Leasedrive Blog

Great news from the SMMT that CO₂ car emissions have dropped by 23 per cent since 2000 – this is a truly outstanding achievement by vehicle manufacturers and reinforces a position I have held for many years, namely that few appreciate the lengths that automotive research and development departments have gone to in extracting the maximum from the internal combustion engine. And there’s more to come too!

As a country, we beat ourselves up endlessly but this is one area in which we can truly feel proud. Our ten-year-old emissions-based vehicle taxation regime is a world-leading example of how things can be done properly for the good of society as a whole. Nearly half of the new cars registered last year had emissions below the EU legislative target of 135g/km. And it doesn’t do any harm either that it places us in pole position to meet the stringent EU target of 95g/km by 2020!

What we as an industry need to do is to ensure that successive governments do not stray off the road and remain committed to this taxation regime. They need to ensure that fleets are also aware of future tax changes to the various emissions’ bands so that vehicle manufacturers, fleet providers and drivers can plan ahead and ensure that they are not caught out. The more all parties can work in a concerted way, the better for all concerned.

Then we need government to join up the dots and start to pull together a consolidated integrated transport policy. With vehicle manufacturers rolling out alternatively-fuelled cars in increasing numbers from full electric vehicles to hybrids, government also needs to be more committed to ensuring the proper provision of a comprehensive re-charging point network. To date it has been behind the ball game and only recently announced it will be publishing an up-to-date database of public re-charging points. For drivers to commit to great new cars such as the Nissan Leaf and Vauxhall Ampera, they need the reassurance that in committing themselves to a better environment they don’t end up by walking home!

A detailed look at the findings of the SMMT New Car CO₂ Report 2012 shows that news cars registered last year were on average 18 per cent more fuel efficient than the average car on the road – again an outstanding statistic and one that should reinforce the argument for addressing the grey fleet within organisations. In the public sector, the average grey fleet car is 6.7 years old so undoubtedly the average fuel efficiency gain is probably higher still.

Last month, new fleet car registrations were down on the same period a year ago and the release of these findings should be used by all interested parties to leverage the argument for moving ‘at work’ drivers out of privately-owned vehicles into new cars, helping boost the economy and the environment at the same time.

The first quarter of 2012 saw the return of private buyers to the forecourt boosting the retail sector. And the used car market would appear to be stronger.

Interestingly, alternative-fuelled vehicle sales appear to be creeping forward with them accounting for 1.5 per cent of the total in the first quarter. With exciting new model releases due between now and the end of the year including the Renault Zoe expect this figure to be higher by year end. However, don’t hold your breath for amazing percentages – there is a lot of life yet in the old dog of an internal combustion engine. Combined with a dis-jointed central government approach on how best to support and promote alternative-fuelled vehicles, vehicle manufacturers continue to back the best horse with its amazing efficiency performance gains.

Back to one of my pet subjects – black holes – not the mysterious kinds, just those chassis-shaking, bone jarring ones we encounter ever more frequently on our roads today.  Apparently, England alone is facing an 11-year backlog on repairing them at a cost of £10bn.

Last year, local filled 1.7 million potholes.  But, according to the Asphalt Industry Alliance, its survey revealed that two-thirds of local councils had failed to bring roads under their authority even back up to pre-winter standards, which isn’t saying a lot about the latter!

That means that a fifth of the roads in England will be in need of urgent repair within the next five years at a cost of £10bn.

Where the money is going to come from God only knows.  And against this backdrop the Highways Agency, which is only responsible for ten per cent of the road network, has already shelled out £2.5m in compensation in a single year by way of compensation for vehicle damage and personal injuries.  One can only imagine the bills being faced by local councils for similar claims!

With public sector finances being squeezed ever tighter, the prospect for the future looks bleak to say the least.

Before the March 21 Budget, the Coalition Government revealed it was to seek private investment for creating and maintaining some major roads in this country.  The idea was bold, unoriginal and well short on detail.

Toll-roads on the Continent are de rigeur in many countries with drivers accepting they need to pay if they want to get from A to B in double-quick time. However, with prices at the pumps at an all-time high, a planned fuel duty increase going ahead in August, I doubt very much whether drivers and fleets have much of an appetite to spend even more on driving around this small island.

