EV Experience Centre Closure – COVID-19

During the on-going covid-19 (coronavirus) pandemic and as we enter tier 4 in London and the South East, the Electric Vehicle Experience Centre will be closed as of today (20th December 2020), in line with government guidelines. The safety and welfare of our team and our customers is our priority and given the social distancing restrictions still in place and safety concerns during this ongoing pandemic, it is not possible to continue to run the centre effectively. 

Please see below for additional information regarding test drive bookings.

I have a long-term test drive booked – what should I do?

If you have an upcoming test drive booked with the EV Experience centre, a member of the EVEC team will be in contact to either freeze your booking or to arrange a full refund. If you haven’t been contacted, please email us at evec@bp.com with your contact number and a member of the team will be in touch.

How can I contact the EV Experience Centre if I have a question?

The best way to contact us while we are temporarily closed is to email us at evec@bp.com and someone will respond as soon as possible. We will also still be manning our live chat service and social media channels on Twitter, Facebook Instagram and LinkedIn, so please feel free to contact us on there as well.

When will the centre reopen?

This is unfortunately unclear at this time however we will review this on Wednesday 30th December 2020, in line with the government review. We will continue to follow Government advice to ensure the safety of our staff and members of the public but will keep all our customers updated via our social media channels (Twitter and Facebook). 

I had a test drive experience and have since bought an electric vehicle, can I still get the refund?

If a customer goes on to purchase an electric vehicle after previously having a long-term test drive with us, we offer a full refund of the test drive cost as a thank you for becoming an EV driver. This can be redeemed up to 18 months after the test drive. 

Unfortunately, whilst our team are not at the EV Experience Centre we are unable to process any payments, however please email us at evec@bp.com and you will be refunded as soon as we are able to reopen the centre.

We will make sure to update our customers via social media regarding the reopening of the EV Experience Centre but in the meantime please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have a question or concern.

Covid-19 Closure

As we enter a new lockdown in the UK, the Electric Vehicle Experience Centre will be closed as of tomorrow (5th November 2020), in line with government guidelines. The safety and welfare of our team and our customers is our priority and given the social distancing restrictions still in place and safety concerns during this ongoing pandemic, it is not possible to continue to run the centre effectively. 

Given the social distancing restrictions and safety concerns to both the EVEC staff and members of the public it is not possible to continue to run the centre effectively. The Milton Keynes Council and BP Chargemaster support our decision to close the site and we will keep you updated as to when the centre will reopen. 

Please see below for additional information regarding test drive bookings.

I have a long-term test drive booked – what should I do?

If you have an upcoming test drive booked with the EV Experience centre, a member of the EVEC team will be in contact to discuss rescheduling or to arrange a full refund. If you haven’t been contacted, please email us at evec@bp.com with your contact number and a member of the team will be in touch.

How can I contact the EV Experience Centre if I have a question?

The best way to contact us while we are temporarily closed is to email us at evec@bp.com and someone will respond as soon as possible. We will also still be manning our live chat service and social media channels on Twitter, Facebook Instagram and LinkedIn, so please feel free to contact us on there as well.

When will the centre reopen?

This is unfortunately unclear at this time; we will continue to follow Government advice to ensure the safety of our staff and members of the public but will keep all our customers updated via our social media channels (Twitter and Facebook)

I had a test drive experience and have since bought an electric vehicle, can I still get the refund?

If a customer goes on to purchase an electric vehicle after previously having a long-term test drive with us, we offer a full refund of the test drive cost as a thank you for becoming an EV driver. This can be redeemed up to 18 months after the test drive. 

Unfortunately, whilst our team are not at the EV Experience Centre we are unable to process any payments, however please email us at evec@bp.com and you will be refunded as soon as we are able to reopen the centre.

We will make sure to update our customers via social media regarding the reopening of the EV Experience Centre but in the meantime please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have a question or concern.

The Volkswagen ID.3 has arrived at the EV Experience…

The EV Experience Centre has taken delivery of 5 Volkswagen ID.3’s to join the experience fleet.

The 1st Edition model is a generously spaced small family car, it holds a 58kWh battery, has a WLTP range of 260 miles (210 miles, real world) and achieves 7.3 seconds 0 – 62mph. It’s also capable of up to 11kW AC charging and 100kW DC charging.

It’s currently on display in the showroom and is available to book for flexible experiences from Monday 28th September 2020.

Book your experience by giving us a call on 01908 229 339.Alternatively, fill in the form linked here to receive more information and the soonest availability. 

All numbers referenced can be found on the Electric Vehicle Database. 

Happy Third Birthday EV Experience Centre!

