Drive wisely into the green
In April when we celebrate the Earth Day, various events are held to raise the awareness of environmental protection. Any person can contribute significantly to keep environment clean by using, among other things, alternatively powered vehicles. And this is precisely what some students of mechanical engineering focussed on. On the initiative of the University of Ljubljana, the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, the students carried out the project »Drive wisely into the green« in cooperation with partners like TPV Group, School Center Novo mesto, the Municipality of Novo mesto and the Municipality of Ljubljana. The project aimed at demonstrating the alternatively powered vehicles (electric, hybrid, and plug-in hybrid vehicles) to pupils, students and other members of the public.
On Wednesday, April 6, 2016 young researchers in cooperation with partners tested the following ecological vehicles: Renault ZOE, Renault Kangoo Z.E., BMW i3, Golf GTE, Toyota RAV4 Hybrid, Toyota Prius Hybrid, Toyota Yaris Hybrid, Toyota Auris Hybrid. They took a test ride by these cars from Novo mesto to Ljubljana bearing in mind the environment-friendly aspect of the ride. The gathering point was the town hall of Novo mesto where the participants were welcomed by the Mayor of Novo mesto, Gregor Macedoni and the Director of TPV Center, Vladimir Bahč. During their ride to Ljubljana, the young researchers made measurements to be used further on in their education studies. The test driving ended in front of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering where they were received by the Dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, prof.dr. Branko Širok, and by the team of professors. Then followed a presentation of electric, plug-in hybrid and hybrid vehicles to the professors, students and pupils which was also one of the purposes of the project.
The Municipality of Novo mesto stimulates the development of e-mobility as a charging station for electric vehicles has already been installed in the city center. Moreover, they wish to entirely replace their vehicle fleet with electric cars in two or three year’s time. In order to stimulate the e-mobility, they also joined the project »Drive wisely into the green«. The TPV Group’s interest to enter the project was to promote a wide range of electric and hybrid cars and to share their knowledge about the alternatively powered vehicles with young zealous students. Vladimir Bahč, the Director of TPV Avto pointed out the company’s wish to keep them updated with new technologies as the relevant development is evolving rapidly. Young people represent a potential for this area and therefore we need to provide them vehicles to perform measurements and to follow the trends in the alternatively powered vehicles.
The alternatively powered vehicles are certainly our future so they will gain an increasingly bigger market share. TPV Center and TPV Avto are inviting you to visit their showrooms at Kandijska cesta 60 and see and test the hybrid and electric cars.
