And that’s a wrap – The Experience Centre Closes

The Electric Vehicle Experience Centre’s final day is here, look at what we have achieved over the years!

The EVEC was set up in 2017 in centre:mk shopping centre, Milton Keynes by Chargemaster, in conjunction with Milton Keynes Council and Go Ultra Low’s £9 million funding for the Go Ultra Low Cities scheme.

The goal was for 23% of all new vehicle sales in Milton Keynes to be electric by 2023 and we have certainly achieved this, we have recorded over 400 confirmed orders and SMMT Data Information for 2021 was 24%.

The centre has seen more than 200,000* people through the door, achieved more than 5,500* on the spot short test drives and completed more than 2,200* longer test drive experiences.

We have also hosted more than 250 events (internally and externally), including the launch of the Nissan Leaf in 2018, the first UK public appearance of the Audi e-tron, Fully Charged (Live Announcement), Fully Charged (Maddie Goes Electric), EV Café, participated in the ‘Charge to the Circle’ challenge, long term involvement in the MK Council Pedalling Culture project, training days for local businesses and vehicle manufacturers and several vehicle manufacturer takeovers.

Within the showroom we have featured the MINI Electric shell, BMW i3 shell, BMW i8 Roadster, Driverless Aurrigo Pod, Kyburz e-Rod and the pre-production Renault ZOE 50.

During the covid-19 lockdowns, our vehicles were utilised by Milton Keynes Council (for food bank deliveries and pharmacy deliveries). We also supported the MET police with some vehicles during lockdown to assist officer movements. We have continued to support the Milton Keynes Council Social and Care Team with some vehicles for home visits.

We’d like to thank everyone that has been involved to keep the centre going for five years, bp pulse, Milton Keynes Council, Department for Transport, Rainbows Car Wash, we’d also like to thank the many manufacturers we have partnered with over the years, Renault, Volvo, Nissan, Vauxhall, Volkswagen, Skoda, KIA, Mitsubishi, BMW, Audi and MINI.

*Please note, the centre was closed for over 7 months plus other tier based restrictions.

New Flexible Experience Price Changes

The Electric Vehicle Experience Centre Flexible Experiences have been a huge success over the past year, therefore we have decided to keep the length option the same but review the prices for some of the newer models.

It is currently £15 per day for standard vehicles and £30 per day for premium vehicles.

Book a test drive

The new pricing structure includes four price groups, the first three sit in the standard insurance criteria and has a £500 damage deposit and the fourth group sits in the premium insurance criteria and has a £750 damage deposit.

Group 1 will be £15 per day, group 2 will be £20 per day and group 3 will be £25 per day. Group 4 is for premium vehicles and will be £40 per day.

These new prices will take affect on Monday 14^th February at 09.30.

Please see the new prices below.

If you’d like to make an experience booking, please complete this form (https://evexperiencecentre.co.uk/request/test-drive/), then give us a call on 01908 229339 to make payment and secure your dates.

Book a test drive

New Year, New Miles

Happy New Year!

The EV Experiences have been a huge success over the past few years and we’re looking to shake things up a little bit.

Our visitors not only travel from the surrounding areas but from all over the country to come and see us and experience cars. Electric vehicles have massively improved since the centre first opened in summer 2017, with vehicle ranges doubling, due to battery and software improvements.

As a result of this, we have decided to increase the included miles for each experience (experiences include a set amount of travel miles, if exceeded, there is a charge of 25p per mile.), this means instead of receiving 50 miles per day, experiences will come with 100 miles per day.

Yes, that’s right,  Double the amount of miles for the same price!

For example, when you book a 2-day, 1 night experience, it will come with 200 miles, this gets you from Milton Keynes, to Stafford and back and if you book an 8 day, 7 night experience, it comes with 800 miles that will take you from Milton Keynes to Edinburgh and back.

Please see the new changes in the table below.

To book your experience, please complete this form then give us a call on 01908 229 339 to make payment and book your experience.

Audi re-joins the EV Experience Centre

Following a successful pilot partnership with Audi, we’re very happy to announce Audi will be continuing their partnership with the EV Experience Centre.

We will be adding three new models to the experience fleet, the Audi e-tron Sportback 55 Quattro, Audi e-tron 50 Quattro and the Audi e-tron Q4 (both 35 and 40 variants).

The Audi e-tron Sportback 55 Quattro holds an 86.5kWh battery, has a real-world range of 230 miles (WLTP 277), it can charge at 155kW in around 26 minutes. The Sportback model is the best performance model in our fleet, with a 300kW motor it has 402hp and can achieve a 0-60 time of 5.7 seconds.

