The vehicle is being made available to Arval staff for a minimum of six months to provide staff with clear insight into the future technology coming from BMW. This experience will then be shared with customers. In addition, Arval will be showcasing the car at events and giving customers the opportunity to drive it.

Produced as part of a small production run, the ActiveE is being used as part of BMW Group’s field trials for long-term electric mobility, including for the forthcoming i3, which is due to be launched at the end of the year. According to BMW, the ActiveE is capable of reaching 62mph in 9 seconds with a top speed of 90mph and an everyday range said to extend to 100 miles.

The ActiveE test forms part of the Arval Consultancy team’s trial of a range of new vehicle technologies in recent months to gain knowledge on such vehicles to provide expert feedback and advice to end-user fleets.

David Bushnell, fleet consultant at Arval, said: ‘Having driven the ActiveE it’s a really refined electric car. We are regularly asked about new technologies by our customers so it’s crucial to have access to these vehicles so that we can make customers aware of the benefits and practicalities involved and can also take an educated view on how it could be successfully incorporated into their fleet.’

Stephen Chater, corporate operations manager at BMW UK, added: ‘The BMW ActiveE provides the perfect opportunity for people to learn more about electromobility and take a closer look at the future of BMW’s alternatively fuelled vehicles, with BMW i due to launch later this year. We are delighted that Arval is proactively promoting new vehicle technologies not just to their customers, but also to a future generation.’

The production of the BMW ActiveE is restricted to around 1,000 vehicles at the BMW plant in Leipzig Germany. This particular model was used to move guests around during the 2012 London Olympic Games and will return to Germany at the end of the Arval lease. 

The BMW ActiveE will also be present at the Fleet World Fleet Show next week and will be joined by a host of other vehicles from the BMW range. In total over 200 vehicles from 21 manufacturers will be available to test at the Show.

For more details please visit www.thefleetshow.co.uk or click here to register: http://www.thefleetshow.co.uk/for-visitors/visitor-registration