If we had a proper transport infrastructure that served the needs of our economy, ran smoothly on time on a daily basis and demonstrated tangible value to users in terms of time saved, smooth transfer and economic value then businesses and private tax payers would be more prepared to dig deeper into their pockets.

However, a bit like local councils’ ‘sticking plaster’ approach to road repair, we’ve seen it and heard it all before from Government and remain cynically unconvinced that it has the intelligence and determination to drive through major infrastructure changes.

Interestingly, Chancellor George Osborne has declared we will all receive, as taxpayers, a transparent account at each tax year end of where the taxes we have paid on our hard earned money has been spent.  If we are to get true transparency, then Government needs to state quite clearly what it has received in terms of road tax, fuel duty, Benefit-in-Kind on company cars etc., directly related to motoring and how much of that money has gone back into new roads, road maintenance, road safety, etc.  Now that will be a much bigger black hole than we are accustomed to encountering on our daily journeys. The gulf between the two will be staggering and Government should be held to account.

Roddy Graham, Commercial Director

Amazing as it may seem, from 1 July this year, if you take your car over to France, you must have a breathalyser on board. That’s in addition to the fluorescent vest, warning triangle, GB sticker and adjusted headlights.

As if people aren’t tempted to stretch the law in foreign parts, this stretches temptation to the extreme. I really can’t think of anything dafter than the Government encouraging its citizens to drive just inside the limit. The plain fact is that if you get behind the wheel of any vehicle, then you shouldn’t drink.

French drivers already have to have a breathalyser in their vehicles and, from November, if a British driver doesn’t have one they’ll face an €11 fine.

Apparently, a one-off breathalyser kit will suffice and they’ll be available at one or two quid at ferry and tunnel terminals. The French drink-drive limit is lower at 50 mg per 100 ml of blood compared with the UK limit of 80 mg per 100 ml of blood, which doesn’t help matters.

Mind you, if you are tempted to have a tipple, then you’ll need at least two single-use breathalyser kits as you have to show the police an unused one if you’re stopped.

Whether the increase in those caught is down to cuts in road safety campaigns is unclear, but the need to crank up the message that drink-driving is unacceptable is clear.

And worse still is the fact that one in nine young drivers admit to consuming illegal drugs and getting behind the wheel of a vehicle. And three per cent of drivers aged between 17 and 24 admit to doing so once a month!

The law on driving while under the influence of drugs is not nearly as clear as drink-driving legislation. Currently, it’s an offence to drive while impaired by drugs so police have to prove that to win a prosecution.

Quite rightly, road safety charity Brake is campaigning for the law to be tightened and for approval to be given to roadside drugalysers so police can detect offenders immediately.

And where does the above affect fleet policy? Many organisations employ young people and, even if they are not eligible for a company car, a fair proportion will be grey fleet drivers occasionally or regularly ‘at work’ on the road.

While I’m against people being forced by legislation to carry a breathalyser in their vehicle as a matter of principle – you should be encouraging drivers to not drink and drive at all, not drink a little bit and drive – perhaps there is a role for breathalysers and drugalysers in managing fleets.

With duty of care still so high up the boardroom agenda, occasional spot checks on drivers before they leave or when they arrive at a work location may not be a bad idea and send out all the right messages. However, I can already hear the cries about invasion of personal privacy!

Roddy Graham, Commercial Director

It never fails to amaze me how governments, of whatever political persuasion, live in an unreal world.

Do the policy makers live with their heads permanently buried in the sand or where the sun simply doesn’t shine?

Whether it’s health care reform, encouraging all primary school children to have read one Charles Dickens book or plug-in car grants, the proposals put forward or enacted are invariably impractical, costly or plain hare-brained.

Take plug-in car grants. The CO2 based vehicle tax regime is undoubtedly one approach the Government has got right, as is its technology-neutral approach to reducing vehicle emissions.

However, the plug-in car grant can hardly have been described as a hit. At the end of last year 1,052 vehicles eligible for the grant were registered according to the SMMT, while bizarrely only 892 claims for the plug-in grant, entitling owners up to 25 per cent off the total car cost or a maximum £5,000 contribution, had been submitted. This figure is surprising to say the least.

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to work out that 892 successful plug-in car grant claims in year one is hardly a decent return on investment.

Indeed, it would be good for some Whitehall watchdog to investigate precisely how much this PR stunt, before it backfired, has cost the UK taxpayer. Whatever the final figure, I’m sure voters would be none too impressed.