The Audi e-tron 50 Quattro holds a 64kWh useable battery, has a real-world range of 175 miles (212 WLTP, it can charge at 120kW DC which will get you from 10%-80% in around 25 minutes. The All-Wheel Drive car has 308hp and can achieve a 0 – 60mph time of 6.8 seconds.

We offer two models of the Audi e-tron Q4, the e-tron Q4 35 and the Audi e-tron Q4 40.

The Audi e-tron Q4 40 models will predominantly be used, unless requested for or stated otherwise.

The 35 model hosts a 51.5kWh useable battery and has a real-world range of 175 miles (212 WLTP). It can make use of 100kW DC charging meaning you can achieve a 10% – 80% charge in around 30 minutes. The real wheel model has 168hp and achieve a 0-60mph time of 9 seconds.

The 40 models hosts a 76.6kWh useable battery and has a real-world range of 250 miles (324 WLTP). It can charge at 126kW DC charging, meaning you can achieve a 0-80% charge in 34 minutes. The rear wheel model has 200hp and can achieve a 0-60mph in 8.5 seconds.

The e-tron Q4 is available for flexible experiences at the standard rate of £15 per day, with the standard terms and conditions.

However, the Audi e-tron’s (Audi e-tron 50 and Audi e-tron Sportback 55) are priced at £30 per day, with a different insurance criteria that can be found here, when scrolled down to the Audi section.

Begin your experience by completing a book a test drive form.

Skoda joins the EV Experience Centre

After a successful partnership with Volkswagen for four years, we’re excited to be adding another Volkswagen Group member to the EV Experience Centre.

In 2016, Go Ultra Low launched its ‘Low Carbon City Scheme’ aimed at improving emissions in major cities across the country, and with exclusive funding awarded to 4 chosen cities. Of the £40 million total funding, £9 million was awarded to Milton Keynes, the second largest funding in the scheme, alongside London, Bristol and Nottingham.

Milton Keynes Council, in conjunction with bp pulse (formerly chargermaster) decided to start the EV Experience venture, the centre is a five-year project and opened in July 2017, the main objective is for electric vehicles to make up 23% of all new car sales by 2022.

Skoda will be joining the Centre as of Monday 13th September 2021, we have two models of the Skoda Enyaq, the Enyaq iV 60 and Enyaq iV 80.

The Skoda Enyaq iV 60 has a usable battery size of 58kWh, with a real-world range of 205 miles (WLTP 257), it can charge at 100kW in around 33 minutes. It also has great performance, with a 132kW motor it’s capable of 177hp and a 0-60 time of 8.7 seconds.

The Skoda Enyaq iV 80 has a usable battery size of 77kWh, with a real-world range of 260 miles (WLTP 334), it can charge at 126kW in around 34 minutes. It also has great performance, with a 150kW motor it’s capable of 201hp and a 0-60 time of 8.6 seconds.

The EV Experience Centre manager, Dan Mclaren says “I’m really excited to have SKODA joining us here at the EVEC, Skoda is a Brand that have really immersed themselves into the future of mobility and we can’t wait to promote their incredible brand”.

The models will be available for flexible test drives at the standard test drive rate of £15 per day, from 2 – 8 days, begin your test drive by completing this form.

Vauxhall Mokka-e joins the experience fleet

The Vauxhall partnership is ever-growing, and we’re excited to announce a brand-new model to the experience fleet.

The Vauxhall Mokka-e will be available to book for test drives from today, Wednesday 1st September 2021.

The compact SUV shares the same drivetrain as its younger brother, the Corsa-e. It holds a 45kWh usable battery and a WLTP range of 200 miles and a real-world range of 155 miles.

It can charge at a maximum of 11kW on AC and up to 99kW on DC, this means you can achieve a rapid charge of 10% – 80% in around 31 minutes.

The stylish family car features a clean and minimalist interior, some great colour options and styling accents.

For those of you looking for performance stats, the Mokka-e carries a 100kW motor which equates to about 134hp and can achieve a 0-60 time of 8.5 seconds.

Begin your Vauxhall Mokka-e experience by tapping here.

Vauxhall joins the EV Experience Centre

The EV Experience Centre has gained a brand new partner; Vauxhall has officially joined the centre as of today, Wednesday 28th April, 2021. 

The Vauxhall Corsa-e will be joining the experience fleet and will be available for flexible test drives from Friday 30th April 2021. 

Natalie Reay, EV Experience Centre Manager, said: “We’re very excited to add the new Corsa-e to our fleet of vehicles. With our centre now back open, we are looking forward to welcoming customers behind the wheel of our new electric vehicles.”

