestones of our own. Thank you to the team, and everyone that made the day so special – here’s to the next 100,000 EVs.”
The innovative all-electric Dynamo Taxi, which has been developed in Coventry, is to be rolled out across the UK following its official launch.
The taxi has been created by the Dynamo Motor Company – a division of ADV Manufacturing – in conjunction with Nissan – and was unveiled at the Private Hire & Taxi Exhibition at the MK Arena in Milton Keynes last week.
(l-r) Andy Wood, John Paterson, John Heath from Dynamo Motor Company with the new Dynamo Taxi.
The vehicle has been developed to be used in UK towns and cities. Within Dynamo’s vehicle line-up is a fully working demonstrator London Taxi that, pending approvals, will comply with Transport For London’s stringent Conditions of Fitness as well as exceeding new zero emission capability legislation coming into force in January.
The five-seat Dynamo electric taxi, with full side wheelchair access, will have a range of 100 miles between charging and can be re-charged in only 30 minutes when using a Rapid Charge Post which are growing in numbers around the UK.
Brendan O’Toole, chairman at Dynamo, said this was an exciting development in the move towards all-electric powertrains.
“We’re at the start of the biggest change in the motoring world since the era of Henry Ford because most of us will be driving electric vehicles in the future,”
he said.
“This is a pioneering new chapter in motoring and, if anything, driver selection of electric cars will continue to accelerate since they provide zero emissions for the environment which is important as we all continue to learn more about the damage to our health from pollution.
“We have spent several years developing the Dynamo Taxi and we are really proud of it. Our taxis are ideal for urban driving and we believe will play a leading role as regards electric vehicle adoption.
“By 2018, all new taxis bought in London must be zero emission capable and with more and more charging posts being installed throughout the country, I think within a short space of time drivers of electric vehicles will no longer need to make detailed plans for longer journeys because the UK’s major cities and towns will be connected by charging hubs.”
The Electric Vehicle Experience Centre (EVEC) will open in Milton Keynes on Saturday 22nd July, featuring the UK’s first multi-brand electric vehicle showroom. Part of the city’s Go Ultra Low Cities bid, the EVEC will be located in the centre:mk shopping centre.
The EVEC will open with cars from a number of EV manufacturers
BMW i, Kia, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Renault, and VW have all signed up to be founding manufacturers for the EVEC, and will display a range of EVs spread across a range of costs and electric range.
Set to be run by Chargemaster, the EVEC will both showcase existing electric models and be an information point for EV ownership in general. Visitors will be able to talk with staff about all elements of owning and running an EV, with test drives available too.
Milton Keynes has a target for 23% of all new cars registered in the area to be electric by 2021. The centre is intended to help promote EV sales and use, and also to educate prospective buyers as to the benefits of going electric.
The EVEC is part of a suite of initiatives from Milton Keynes’ Go Ultra Low City bid, including investment in expanding the number of EV charge points available including creating a number of charging hubs, free parking for EVs, and additional grants for home and workplace charging.
Brian Matthews, Head of Transport Innovation at Milton Keynes Council, said:
“The EVEC is a centrepiece of our thrust to encourage the uptake of electric vehicles and is a good example of the innovation that Milton Keynes is using to lead the way in transport innovation. We are delighted to be working with Chargemaster and six founding car manufacturers to bring this about.”
David Martell, Chief Executive of Chargemaster, said:
“Opening the Electric Vehicle Experience Centre on 22 July will be a landmark day, not only for the electric vehicle sector, but also for Milton Keynes residents.
“Becoming the UK’s first multi-brand EV showroom, it will provide a destination for visitors to make an informed decision about owning an EV, without the pressure of having to make an immediate purchase decision. We are delighted to receive the support from six key electric vehicle manufacturers as founding partners of the EVEC.
“We hope that this platform will change the way that electric vehicles are sold in cities and we’re proud to be working with Milton Keynes and Go Ultra Low to deliver this to the public.”
Milton Keynes entrepreneurial start-up, Fuel Included Ltd, provides Electric Cars with free miles included on a single monthly payment. Fuel Included has recently expanded to meet the growing demand for electric cars.
Company founder and CTO Trevor Larkum said,
“The electric car market is seeing exponential growth. This is a fantastic time to be offering the consumer a simpler way to go electric. We can saving them money while having a really positive impact on pollution and the climate”.
Trevor has brought two new members on to his team since January 2017. Having worked with both previously, the new team was able to hit the ground running.
Jason Tisdall has taken on the role of CEO.
“For many consumers, the electric car is still an unknown. We are focusing on making it simple for them to assess the basics. Will they save money, what is the impact on climate change and what happens if they run out of charge? By demystifying these areas, many customers feel much more secure in making the switch to electric. Our experience is that, once they do, they never look back”.
Jo Pegram-Mills has joined as Sales and Business Administrator.
“I am focused on improving the back-end office systems so that customers can enjoy a smooth and straightforward journey of learning about, buying and running an electric car. All of us in the office own electric cars ourselves. We have a wealth of experience, and a real passion about our business and giving our customers a fantastic experience”.
With support from Nissan, Renault and BMW, we hosted our first Milton Keynes multi-brand electric car day at our offices in Milton Keynes.
In a packed two and a half hours of pre-booked drives over twenty people enjoyed the thrills and spills of electric car driving, with 2 Nissan Leafs, 2 BMW i3’s, 1 Renault ZOE and one Nissan EV-200 electric van.
We’ve written about these vehicles in more detail in other posts:
