EV & Low CO2 Fleet Show

The EV & Low CO₂ Fleet Show is a one-day event being held at the world-famous Silverstone circuit on Wedneday the 18th April. The event will feature major motor manufacturers who have pioneered the development and production of electric vehicles, including Renault, Nissan, Peugeot and Citroen.

The event is being organised by Fleet World magazine in association with the British Vehicle Rental & Leasing Association, the trade association of the UK’s leasing and rental industries, with the event being sponsored by the Energy Saving Trust.

If you fancy attending the event, at the Silverstone racing circuit in Northamptonshire, there will be a wide range of electric, hybrid and other low-carbon vehicles that will be available for driving around the famous track.

Ross Durkin, Managing Editor of Fleet World, said: “The show is really starting to take shape now. We’re delighted that four of the motor manufacturers who have really been at the forefront of EV development will be at the event in order to help fleet managers really understand the potential for incorporating electric vehicles onto their fleet”.

The EV & Low CO₂ Fleet Show will allow visitors to:

- Test drive the latest petrol-electric hybrids, diesel-electric hybrids, fuel-cell hybrids and electric range-extenders, as well as many of the latest low-emission petrol and diesel engine vehicles

- Discuss future drivetrain strategies with leading motor manufacturers that attend the event

- Find out more about low-emission light commercial vehicles

- Talk to EV charging point suppliers and recharging infrastructure providers

- Discuss low-carbon vehicle supply with leading vehicle leasing suppliers

For more details on the event you can phone 01727 739160 or visit http://evfleetshow.co.uk/

The government has announced that it is going to maintain the current MOT test frequencies and concentrate on improving testing standards and cracking down on clockers, which is welcome news. The British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA) chief executive, John Lewis, commented as follows:

“The once a year after three years model works perfectly well for cars and vans as long as test centres do their job properly. Our only disappointment is that the government didn’t listen to our calls for safety recall notices to be made an MOT criterion. It is ridiculous that a car can pass its MOT while having an outstanding safety recall notification that hasn’t been dealt with.”

“We would also urge the government to go further in clamping down on clockers by introducing some sort of licensing system for mileage adjustment companies.”

One million cars from Kia

The Kia Motors Manufacturing Slovakia has just built its 1,000,000^th car – a white, diesel-engined cee’d SW. The car was handed over to a Slovakian children’s charity, the Red Nose Clowndoctors. The cee’d is also the 600,000th version of the Zilina factory’s first car, plus the factory now produces the Sportage and Venga as well.

“Kia Motors Slovakia has achieved an important milestone in its history with the production of the millionth car. We decided to donate it to an organisation which will bring pleasure to children during their stay in hospitals,” said Eek-Hee Lee, President and CEO of Kia Motors Slovakia.

Following the successful launch of the UK’s first eco motor show Ecovelocity in 2011, the organisers of the ground-breaking show have announced details for the 2012 event. The show will also move from Battersea Power Station to ExCeL, London and will run from May 10^th  through to the  13^th 2012.

Giles Brown, managing director of organisers IGME Ltd commented: “EcoVelocity got off to a fabulous start at Battersea Power Station, and really stood out from other car events.  The show featured 17 of the leading low carbon automotive brands and between them 7,000 test drives were taken during the event by enthusiastic show visitors.”

EcoVelocity 2012 will see car makers showing off their latest green car models including electric, hybrid and very low carbon derivitaves.  The show provides motorists the chance to get up close to the cars and the chance to have test drives on a special test drive circuit.

Citroen DS4 5-door coupes

Clear Channel UK has just taken delivery of its first Citroen DS4s as part of a single badge agreement with Citroen, for the supply of its fleet cars. They are one of the UK’s market leaders in outdoor advertising and chose Citroen as part of their commitment to reduce CO2 emissions.

Their vehicle order included new DS4s, new C4, C4 Picasso, C5 Saloon and C5 Tourer, with a combination of HDi diesel engines or the ultra-efficient e-HDi micro-hybrid powertrains with Stop & Start. The DS4 e-HDi models have Citroen’s six-speed EGS automated manual transmission as standard and return 64.2 combined mpg and emit 114g/km of CO2. Citroen contract hire is on the site now for the whole range of cars and vans.

Glenn Ewen, Fleet Manager for Clear Channel UK, said: “In each price band Citroën has a choice of three or four models and using a single supplier cuts down on paperwork. It also reduces work for our drivers as they don’t have to compare models from a variety of manufacturers. With these new Citroen cars our drivers certainly appreciate paying less Benefit in Kind tax than they did before.”

Kia Rio diesel returns 88.3 combined mpg

The driver training specialist IAM Drive & Survive is offering weekly motoring tips to drivers from its head of training, Simon Elstow. This week, Simon is advising on saving fuel and money and how green driving will save you up to 15% on your fuel bills:

• Keep your vehicle moving for as long as possible, even in traffic queues. This is far more fuel efficient than stopping and starting your vehicle, so slow down earlier, to avoid braking harshly and too often.
• Your cruising speed has a major impact on the fuel economy of your car or van so stick to the speed limit. This offers a good compromise between economy and getting somewhere on time. There’s a significant saving made by doing 70 instead of 80 – and you also avoid any risk of speeding fines.
• Reverse into parking bays when parking. If you do all the manoeuvring with a hot engine you can drive straight off when you come back and warm the engine up more quickly, thereby saving fuel.
• Check your vehicle regularly to ensure it operates efficiently and in particular check the condition of your tyres, and measure tyre pressures when they’re cold.
• Remove all unnecessary weight from your vehicle, including roof racks, car clutter and heavy items in the boot. The more weight you carry in the car, the more fuel your vehicle will burn.
• Keep the inside of the front and rear windscreens squeaky clean. Traffic fumes form a film on the glass which attracts moisture and makes them mist up easily – a clean screen will rarely mist up, so you won’t be using the heater and air-conditioning to clear them.

Elstow said: “We’ve all got better things to spend our money on than petrol. This will help you save cash and reduce your carbon emissions.”

Great advice from the IAM’s Drive & Survive, however choosing a fuel efficient car can also save you hundreds of pounds in fuel bills annually.

For example the new Kia Rio 1.1 CRDi 1 EcoDynamics 5-door hatchback returns a staggering 88.3 combined mpg and only emits 85g/km of CO2. The combined mpg of 88.3 is a remarkable performance and you can search for the most fuel efficient new cars using our Vehicle Type Shopper and see the vehicle lease rentals too.

Accident Exchange

Accident Exchange, the accident management specialist, has found that travelling in reverse gear causes around £409 million each year in vehicle damage. Around 200,000 reversing accidents occur every year (500 a day) according to Accident Exchange, with an average repair cost of £2,123. The research was based on around 31,000 claims handled between 2010 and June 2011.

They found that in the majority of incidents, the “at fault” driver collided with the other innocent party’s stationary vehicle (usually in a car park) or they were reversing from a driveway or narrow side road. Reversing cars total mearly 8% of all total accidents in the UK, with the most common factor (38%) for an accident being “failing to check for another vehicle”  (Department of Transport figures in 2010).

Lee Woodley of Accident Exchange, commented, “Despite the proliferation of technology such as parking sensors and reverse cameras, drivers are not taking enough care to accurately check their surroundings whilst reversing. Accidents can and always will happen, but perhaps drivers are mollycoddled by their vehicles too much these days- it is easy to become over reliant on technology, pampered by their vehicle’s cosy, quiet environment”.

Hubert Waltl

Volkswagen Passenger Cars has set some ambitious environmental targets for car production, with a plan to reduce energy consumption, waste volumes, air borne emissions, water consumption and carbon dioxide emissions by 25 per cent by 2018, at all its factory production plants worldwide.

The “Think Blue. Factory” initiative is an addition to the “Think Blue” portfolio and the new Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee,was the first factory worldwide to receive a platinum LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental) certificate. This certification confirms Volkswagen’s compliance with some of the most demanding standards for sustainable, environmentally compatible vehicle production.

Hubert Waltl (pictured) , Member of the Board of Management of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars Brand, said,”Through the growing efficiency and productivity of our plants, the Volkswagen brand is already making a key contribution to the achievements of Group strategic targets for 2018. However, we are going a step further: by 2018 we intend to make production at all our plants 25 per cent more environmentally compatible”.

Parent Driver of the Year

Tesco Cars has just announced that Bristol mum, Sharon Appleyard, has just been voted its inaugural ”Parent Driver of the Year” award, which was a nationwide competition to find the parent that provides the ultimate parent “taxi” service.  The research was conducted by OnePoll.com and a total of 2,000 responses were collected and analysed.

Tesco Car’s study showed the average parent will make three trips per week, covering 50.2 miles to transport children to various events and activities. It also found that Dads will drive their children 10 more miles per week on average than mums, and that parents in Wales recorded the highest average mileage driven at 65 miles.

Sharon, who was nominated by her daughter Amy, chauffeurs her three children to a wide range of after-school clubs and weekend activities and will now be the lucky winner of a £1,000 Tesco voucher prize. She said,”I would like to say a big thanks to my daughter Amy for nominating me and to Tesco cars of course for making this Christmas a bit more special!”.

Tesco Cars specialises in re-marketing quality for customers who want to buy used ex-fleet leased vehicles with all cars being refurbished and inspected by the RAC.

The Classic Cars Classified website for classic car enthusiasts has just been sold to Bauer Media for an undisclosed sum. The website was established on 2004 and is the number one website for anyone interested in buying or selling classic cars from around the world. The site receives around 1 million visitors per month from the UK, USA, Europe, Australia and New Zealand and has just been re-built to improve its ease of use.

Bauer Media (who also own Fleet News - one of Comparecontracthire.com’s partners) commented,”The UK’s best website for buying and selling classic cars, parts and automobilia – Classicarsforsale.co.uk – has been redesigned to make both buying and selling a classic car even quicker and easier as well as more secure. It is still completely FREE for private sellers to place adverts and there are great packages available for dealers and traders”.