Paul Willcox, Managing Director, Vauxhall, said: “The Electric Vehicle Experience Centre is a fantastic initiative to help educate British consumers about the benefits of switching to electric.  Vauxhall has a range of affordable all-electric cars and vans and we are looking forward to be able to offer visitors to the centre test drives in our award-winning Corsa-e.”

To let you in on what the new supermini is capable of, the Corsa-e has a 45kWh battery (useable) and a WLTP range of 209 miles. It can charge from 15% – 80% in just 30 minutes on a rapid charger and give you a full charge on a fast charger in roughly 7.5 hours. It also has great performance with a rated 0-60mph time of 7.6 seconds. 

We will also be offering the Vauxhall Mokka-e for test drives mid-way through the year, keep an eye on our social media to find out more. 

To book your test drive in the Vauxhall Corsa-e, please complete this form and give us a call on 01908 229 339 to book and pay for your experience.

Experiences are back!

We’ve loved welcoming you all back into the centre over the last few days, we can now confirm flexible experiences are back open!

Due to the government lockdown, a few customers were left with frozen bookings that needed to be readjusted before the books could reopen to new applications. 

Choose your experience length (between 2-8 days), each day costs £15*. There is a limit on the amount of miles the vehicle can travel during an experience, each day gains you 50 miles, for example with a 2 day experience, 100 miles are included.

If the mileage limit is exceeded, you will pay 25p per mile. Please take a look below to see the full pricing. See test drive terms and conditions here. 

£30 – 2 days, 1 night – 100 miles included

£45 – 3 days, 2 nights – 150 miles included

£60 – 4 days, 3 nights – 200 miles included

£75 – 5 days, 4 nights – 250 miles included

£90 – 6 days, 5 nights – 300 miles included

£105 – 7 days, 6 nights – 350 miles included

£120 – 8 days, 7 nights – 400 miles included

(Excess mileage is charged at 25p per mile)

* These prices apply to ALL vehicles except from the Audi etron Sportback, please tap on the article link below to see the prices and terms and conditions.

https://evexperiencecentre.co.uk/audi-joins-the-ev-experience-centre/ 

Please complete this form and give us a call on 01908 229 339 to book and pay for your experience. 

COVID-19 April re-opening

The EV Experience Centre is set to re-open today, Monday 12th April 2021, and we will return to normal opening hours, as stated on our website here.

We’re very excited to welcome you all back to the centre, with a brand new partner and 10+ cars to choose from, what’s not to love?

We have also taken delivery of the Volkswagen ID.4 1st Edition over the lockdown closure. Please note – we cannot take new bookings right now, please look out for an announcement later this week.  

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, mandatory mask wearing unless exempt, 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 your test drive.

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 12th April 2021 live chat will be available 7 days a week, running from 10am – 5pm Monday – Saturday and 12pm – 4pm on Sundays.

Audi joins the EV Experience Centre

As we enter the fifth year of the EV Experience Centre, we are excited to welcome Audi as our new OEM partner.

Building on the success we have seen with Volkswagen as a founding partner, we are looking forward to introducing you to another member of the group!  

Audi joins the centre to support the release of their newest e-tron: the Sportback 55 Quattro, now our highest costing electric vehicle on fleet by a comfortable margin. This vehicle holds an 86.5kWh battery, with a WLTP range of 230 miles and can charge within 30 minutes on a 150kW charging unit. 

We still intend to offer the same EV Experience in the e-tron as we have across the rest of our fleet, however there will be some small adjustments around price, age limit and deposit.  

The Audi e-tron Sportback 55 Quattro will be available for flexible experiences, starting at 10:00am, Wednesday 14th April 2021.

As this model sits in the luxury car market, there will be a small increase in the cost for this premium e-tron experience. This is an incredible way to try the luxury side to electric vehicles and don’t forget, we are still offering our full refund of one experience following a confirmed EV purchase.

Our updated costs for the Audi e-tron Sportback can be found here: 

£60 – 2 days, 1 night – 100 miles included 
 
£90 – 3 days, 2 nights – 150 miles included 
 
£120 – 4 days, 3 nights – 200 miles included 
 
£150 – 5 days, 4 nights – 250 miles included 
 
£180 – 6 days, 5 nights – 300 miles included 
 
£210 – 7 days, 6 nights – 350 miles included 
 
£240 – 8 days, 7 nights – 400 miles included 
 
(Excess mileage is charged at 25p per mile) 

We will also be requiring a condition deposit of £750, and our minimum driver age will be 30 years of age, which stands in addition to our standard test drive terms and conditions.  

We are looking forward to introducing you to the world of e-tron, as well as our other fantastic partners when we reopen on 12/04/21.