Low-carbon motor show EcoVelocity will relocate to Excel London in an earlier timeslot for its second annual edition this year.
 
The consumer show, which was organised several former individuals behind the British International Motor Show in conjunction with London newspaper Metro, debuted at Battersea Power Station from 8 to 11 September 2011. The second edition will now switch to east London from 10 to 13 May.
 
MD of organiser IGME Giles Brown said relocating to a world-class venue such as Excel will allow the show to grow as well as introduce more test drive opportunities, which were at full capacity during the launch event. Brown was one of the organisers behind the British International Motor Show, which was officially cancelled in 2010 and last ran in 2008.
 
“Excel is an outstanding venue, and with nearly 500,000 attending the British Motor Show in 2008, we know how popular it was with both the industry and general public,” Brown said. The new dates will also open up new marketing opportunities, he said. “We looked very carefully at dates for the event and concluded that we didn’t want to lose our marketing messages alongside the Olympics, and decided that May would be a great time for the event.”
 
Although the first show was originally expected to attract 20,000 visitors, actual attendance stood at 7,000. At the time, Brown admitted the organiser’s forecasts had been too high but praised the quality of those who attended.
 
“EcoVelocity got off to a fabulous start at Battersea Power Station, and really stood out from other car events,” Brown continued. “The show featured 17 of the leading low carbon automotive brands and a staggering 7,000 test drives were taken during the event by enthusiastic show visitors.”
 
Brown also confirmed EcoVelocity’s relationship with Metro will also continue for this year’s show and highlighted the newspaper’s strong urban readership as a core audience for his event.  
 
“The link with EcoVelocity significantly strengthened our relationships with readers and car manufacturers and we look forward to supporting the event again in 2012, which looks set to be a bigger and improved event,” Metro executive director for sales and commercial development Grant Woodthorpe said.
 
EcoVelocity 2012 will feature electric, hybrid and very low-carbon derivatives and allow visitors to test drive vehicles on a special test drive circuit.
 
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