Majority of daily journeys could be done in an electric car, research finds

Telematics data analysis by ALD Automotive has found that over three-quarters of daily journeys could be completed using a fully electric vehicle.

Following ALD Automotive’s recent trial where 20 company car drivers were allocated Plug-In Hybrid Vehicles (PHEVs), the company wanted to see how many typical fleet drivers could realistically convert to fully Electric Vehicles (EVs) based on their actual driving profile.

By looking at over 1,400 days’ worth of journey data available through the company’s ProFleet telematics system, ALD Automotive was able to identify where journeys made in a diesel or petrol vehicle could be replaced by an electric alternative.

The study examined a random sample of company cars covering a total of 95,000 miles and 2,396 hours of journey time.

The data found that 77 per cent of daily journeys were less than 100 miles a day and 52 per cent of daily journeys were less than 50 miles.

The figures also show that only 12 per cent of daily journeys were over 150 miles and less than six per cent of all daily journeys analysed were over 200 miles.

Matt Dale, consultancy services manager for ALD Automotive, commented: “There is now an expanding choice of Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) available which can easily cover in excess of 100 miles on a single charge.

“This means that over three-quarters of all journeys in the data we sampled could be completed using purely electric power. With range improvements being made with each new model launched, it won’t be long before BEVs can comfortably exceed 200 miles. At that point, 94 per cent of journeys could be completed out of an Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicle.”

He continues: “Our findings were based on the assumption of a single daily charge so, as the public charging infrastructure improves, even more daily journeys will be viable in a BEV. It’s already possible to get an 80 per cent charge on the motorway in about the time it takes to grab some lunch, so I don’t think it will be long until refuelling an electric vehicle becomes just as easy as a refuelling a diesel or petrol on longer journeys.”