Looking back it’s easy to see it’s been an extremely busy and exciting year for the electric vehicle (EV) world in 2019. Lot’s of new model’s are now available to order or have been announced as ‘coming soon’. Tesla Model 3 was one of the new arrivals, landing in the UK for the first time in July and popping up in news headlines all over the place!
There really was a lot to take in, so if you blinked and missed something don’t panic. We have wrapped up a review of the year for you. It’s been a busy one so go make yourself a brew, get comfortable and catch up on 2019…
Wins for DriveElectric rebranding and Kia electric cars
First things first, DriveElectric went through an exciting new rebrand and started the new year with a fresh look! As our company has grown and developed so much over the past few years, we thought it was important the brand truly represented who we are today.
Welcome to the world of DriveElectric
For the first time ever, an electric car wins the What Car? Car of the year award, this was great movement for electric vehicles. The Kia E-Niro is an excellent choice for EV drivers, an all rounder of a car with a range big enough to suit just about any driver! (Range: 283 miles WLTP)
Lease the Kia e-Niro
After the new model Soul’s debut at the LA Motor Show along with the release of its specifications in November 2018, we now know there is plenty to look forward to. We think this new model will be well positioned to be another crowd pleaser.
Kia Soul 2020 Blog Post
Radio broadcaster and electric vehicle enthusiast Mark Goodier spends a week in a BMW i3 Range Extender and shares his opinons on the car. Once a popular choice, the range extender has been discontiuned in this year as BMW are now focusing on developing the 100% electric version.
Read Marks review on the BMW i3 REX
Last year we partnered up with the Fully Charged Show & Rolec, to offer a ‘Free one-year lease of the Kia Soul EV and a Free Charger’ to one lucky winner. To enter the competition, you were required to complete the ‘Fully Charged Survey’. The winner was chosen in January 2019.
Watch the Fully Charged Show handoverMilestones for Electric Nation and our Nissan LEAF deliveries
Volkswagen announce the new VW ID.3 electric vehicle will be the world’s first carbon neutral production car! This means they will be using 100% renewable energy to produce the new electric car and any unavoidable emissions created will be offset by other climate projects ran by the company.
Read our VW I.D 3 Blog Post
Ahead of the introduction of London’s new Ultra Low Emission Zone, a new van scrappage scheme has been introduced by the Mayor of London. The scrappage scheme will be available to London micro-businesses and charities which operate in the Congestion charge area.
ULEZ Van Scrappage Scheme
DriveElectric reach a milestone with the Nissan LEAF, We decided to celebrate this landmark by offering a free home charger with all orders place in March. This trail blazing electric vehicle has been a popular choice by many with 3 battery upgrades seen since 2011 with a 60kWh battery now available.
Read more here
Electric Nation publish their first results of the worlds largest electric vehicle smart charging trial. The trial took place in the WPD network areas in the Midlands, South West and South Wales. It had over 700 trial participants and received data from more than 140,000 charging transactions.
Electric Nation Webiste
Polestar intoduce the first full electric car from the manufacturer as the Polestar 2. Polestar, The electric performance brand say ‘Everything about it has been designed and engineered with passion and dedication’. The new electric car will be fitted with an 80kWh battery with a targeted range of around 275 miles.
Electric cars steal the show at Geneva
Tesla reveals the final member of the S3XY quartet, the Model Y. This all electric mid-size SUV is expected to arrive in the UK late 2020 and will come in 3 models with the longest range reaching up to 300 miles. If the popularity of the Model 3 has anything to go by for this model then it is set to be another record breaking car.
Read more on the Tesla Model Y
Many new and upcoming electric cars made their debut as both concept and production models at this years show some of the ones that stood out to the crow this year were the Honda e-Prototype, Peugeot e-208, Kia imagine concept, Polestar 2, Merc EQV Concept, Kia e-Soul, SEAT el-Born, Fiat
Highways England has awarded a multi-million-pound contract as it aims to ensure 95% of its motorways and major A roads are within 20 miles of a charge point.
The fastest legal road car in the world was also revealed at the Geneva Motor Show (and it was all-electric), The Pininfarina Battista. The vehicle is quicker than a current Formula 1 race car reaching 0 – 62 mph in under 2 seconds and has a top speed of 217 mph (wow).
Fully charged show do an exclusive ‘first look’ YouTube video of the new Honda e-Prototype at the Geneva Motor Show.
