The Energy Saving Trust's blog

Speeding past, saving carbon

Last month we wrote about the Nissan Leaf going into mass production - a great development, but one certainly less surprising than Porsche getting in on the act.

Asked to consider what a low carbon vehicle looks like, most people would probably think of a small to medium-sized family car - something, funnily enough, that looks a bit like the Leaf. Very few would probably think of a 200mph sports car.

But, as reported in the Daily Telegraph and elsewhere, The Porsche 918 Spyder, which manages to do 0-62mph in just 3.2 seconds while emitting just 70g/km CO2, is to head into full production after an overwhelming public response at the Geneva motor show.

This follows the Porsche Cayenne Hybrid making it onto the Powershift Register for Congestion Charge exemption earlier this year. While a vision of a nation of eco sports car drivers is both economically unrealistic and whimsical, it does show the key role technology has in driving the pace of change towards greater sustainability in how we transport ourselves.

CO2 emissions can be reduced by 25 percent right now simply by people buying best in class for fuel efficiency - but there are still technological and infrastructural barriers to be overcome before we see mass uptake of best in class vehicles. That’s why we back initiatives like the Technology Strategy Board’s Low Carbon Vehicles Innovation Platform, which aims to support those working to overcome these obstacles and stimulate the UK market.

As well as the promise of technology to cut transport emissions, the ‘eco Porsche’ also illustrates the fact that companies are not being limited by any apparent public expectation that their products will produce high emissions. Luxurious, fast, or fashionable does not have to stand apart from sustainable.

And while the Leaf may have more mass-market appeal, we're sure that the odd 918 Spyder parked in driveways wouldn’t hurt in generating interest in neighbourhood car-sharing schemes…

Electric cars are go: but how fast?

 

Electric car charging station, San Francisco: coming to your town soon?

Today's papers announced that the Government's grant programme to help people invest in electric cars is going ahead. From next March, consumers who buy an electric car will be entitled to a voucher for £5,000 to help with the cost. And the UK's first mass-produced all-electric five-seat family hatchback - the Nissan LEAF - is due to go on sale next March too, just in time to benefit from the first of the grants.

One of the earliest adopters has to be Energy Saving Trust's  Consumer Transport Manager, Tim Anderson. He went for a drive in the final pre-production model of the LEAF for the Green Car Guide.

As Tim says:

"Even with a £5000 government grant, £23,990 may still sound pricey for a family hatch. However as with many aspects of this car, you need to look at it in a different way. In terms of whole-life costs, the LEAF starts to look more favourable, with hugely reduced fuel costs, as well as reduced maintenance requirements, and exemption from road tax and congestion charges."

In short, the early adopters are going to be in the forefront of learning a new way of thinking about our cars. Journeys will have to be planned, for a start: the LEAF has a range of 100 miles, and recharging the battery from completely empty to full takes eight hours. There'll be no quick detour to a filling station. Tim writes, "you can pre-programme the car to use cheap electricity during the night. It's possible to recharge to over 80% capacity in less than 30 minutes, but a quick charger is needed, and there aren't too many of these around at the moment."

So is electric motoring the future?

Tim says, "Well, it's definitely part of it, although decarbonisation of our electricity grid needs to be addressed if we're to see the major CO2 savings from this technology. The future is almost certainly going to be a mix of fuels, with petrol, diesel, biofuels, hybrids, electric and eventually hydrogen all playing a part."

What we'd really like to see - and what the Energy Saving Trust is working towards making happen - is a scenario where people are using renewable energy sources, generating some of their own electricity at home, and using that carbon-neutral energy to recharge their car batteries. A Utopia? Let;s make it happen, we say.

Tim closes: "For now, the Nissan LEAF proves that the electric car wasn't killed after all. Ultimately we will need a revolution in consumer attitudes towards electric cars. And the revolution starts here with the LEAF."