And if you look at what’s on offer, they will be even less bowled over. Currently, any vehicle with CO2 emissions of 75g/km or less, whether it’s electric, a plug-in hybrid or hydrogen-fuelled, qualifies for the grant. The eligible list has, hold your breath, increased from nine to ten vehicles for 2012.

The plug-in grant choice list is hardly extensive and, of the five so far on sale in the UK, the standout car is the 2011 European Car of the Year, the Nissan Leaf.

But however good a car to drive, it still seems to worry testers when it comes to reaching their destination.

Range, or lack of it, continues to be the Achilles heel of all electric vehicles. Despite EV recharging points having more than doubled in the last six months, the fact remains that the availability of over 2,500 points is hardly going to make the worries go away until technology comes up with a cost-effective solution to double current ranges.

And when you look at the fact that the Government has only installed 765 EV recharging points out of the total available, one has to ask what it is up to in not paving the way for a national EV recharging infrastructure.

The plugged-in places programme appears even less successful than its plug-in car grant at 765 vs. 892. As for a national charge point register, that has to still to make a long overdue appearance. At least Nissan Leaf owners can breathe easy, as their satnavs, direct them to the nearest EV charging point before expiry.

Once more I keep banging on about the lack of joined-up thinking. At least former deputy Prime Minister John Prescott recognised the need for an integrated transport policy.

We’re still waiting for one and the plug-in car grant and plugged-in places programme, reliant once more on private initiative and investment, is yet another example of a cobbled together approach.

And don’t imagine for one minute that the hike in eligible grant for vans, from £5,000 to £8,000, will turn the plug-in grant idea into an overnight sensation.

Any increase in contribution to whole life costs is to be welcomed, especially by van operators, but realistically will they go for a package with a limited ‘drop-off’ range?

It seems to me that the majority of the £300m set aside for plug-in grants to the end of 2015 will be welcomed by future governments as they countenance tackling the £200bn bill they face by the ‘spend now, pay later’ culture!

Roddy Graham, Commercial Director

One of the things that always strikes me is how some individuals in our industry are always prepared to go the extra mile, without seeking grace or favour. They are truly the unsung heroes.

Why do I raise this? Well, recently the 18th annual national members’ conference of the Institute of Car Fleet Management was held at Peugeot UK’s headquarters in Coventry. It’s a venue we’ve used before, as it is centrally located, making it easier for ICFM members to attend.

As always the conference was well attended and I believe enjoyed by all who participated. The programme, as has been the case for the last two years, was a mix of keynote speakers and practical training workshops. This latest conference was focused on the real cost of driver behaviour.

Various speakers amply demonstrated the cost savings to be made in terms of improved fuel economy and fewer accident and incident costs. The latter could be halved while the former could on average be increased by a third. One customer was shown to have saved £1m on fuel costs alone through micro-management.

Topping it all, we had a stimulating and motivational talk from Olympic Silver Medallist, Leon Taylor. You may have heard of Tom Daley but not necessarily Leon. That’s all to do with the media hype surrounding next year’s London Olympic Games.

Leon is Tom’s mentor, and the person who performed the world’s most complicated dive. If you need a motivational speaker, you couldn’t do better.

Capping the day, we recognised the achievements of our students from the past year – 25 of whom passed their introductory certificate in car fleet management and 19 their certificate in car fleet management.

All these individuals take working in the fleet sector seriously and have the drive to better themselves for the benefit of themselves and their employers. The seven individuals who achieved their diploma in car fleet management, six with distinction, embody this outlook most.

But the conference, and indeed the education and training provided by the ICFM would not be possible without the investment in time and energy by those nine members who make up the ICFM council. These individuals give freely of their time to further the aims of the ICFM while holding down full-time jobs.

All are unsung heroes but one in particular stands out, which is why I was delighted to present him with a scroll recognising him as only the second honorary fellow of the ICFM. Director and treasurer, Peter Eldridge has been an ICFM member since 1993 and a council member since 1997.

Since joining the council, Peter has worked tirelessly and selflessly for the good of the institute, performing various roles on council and being available 24/7. He truly epitomises the saying “eats, sleeps and breaths” the ICFM. It was a delight to recognise him in this way at the conference. We all owe him a big debt of gratitude for his endeavours on behalf of the Institute and its members.