Watch the video hereLondon’s Ultra Low Emission Zone goes live & charge points advance on google maps and on the ground…
London Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) Phase 1 came into action on 8th April 2019. ULEZ was announced in 2013, with aim is to improve the city’s air quality and reduce the emissions from polluting vehicles. Any vehicles which do not meet the new requirements will be liable for a daily charge to drive within the ULEZ area (operating 24 hours a day / 7 days a week). Initially the zone will operate in the same are as the Congestion Zone, however in 2021 the Zone will expand to Greater London.
More on ULEZ
Ford confirmed that it would use the start up’s electric platform to deliver a Ford branded vehicle. There was no confirmation on what type of vehicle Ford would produce or any hints given when we should expect the new electric vehicle.
In October last year google added electric vehicle charging locations to Maps. Now with this new update, you are able to see real-time electric vehicle charging information via Google maps. This means you can now see if the charger is available before heading to charge. The feature was initially introduced for chargepoints from Chargemaster, EVgo, and SemaConnect with plans to add other charging companies in the future.
The first Fastned charging stations has opened up the UK, is located near Sunderland (and initially it was free of charge to use!). The new chargers are the fastest in the UK and are capable of charging of whirlwind speeds up to 350kW… and uses only renewable energy. The expanding European company currently have 100+ ultra fast charging stations across Europe.
In April, Ford announced they would be introducing an electritrified version of the popular Fotd Transit van. The electric Transit is set to arrive in 2021, will be 100% battery powered and is part of Fords plans to expand electric models across the manufacturers vehicle range
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More electric cars than you can shake a stick at
The day came that 1000’s of drivers had been waiting for, Tesla opened order books for Model 3 in the UK. 3 models became available to order The Standard Range Plus, Performance Range and the Long Range (Standard range will be made available at a later date). Prices started from around £39,000 including the plug-in government grant.
Interested in Leasing the Tesla Model 3?
Get your quote today
Volkswagen start taking order deposits for the first vehicle of the all-electric ID Range. A full preview of car had not been released without the jazzy camouflage; however, this didn’t stop interest in the new electric car as Volkswagen took over 10,000 pre-orders in the first 24 hours. First delievries of the new EV are expected to arrive in 2020, keep checking back on the DriveElectric site for updates.
Read the VW ID.3 blog post
Honda started to take reservation deposits for the new all-electric city car, Honda e. The futuristic yet retro EV will be available in 5 funky colours and you are able to reserve for a deposit of £800. We are expecting to see these vehicles on the road mid 2020.
Watch the Fully Charged Show video
Two specifications were announce for the electric powertrain the SE Nav and Elite Nav. It will come with a 50kWh battery and a real-world range of around 180 miles Pricing will start from £26,490 including plug in car grant.
Get your quote today
Hyundai announce the new model of the IONIQ Electric will come with a bigger 38kWh battery pack meaning a longer range and more power. The real world driving range for the new model is estimated at 160 miles, an increase of around 50 miles extra range compared to the older model. Other new features will be included in the upgrade including a slight facelift.
Lease an IONIQElectric events
Once again, the Fully Charged Show came to life as ‘Fully Charged LIVE’, a festival full of electric vehicles and clean technology. DriveElectric were at the show for the whole weekend where we were testing out our new EV finder application on touchscreens, and in exchange for doing so we were offering visitors a prize draw entry to win a 12 month lease for the Hyundai Kona electric. watch out for more info on next years event…
Take me to the blog post
This year Clean Air Day took place on Thursday 20th June, with the aim to raise awareness on air polution and the impact exposure has on the world. Thousands of people across the country got involved in all kinds of different ways from taking part in clean air day events, some also gave their cars a rest for the day and chose an alternate commute that day. Read how the DriveElectric team got involved in our Clean Air Day blog post.
Read how the DriveElectric Team got involved
The Mayor of London has unveiled a new EV charging infrastructure delivery plan, with the aim to install as many as 50,000 new charge points in the city by 2025
Read the Mayor's plan
The ULEV Experience project was featured on Notts TV on Clean Air Day, 20 June 2019, with Mel Creedy from DriveElectric taking centre stage while at an EV Roadshow event, explaining the benefits of EVs and how Nottingham businesses can try an EV for a month (free of charge).
Watch the Video
After a long anticipated wait, Tesla starts vehicle handovers for UK customers of the Model 3! The first vehicles were handed over to their new owners at Tesla’s Heathrow dealership in West Drayton.
Lease your Tesla Model 3March
April
May
June
July
August
September
Best bits of 2019 (Part 1) (you are here!)
October
September
August
July
June
April
March
February
January
November
October
September
June (Fully Charged LIVE)
July
Header photo by Monika Stawowy on Unsplash