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Why the financial case for low emission vehicles is stronger than ever

Guest post by Nigel Underdown, Head of Transport, Energy Saving Trust

 

Budget days lost some of their surprise factor long ago with the introduction of the Autumn pre budget report. And yesterdays’ announcements were always destined to be a careful mix of reassuring the markets and keeping voters on side for the forthcoming election. Above all nobody was expecting anything by way of giveaways at a time that we battle with record levels of public debt and most of us were looking for how the Chancellor would increase the tax take to balance the books.

 

 

 

So something of a surprise lurked in the small print of the 2010 budget.  For a select group, Alistair Darling announced a halving of income tax. With effect from April 2010 and for the next five years, drivers of company cars emitting 75gms /km or less will pay half the current benefit in kind taxation. This follows previous announcements that electric vehicles (zero tailpipe emissions) will attract no liability for company car tax. The cynics will (correctly) point out that today, no car is available in the UK market  (other than electric) which achieves this low level of emissions so those in a rush to improve their personal finances will be hard put to exploit this concession. 

 

 

But nobody should doubt the significance of these and other moves to incentivise the market for ultra low carbon vehicles. For many years manufacturers have complained that their product development plans (often 5-10 years hence) desperately needed more clarity from government on terms of fiscal policy. Well they should have little doubt now that the financial case for low emission vehicles is stronger than ever and the cost penalties for continuing to produce gas guzzlers could seriously damage their sales results.

 

By the way, if you are desperate to choose your next company car and exploit Alistair Darling’s giveaway, I know of only two cars which will deliver sub 75 gram performance and you’ll have to wait for those. The plug in Toyota Prius is likely to be available from 2012 and similarly the Vauxhall Ampera.

Nigel Underdown - Head of Transport Advice - on Carbon Free TV

Nigel Underdown, Head of Transport Advice for the Energy Saving Trust, was recently interviewed for Carbon Free TV about how we can collectively help to curb the trend of rising transport emissions by making more informed choices when purchasing a car. You can watch the full interview below.   

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Not a lot of people know this!

For those of you who were not fortunate enough to make their way eastwards to the Excel Centre yesterday to join the thousands of others taking part in the Motor Show, let me tell you it’s an interesting experience!

At the Motor Show we launched - with a small fanfare thanks to the less than adequate entrance/exit arrangements at the Centre – our new report Driven. The report was written by David Kenington - one of our young up and coming staff here at the Trust - and a good read it is too.  I will not attempt to repeat all the findings contained in the report and the media briefing (although links to these are given below). What I will concentrate on – having read the report in detail - are some of the more interesting and perhaps surprising nuggets contained within it.

Did you know that the growth of cars has now reached the stage where there are more cars than households in the UK? Not surprising you might think, but interestingly research has shown suggests that eventually you do get to a point where enough is enough.  In California, for instance, the number of cars - believe it or not - per household now exceeds the number of people living in those households. This has had the perverse, but I suppose unsurprising effect of a reduction in miles per vehicle driven.  It’s a strange world.

You probably already knew that diesel cars tend to be 10% to 20% more efficient than petrol cars, in terms of fuel and overall CO2 emissions. However, as manufacturers have needed to develop more and more diesel vehicles to satisfy demand - now running at about 40% of market share - what have they chosen to do?  Yes - they have opted to produce larger engine diesel vehicles rather than the smaller vehicles that previously dominated.  The result? Diesel-fuelled car average CO2 emissions are actually going up. Bizarre! 

These sorts of stats are a real ‘did you know' for me. And there are more. Did you know that SUV’s are far from the worse performing class of motor vehicle in terms of average CO2 emissions?  Now compared to small and super mini class they may not be good, but compared to the rest of the market they are certainly not the worse. Those accolades lie with the Sports and Luxury Saloon sectors. The Luxury Saloon being the worst of the lot with average CO2 emissions of - get ready for it - 274 grams per kilometre!   Now sales are low compared to other segments, but we all know who drives the luxury saloons: opinion formers, company bosses, politicians…You get my drift - not much of an example!

