Opinion from Jonathan Hill

Cities across the country are following the lead of the Mayor of London, and ULEZ (Ultra Low Emissions Zone), by implementing their own measures to reduce carbon produced by combustion engines.  
 
Xpression are based just outside Oxford, where Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford City Council have introduced a zero emission zone (ZEZ) to improve air quality, cut carbon emissions and move towards zero emission travel in the city.  The ZEZ is an area of Oxford where zero emission vehicles such as fully electric motor cycles, bicycles, cars and vans can be used without incurring charge but where others may be charged – including hybrids.  
 
Jonathan Hill, MD of Xpression Logistics said “we are investigating a number of ideas to reduce costs for our customers who need to deliver or collect goods from inner-cities, finding ways to minimise the daily fees incurred by combustion engines, whilst cutting carbon”.   There are a number of ideas they are investigating but the most obvious was for the business to invest in electric vehicles (including electric vans) to add to their electric car fleet.  “We have already worked on a number of carbon-reducing ideas such as running all diesel generators on carbon-offset fuel with which we also intend to run two vehicles on the logistics fleet” said Mr Hill. 
 
Xpression have for many years had a close relationship with Volkswagen and therefore their first instinct was to research (and then purchase) a Buzz.  Mr Hill said “the initial opinion of the drivers what sceptical, but as each of them has the opportunity to test drive the Buzz and use it to make deliveries, their minds are quickly changed”.   EV technology has improved dramatically over the years and the Buzz is proving to be able to do nearly 300 miles on a full battery, charge quickly, have plenty of space to carry customers’ goods and (importantly to the team) is exceptionally comfortable to drive.  
 
“We took the Buzz to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone this year and it was ideal, as well as attracting a lot of attention”.   Mr Hill added  “I am not concerned about the future of logistics in an EV world, every problem is an opportunity and this company is looking forward to managing those opportunities going forward”
 
For more information please email Jonathan@xpressionevents.co.uk or call 01869 232234

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Westfield London, more used to crowds of shoppers thronging its halls, was turned into a racetrack for a content marketing drive featuring DS Automobiles’ new electric car.

A film released by DS Automobiles shows Formula E racing driver Sam Bird taking the brand’s concept car for a secret after-hours spin inside Westfield London, marking the UK debut of the high-performance DS E-TENSE vehicle.

The behind-closed-doors footage shows Bird, a DS Virgin Racing driver and the third-highest all-time Formula E points scorer, behind the wheel of the all-electric vehicle. As the camera pans away it becomes clear he is driving indoors, past many of the high-street and high-end stores that call the major retail destination in White City home.

Westfield Brand Ventures, a division of the shopping centre operators which offers tailored propositions to brands to deliver consumer engagement throughout the retail journey, worked with DS Automobiles on arranging special permission for Bird to drive the DS E-TENSE indoors after closing time.

The footage was recorded at night inside Westfield London, soon to become Europe’s largest shopping centre when a £600 million Phase 2 expansion opens in March 2018.

Paul Buttigieg, Westfield’s Director of Operations, says: “We like to go the extra mile for our partners to help them create innovative content to drive awareness and sales. Giving a leading racing driver the green light to take a spin inside one of our centres was a real first but having built such a positive relationship with DS Automobiles over the past few years we wanted to help them create a standout moment to mark the UK debut of the DS E-TENSE, and the soon-to-be-launched DS 7 CROSSBACK.”

DS Automobiles has partnered with Westfield London since 2015, opening its flagship DS Urban Store in 2016. The digitally-enabled boutique concept invites visitors to explore the lifestyle of the Parisian-born brand at one of London’s premium shopping destinations.

Mark Blundell, UK Marketing Director at DS Automobiles, adds: “The avant-garde spirit of design present in every DS car aligns perfectly with some of the world’s most luxurious names in fashion located in Westfield London. This remains the perfect location for our brand and Westfield continues to help us find new and creative ways to engage an extremely high footfall audience.”

First unveiled at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show, the DS E-TENSE concept car perfectly blends state-of-the-art technology and avant-garde design with unique styling. Fittingly, the model Bird can be seen driving in the film is an exclusive metallic ametrine green; the zero-emissions DS E-TENSE delivers propulsion that is clean, silent, efficient and powerful.

Westfield’s Brand Ventures works collaboratively with partners to maximise revenue and deliver an enhanced customer experience across its portfolio of physical and digital assets within Westfield London and Westfield Stratford City.

DS Automobiles is a luxury car marque which is part of Groupe PSA, which owns the Peugeot, Citroën, DS Automobiles, Opel and Vauxhall Motors brands. DS aims to revive the tradition of premium vehicles in the French automotive industry, perpetuating the values of innovation and distinction inherited from the first DS, launched in 1955. DS also supports year-round artistic and cultural activities based around fashion, design, art and gastronomy.

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Electric vehicle charging company Chargemaster has just opened the EV Centre, the UK’s first ever Electric Vehicle Experience Centre, in the centre:MK shopping mall.

The EV Centre is a multi-brand showroom which has been designed to offer impartial advice to shoppers. It is staffed by highly trained independent professionals whose brief is to educate and inspire people about the benefits of electric vehicles.

The retail division of experience agency TRO was responsible for the design, production and installation of the EV Experience Centre, which features a number of engaging touchpoints to enrich shoppers’ showroom experience.

Ben Taylor, Retail Director at TRO, comments: “We are delighted to be involved in such a ground-breaking project which has taken our expertise in experience into the permanent retail space. Through our knowledge of experience marketing we understand the power of immersive techniques to engage consumers and drive change and ultimately buying habits.  Our involvement from the design and production through to the installation has been delivered end-to-end by our in-house team.”

Chargemaster is responsible for the running and management of the store for its five-year duration. David Martell, Founder and CEO of Chargemaster, says: “Being part of such a high-profile and diverse project is very exciting for Chargemaster. The centre will be the first of its kind and we are sure it will pave the way for other cities to follow. We are looking forward to welcoming Milton Keynes shoppers and showing them everything that going electric has to offer.”

The ground-breaking EV Experience Centre was opened on July 20th 2017 by Jesse Norman MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Department of Transport. It was developed as part of Milton Keynes’ £9 million ‘Go Ultra Low’ Cities programme, which encourages the uptake of low emission vehicles, with a target of 23% of all car sales being electric or plug-in by 2021.

Founded in 1982, TRO is a global experiential event agency which is connects people and brands through memorable experiences. The agency offers in-house insights, strategy, creative, production, field staffing, digital/social/mobile and measurement departments and has 16 offices in 11 countries around the world.

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