The seminar is being held on Tuesday 18th February from 10am to 4pm at BMW Oxford and sees ACFO join forces with BMW and a wide range of other electric vehicle experts, including the Energy Saving Trust (EST) and the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV), to provide managers with the very latest information. 

With some in the industry predicting that 2014 will mark the tipping point for EVs, the seminar will address the suitability of electric vehicles for fleet operations today in terms of day-to-day operation from both a fleet and driver perspective as well as whether whole-life costs are realistic, what the tax position is and what the future holds.

The seminar speaker line-up has been completed and includes:

• Anna West, head of consumer initiatives at OLEV, who will focus on Government support for electric vehicles and available funding to fleets, the Plugged-in Fleets Initiative and tax issues.
• In three separate sessions David Nicholas, the EST’s fleet partnership manager will highlight: “The Business Case” – the electric vehicle market background, operational opportunities, whole life cost methodology and current barriers to adoption; “Vehicle Charging and Infrastructure” – charging times, charging modes and where to charge; and “Tax and Electric Vehicles” – including company car tax and business mileage rates.
• Jim McNally, asset risk manager, and Nigel Trotman, strategic fleet consultant, both from Alphabet, will focus on the challenges faced from a leasing company perspective and how fleets can tackle the introduction of electric vehicles to their fleet policies.
• Phil Redman, ACFO director and fleet manager at IBM UK, will discuss the issues he confronted when choosing to add zero emission cars to the company car choice list
• Also, Gerry Keaney, chief executive of the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association, will host an open question and answer and discussion session during which delegates will be able to gather further information on key issues addressed during the seminar or raise any other electric vehicle issues of concern. 

Delegates will also have the opportunity to put the BMW i3 through its paces by pre-booking ride and drive slots at three separate times: 8-10am, 1-2pm and from 4pm. 

Free to attend, the seminar is open to ACFO members and non-members from across the public, private and voluntary sectors. Non-members attending who have operational fleet responsibility will have the opportunity to join ACFO at the special rate of £127+VAT, saving a third off the annual subscription of £190+ VAT. 

Anyone wishing to attend should register by Friday 31st January and delegates who would like to participate in the BMW i3 ride and drive should email the ACFO Membership Services’ Organisation at [email protected] or go to www.acfo.org.