Legislators force the pace

The CABLED project, recently completed in the West Midlands, has investigated user habits across a range of different electric cars. Figures suggest the majority of individual trips were under five miles, making electric vehicles sensible and economical as long as the infrastructure is in place.

The 25 Mitsubishi iMiEVs involved were running an average of only 23 miles per day and were parked 97% of the time.

But as one autoblog has suggested it would be really interesting to know whether the limited miles being put on these test cars is down to drivers worrying about limited range.

Any fledgling industry developing at different speeds in different parts of the world will be prone to excessive derivation. As the UK moves on apace, investigating EV usage habits, what's to say that the rest of the world will develop different interpretations and a different infrastructure.

And the worry for governments is clearly that, when EVs finally take off, they will be ill-equipped to cope with the sheer range of technologies on offer.

That's why the European Union has decided to publish its own guidelines by the end of 2010, keen to put forward its own ideas prior to any other international standards coming into force. At the moment these guidelines seem mainly concerned with the basics of safety, with potential shock hazards and voltage warning labels.

In 2011 it seems the EU will begin to have standardized all aspects of vehicle charging, including connectors and the day-to-day business of refuelling your new electric car (such as it is).

With the guidelines set to run rule in each of the 27 member states, the EU is set to be a major mover in dictating terms to manufacturers and the rest of the world.

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