Worldwide EHV fleet demonstrations - Summary

Fleet demonstrations of battery-powered electric and hybrid vehicles outside the United States do not involve basic technologies not being employed in the USA. The major difference between USA and foreign fleets is that several of the overseas demonstration programs are older than those in the United States, and therefore have developed greater reliability of the EV´s. In general, the foreign demonstration programs have experienced the usual start-up problems, but are accumulating years of experience in kilometers travelled. The bus program in Germany has accumulated more than 500,000 kilometers. The only type of program found overseas which is not found in the United States is a demonstration of two fleets of electric hybrid busses, in West Germany. Major lessons learned from the overseas demonstrations have included the requirements of reliability, the important contribution of regenerative braking, the necessity for driver training and cooperation and the need for application of intensive engineering to all aspects of the vehicle. The United Kingdom has the largest fleet of electric automobiles and --except for this application--there are no large-size electric automobile fleet demonstrations overseas. This contrasts with the United States, where electric automobiles usually are being demonstrated to a greater extent than electric delivery vans, with the exception of the U.S. Postal Service program.