Flip the Fleet Drivers’ Memo #26: EV satisfaction, the hare & the turtle, distances travelled in EVs, hear about your results

Dear collaborators, It was a busy month! Here’s your September update from Flip the Fleet.

Hot off the press!

Donald Love has braved a typhoon to represent you guys in Kobe, Japan, at the 31st International Electric Vehicles Symposium (http://www.evs31.org/). If you are interested in presenting for the coalition in the future let us know!

Annual distance travelled in EVs

Our preliminary statistical models of annual distance travelled by EV model from all the data you have provided show some interesting patterns (Fig. 1). Over all EV models the average is 14,100 km/year, more than the NZ average of 11,500 km/year [1], and busting the myth that you can’t drive an EV anywhere much! There is huge variability, with one 30 kWh Nissan Leaf doing over 45,000 km/year, with others, such as several e-NV200 vans, doing less than 1,000 km/year.  On average newer generation (1.3, 1.2) Leafs have higher mean annual distance than older generation 1.1 Leafs, and Mitshubishi Outlanders generally have the highest mean annual distances.

How satisfied are you with your EV?

Overall, you are extremely satisfied with your Low Emission vehicles. More than three quarters of 654 responses gave a score of 9 or 10 out of ten. You find them fit-for-purpose, a pleasure to drive, and to have very low running and maintenance costs. Their environmental benefits are particularly satisfying for many of you. Restricted range and occasional mechanical and technical faults niggled a few of you, but the main reason for a minority of low scores over the past nine months was apparent premature battery capacity fade in one variant of one model of EV.  Even that turned out to be an instrumentation error rather than a real problem with the battery, so we expect that satisfaction scores would be even higher in the coming months. For the full story click https://flipthefleet.org/2018/how-satisfied-are-you-with-your-ev/

The Hare & the Turtle

On the 9^th of September, as part of Drive Electric week and in collaboration with the Otago EV Society, we held a ‘Hare and the Turtle’ event at Highlands Motorsport Park, Cromwell. It was a mix of citizen science, advocacy and fun. There was extensive media coverage, with the most prominent available at https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2018/09/calls-for-government-to-incentivise-owning-electric-cars.html – watch the video to see the outcome of the Ferrari versus Tesla drag race! We would like to thank everyone who helped with running the event, and all the EV owners who participated. A special thanks goes out to Curious Minds, ChargeNet NZ and The Better NZ Trust for sponsorship of the event.

Hear about your results

Over the next two months we will be presenting your results around the country. Come along to hear the latest results and ask any questions you may have.

• Flipping the fleet: accelerating electric vehicle uptake using citizen science. Henrik Moller and Monica Peters. Café Scientifique, Tauranga, 15 October 2018.
• Flipping the fleet: accelerating electric vehicle uptake using citizen science. Dima Ivanov. Café Scientifique, basement dining room at the Horse and Trap, 3 Enfield Street, Mount Eden, Auckland, 31 October 2018, 6pm.
• Using citizen science to accelerate electric vehicle uptake in New Zealand. Henrik Moller, Dima Ivanov, Daniel Myall.  Transport Knowledge Conference, Rydes, Wellington, Thursday 15 November.
• Citizen science for sustainability transitions: lessons from Flip the Fleet’s efforts to accelerate uptake of electric vehicles”. Daniel Myall, Henrik Moller, Hannah Gentle & Dima Ivanov. Field Research Centre, Lincoln University. Lincoln, 22 November, 12.30pm.
• The full value of an EV – quantifying EV happiness in NZ”, Henrik Moller & Daniel Myall, EV World South www.conferenz.co.nz/events/evworld-south-2018  [Public Day], Christchurch, 24 November 2018: 10:00

Mauri ora! Daniel Myall, Monica Peters, Hannah Gentle, Dima Ivanov and Henrik Moller, 2^nd October 2018 [1] https://www.transport.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/Research/Documents/NZ-Vehicle-fleet-fact-and-fiction-2017.pdf