The EV Experience Centre marks its 3rd birthday this week and, we’re excited to celebrate with a double offer extravaganza week!

Founded in 2017, the centre encourages the uptake of electric and plug in vehicles in the Milton Keynes area, offering free and impartial advice. We can’t wait to see what the next couple of years hold. 

Our third birthday is this week, and the Electric Vehicle Experience Centre has a couple of special offers, this week only!

• When you buy a 3 day experience, get 3 days extra free!
  
• We’re also offering 30% extra miles on all experiences.
  
  

The discount will be automatically applied when booking a test drive during the offer period and bookings can be made directly at the EV Experience Centre or by calling 01908 229 339.

Offer terms:

1. The third birthday offers cannot be combined with any other ongoing promotions or vouchers at the Electric Vehicle Experience Centre.
2. Multiple bookings can be made by a single individual, providing it is with a different model of electric vehicle for each booking.
3. Drivers must be between the ages of 21 and 75 years of age.
4. Test drive terms and conditions apply, please visit evexperiencecentre.co.uk/test-drive-terms/ for more information and restrictions.
5. Experiences must be booked between Monday 20th July 2020 10.00 and Sunday 26th July 2020 16:00.

NEW Experience Prices!!

Since reopening the EV Experience Centre, we have been fulfilling customers that had frozen bookings but as of today, we are going to be taking brand new bookings for longer experiences.

We have taken the opportunity to revise our experience costs, and the way we offer the experience.
Previously, you could take our vehicles for four, or seven days, with prices based on the car.

Our new structure allows you to build your own experience. 
First, you choose a car from our line-up, which can be found on our website: https://evexperiencecentre.co.uk/electric-vehicles/

Then, you can choose a period of between two-and-eight days to take the experience car for, allowing for anything from an overnight test drive, to a Saturday to Saturday week of electric vehicle driving.

Each day you take our EV for will cost £15, and your included mileage increases by 50 miles per day booked. Take a look at the flexible package choices below.

You can exceed the allotted mileage, however there will be an excess mileage charge of 25p per mile. Also don’t forget, all experiences include a Polar Plus card, which allows free charging on the Polar network for the duration of the experience. 

While our price for our longer experiences has seen a slight increase, we are now able to offer both extended mileages for our longer experiences compared to before, while simultaneously offering a lower entry level cost, for those looking for their first taste of electric.

EVEC – COVID-19 UPDATE

The EV Experience Centre is set to re-open on Tuesday 23rd June 2020, and we will return to normal opening hours, as stated on our website here.

The safety and welfare of our team is our priority, but we are also taking steps to ensure that we protect all of our visitors.

We will be adhering to government guidelines around COVID-19; strict social distancing will be in place, keeping 2 metres apart at all times, a clear one-way system in effect around the centre, regular cleaning will take place and we will be limiting how many people and the number of groups in the centre at any one time.

We’re excited to announce the return of our longer experiences, initially, we won’t be taking new booking as we work our way through rearranging previously frozen experiences, but we will announce very soon when we’ll be taking new bookings.

If you had a booking that was frozen before our temporary closure, please bear with us and we will get in touch with you shortly to rearrange.

Unfortunately, we will not be hosting short 20-minute test drives, however, we will continually assess and update this as necessary.

Our live chat service will be extending its hours and days, from Monday 22nd June live chat will be available 7 days a week, running from 10am – 5pm Monday – Saturday and 12pm – 4pm on Sundays.

It’s Love MK Day!

On this Love MK Day we wanted to take the time to explain exactly what it is that has made us fall in love with this town we at the EVEC call home.

Read more “It’s Love MK Day!” →

Charging, then and now

In a period in which many of our EV’s are standing dormant, it is important to look back on the last few years, and realise how far we have come as an EV community. 

Back in 2018, we celebrated the advent of 1000 rapid charging locations nationwide around this time in April. The data curated by Zap-Map also specified that this consisted of 1,484 devices, meaning many locations consisted of more than one rapid charger.

Now, in 2020, this number of rapid charging locations has more than doubled to 2168, and with 3133 devices we are still seeing installations that can facilitate multi-car charging.

So where are we going? If we apply the growth of the last two years, we expect to see as many as 4700 locations by the end of 2022!

With every rapid charge point installed, the achievable range of EV’s grows even further, so what will your next destination be once you return to the road? Wherever it is, make sure it’s electrifying.

(Data taken from Zap Map website and represent approximate predictions of growth in EV infrastructure, sourced here: https://www.zap-map.com/statistics/ – Zap-Map is the UK’s leading charging point platform. The charging point map, available on the desktop and iOS/Android apps, helps electric vehicle (EV) drivers locate available charge points, plan routes and share updates with the community.)