E-Car is the UK’s first entirely electric pay-per-use car club, developed to provide members of
carefully selected communities across the UK with access to full-sized electric cars by the
hour at a competitive price point.
Pilot operations commenced in September 2012 and have proven to be an operational success
with over 600 journeys completed and high levels of consumer satisfaction in both consumerled
and business-led (i.e. fleet replacement) schemes. Recognising the underlying economic
and environmental benefits for corporates switching to electric vehicles, the long term
development strategy includes a strong focus on fleet replacement schemes. In addition, we
have identified customer interest in mixed-use models. These combine complimentary user
groups to maximise asset utilisation, for instance combining weekday business use with
evening and weekend private use.
However, for these mixed-use models to operate effectively with an electric fleet, a new
scheduling model is required which allows required levels of vehicle availability to be
maintained for both user groups through a combination of demand matching, smart vehicle
allocation and adaptive charging cycles.
This proof of concept project aims to iteratively develop and trial a new scheduling solution
which will allow vehicles to be allocated efficiently at higher utilisation levels whilst still
maintaining the requisite levels of availability. In doing so E-Car will simultaneously establish
operating precedent for up to 3 new mixed-use models (Corporate/Community; Council/Local
Business; Registered Social Landlord/Social Housing Resident).
Successful completion of the project will not only allow E-Car to begin commercial mixed-use
operations at scale, but also accelerate deployment of electric vehicles for business and
personal use, support the development of the UK’s EV supply chain, reduce carbon and
particulate emissions, and have a profound impact on local mobility.