By
Robert Evans - CENEX
on 14 May, 2012
Smart move trial highlights potential for electric vehicles within UK fleets
2011 marked the introduction of a new generation of refined and reliable EVs into the UK from mainstream automotive manufacturers. Combined with UK government grants for both car and van purchase and the creation of charging infrastructure, the momentum for plug-in vehicles will continue to grow as a range of new models are set for release.
Recognising the potential for growth in EV adoption, we recently published a study that looked at the feasibility of integrating small passenger car EVs into fleets, and surveyed the perceptions of fleet drivers and managers. The study reported on a Cenex trial incorporating EVs into fleets across the UK; including Asda, Indesit and Stagecoach.
The study findings revealed that relying on the nameplate range of an EV proved problematic when planning vehicle duties in advance of any EV experience, as the real-world range was shown to be lower than the published figure might otherwise indicate, due to factors including driving duty and driving style, as well as the winter use of in-cab heating drawing energy from the battery pack.
However, the case studies also showed that when EVs are incorporated into environments with an effective and well executed ‘opportunity charging' policy, they are capable of achieving significant improvements in range compared to a single overnight vehicle charge. The increased range arises from being able to utilise over 100% of battery state of charge (SoC) per day. This was demonstrated by Stagecoach, where 26% of their daily deployments (transferring bus drivers and ticket inspectors) used over 100% SoC and the highest daily SoC used was 160%.
Battery operation ensures strong environmental credentials in terms of zero tailpipe emissions and low noise emissions. In the case of CO2 on a well-to-wheel basis, CO2 reductions of up to 15% were shown to be available from EV operation when compared with the equivalent diesels, which in the study case were the best-in-class smart Cdi, with regulated emissions of just 86 gCO2/km.
The downside of ‘opportunity charging' is that it means charging vehicles during daytime hours whereas off-peak charging is lower cost and typically better for low CO2 emissions. Studies have shown smart charge units (i.e. tariff or timer signal responsive) to be an effective method of redistributing EV charging times, allowing a significant increase in off-peak charging. However, such units were not available to the organisations participating in this trial which led to just 12% of charging using cheap rate night time electricity. In a well planned deployment for return-to-base and home-charged vehicles, smart charge units would be recommended to improve the economic and environmental performance of the vehicles.
Questionnaire results for individual users showed enthusiasm for the EVs. On average, users rated the performance aspects of EVs as marginally better than conventional vehicles and 75% stated they would be happy to change their working procedures to incorporate EVs. Fleet managers also displayed very positive attitudes towards the EVs and 75% said their opinion of EVs improved over the trial thus proving the value of the real-world vehicle experience provided by participation in the project.
The findings of this trial show that modern EVs are of sufficient quality and reliability to be accepted by both managers and their staff. Although there are still challenges in terms of economic performance and range, these can be overcome by introducing EVs into appropriate duty cycles.
At Cenex, a duty cycle approach to total cost of ownership modelling is used where a fleet is characterised and EV vehicle performance is simulated over the fleets' different duties to identify the ‘sweet –spots' within fleet operations. In this way, cash and carbon savings can be realised without compromising fleet operability...even in winter!
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- Feeling the pressure
Issues with tyre pressure monitoring systems will become much more prominent and regular in the majority of workshops all over the UK. Since 2014, every car sold new in the European Union was required has to have a form of TPMS. There is no way of escaping it. As a technician you can try and hide from it if you like, but it will find you and it will make your brain engage when that little warning light ‘pings' on the dashboard.
The thing that a lot of techs don't know is that the first form of TPMS was first put into practice in the late 1980s, so it is not as if it’s a new idea. Back then, it was mainly for high-end luxury cars. Now a very high percentage of low-priced to mid-range priced vehicles are fitted with a TPMS system. You can even buy a retro-fit system and put it onto your motorcycle if you wanted to!
Types
There are two different types of monitoring systems. The first is a direct system in which the sensors are held within the wheels. These send a radio signal to the car and this is converted into a real-time display on the dashboard for the driver to keep a close eye on all of the pressures individually. The second is the indirect system. This one cannot show you a real-time value as there aren’t any TPMS sensors to send a radio signal back to the car. Instead this works via the cars wheel speed sensors/ABS sensors, to put it simply- it counts the rotations of each wheel and recognizes a fault if one wheel turns quicker than the other three. Clever or what? Well, not really, if all four tyres lose pressure.
Prod and cons
When it comes to TPMS pros and cons, my personal thoughts are that these systems, particularly the direct system will make for safer roads and therefore save lives. Not only that, the fact is that it is going to save your tyres, and by keeping the optimum pressure in them, saving your tyres will save you money, and if you save your money you will then be able to afford to buy new sensors if (when) they break... and they do break, whether it’s the core (due to bad practice when fitting tyres and not replacing something as simple as the core and the valve cap) ,a leak from the base of the stem or simply the battery going flat inside a sensor... (majority not interchangeable).
The simple fact is they do go wrong sometimes. Besides the main disadvantage of the indirect system that I mentioned earlier, if they do go wrong and it is obvious that the TPMS system isn’t working correctly, come MOT time the car will get a major fail. However, if the car is registered before January 2012, this doesn’t matter, which probably wasn’t the best decision ever made. I think any car equipped with a TPMS system from the factory should have it working. Simple as that, but that’s just my opinion.
Optimum
If one or more pressures are low and the tyres look ‘obviously Under Inflated’ then that induces a pass with a minor defect. The facts is that thousands of accidents and hundreds of deaths occur every year due to under inflated tyres resulting in tread separation and ultimately failure of the tyre.
In short, tell your customers if they want better fuel efficiency, better handling and optimum braking, they might want to check their pressures, even when the MOT is not looming.