Finally, some good news! You might think those new fangled MPVs carrying 5, 6, 7 people would be real gas guzzlers, but the pleasingly over the last decade they have actually show the greatest improvement in terms of CO2 reductions at 23% and the best improvement in fuel efficiency.  I think perhaps we need to think about this more when we hear the arguments around the need for larger vehicles.  Larger vehicles don’t need to be 4x4s - not when MPVs have this sort of CO2 track record anyway.

Finally, and no doubt slightly more controversially there needs to be a push back on the current hysteria around Vehicle Excise Duty (VED). A research document published a couple of years ago by our Transport Strategy Manager, Alex Veitch, revealed that even small rises in VED are very effective in reducing CO2. Therefore, I am particularly supportive of a higher first year VED rate as this will make it a more significant financial cost in comparison to the price of the car. VED and hopefully have an impact on purchasing decisions.  I am personally not so sure about the retrospective element of VED, but I am convinced there is a clear signal to people buying new cars to help them change their behaviour. 

I would be interested in views.

Click here to read the Driven report

Click here to read the press release

Greening your fleet: James McNaughton Group plc show the way!

I was delighted to be invited by James McNaughton Group to help them officially launch their new ‘GM2’ Modec electric van outside our offices a couple of weeks ago. This vehicle, charged by renewably generated electricity, replaces a traditional diesel van. It has the potential to save over 4,250 litres of fuel and around 11 tonnes of CO2 emissions each year.

The new electric truck is just the icing on the cake though. After receiving a free Green Fleet Review from us (find out more about what we offer by clicking here!) the James McNaughton Group implemented a number of measures to help improve the environmental impact of their fleet. For example, ensuring drivers on the employee car ownership scheme opt for a diesel, petrol-electric hybrid car capable of doing a minimum of 37 mpg – rising to a minimum of 42 mpg by end of this year. They have also introduced smarter driving training and a journey planner guide and capture data to enable comprehensive and ongoing analysis of fuel usage and miles driven.

Of course the best way of saving fuel and reducing carbon dioxide emissions is by not travelling in the first place. Therefore, to reduce fleet mileage, James McNaughton installed video conference facilities in their offices. No doubt, I’ve forgotten to include some of the many other measures they’ve implemented, but there iis no question that James McNaughton should provide a benchmark for other organisations aiming to reduce their own environmental impact. If nothing else can convince you - then take at look at the savings James McNaughton have achieved since the Green Fleet Review.

- More than 69 cars have been changed and the fleet profile is now 60 per cent diesel

- Total business mileage has been cut by 107,000 miles, despite 17 cars being added to the fleet in 2006.

- In 2007 annual fuel costs were reduced by more than £86,000, and an estimated 245 tonnes of CO2 emissions cut. Drivers are also benefiting because they are saving money on the fuel tax they pay on their private mileage.

- In addition, the company’s logistics operation has spent the last few years implementing better route planning and reduced its fleet by 43 vehicles, cutting road mileage by over one million miles per year and carbon emissions by 975 tonnes.

New retro-fit hybrid vehicle conversion kit unveiled by MIRA

Well late last week it finally arrived.  The first concept car with a plug less plug-in battery.  I won’t begin to try and explain the technology (you will be delighted to discover), but basically the difference between this and normal hybrids is that you can actually take the car, so to speak, via the battery pack to the mains, rather than having to park right next to the socket - which, as you can imagine, is a tad difficult if you live in a tenement block. 

This new vehicle is based on the immensely popular Skoda Fabia.  It not only differentiates itself from the standard model by having a different label, but by returning 64 miles per gallon as measured on accepted drive cycles!  The ultimate aim of the project is to see whether the battery packs can be transferred from the car into a range of other devices, which could include such things as SUV variants, electric jet skies or quad bikes. 

So this project jointly funded by Mira and Energy Saving Trust through the Low Carbon Research and Development programme could represent a major step forward in the hybrid vision of the future delivering lower tail pipe emissions, better fuel efficiency but at an equivalent diesel cost, now wouldn’t that be a first!