Ecovelocity director Giles Brown told Event between 20,000 and 30,000 people were expected at the event from 8 - 11 September. But visitor numbers released today were 8,700, a third of that figure.
Organised by Metro newspapers and International Green Motor Events (IGME), Ecovelocity was the first show of its kind and allowed car fans to test drive the latest green vehicles around a specially-tarmacked track at Battersea Power Station.
Brown said it had been difficult to predict a figure for the show: "It was a launch event and we had no precedent to guess what the numbers might be, and simply guessed too high."
He added that greater numbers would have been problematic as exhibiting car manufacturers were swamped with test drive requests: "Had we had the numbers we suggested, we’d have had riots on our hands. Several exhibitors were running flat out each day, and we had to cancel our car parades to provide more track time for exhibitors."
Childrens' activities were popular with three-hour queues for the SEAT Young Drivers programme and the Honda’s ‘My First Licence’ motorcycle test rides booked up for the day within 15 minutes of opening, leading to some complaints. "It’s clear we need to add more activities to the next event," said Brown.
"The currency exhibitors use to judge the event is with quality test drives and leads, not just footfall. It was abundantly clear that we delivered those in spades, with car makers providing, on average, 400 test drives during the show period," he added.
Toyota and Lexus marketing manager Lance Bates said: "For us it was a cost effective way to not only build awareness of but also to showcase and demonstrate our hybrid technology. Considering this was the first time the event has been staged we were pleased at the number of test drives achieved across both brands."
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Look out for Event's showcase of Ecovelocity in the October edition.