Electric Vehicles

Given the upsurge of interest in electric cars and other low-carbon vehicles, the BVRLA wants to ensure that the rental and leasing sectors play a key role in encouraging the take up of this less environmentally harmful technology. The association has formed a group of experts on low-carbon vehicles to help shape government policy and is keen to hear from members who would like to contribute – please contact Amanda Brandon for further details.

Business guide to electric vehicles

The BVRLA has produced an electric vehicle guide aimed at the fleet industry covering key facts, operational issues and financial issues. The guide can assist in determining whether electric vehicles are right for your company, and can be downloaded here.

Plug-in vehicle grant

The Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) has introduced a Plug-in Car Grant to provide 25% towards the cost of purchasing a new ultra-low carbon car, capped at £5,000 and a Plug-in Van Grant to provide 20% towards the cost of purchasing a new ultra-low carbon van, capped at £8,000. It will be open to private and business fleet buyers. The grants operate in the same way as the scrappage scheme so the discount will be given off the purchase price and claimed back by the manufacturer. Vehicles which are eligible for the scheme will need to meet the following criteria:

Carbon dioxide tailpipe emissions: Less than 75g/km
Range: electric vehicles, minimum 70 miles; plug-in hybrids, minimum electric range 10 miles
Warranty: three years or 60,000 miles, plus a three-year battery and electric drive train warranty with a consumer option for a two-year battery warranty extension
Battery performance: either a minimum five-year warranty on the battery and electric drive train as standard OR additional evidence of battery performance to illustrate reasonable performance after three years of use
Safety: European Commission whole vehicle type approval OR evidence that the car/van demonstrates appropriate levels of safety as judged by international standards. .

Plug-in Car Grant: The BVRLA is disappointed at the government’s failure to mandate the extended warranties and NCAP 4 safety standards required to give customers real confidence in electric vehicles. Without more assurances and support for vehicle safety, longevity and residual value, a front-end financial incentive may not be sufficient to kick-start the market. Many companies set NCAP-based minimum safety standards for their fleet vehicles, which could preclude many ultra-low carbon vehicles that only meet the basic criteria outlined by the government.

Nine cars are eligible for the plug-in car grant so far, they include the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, Smart fortwo electric drive and Peugeot iOn. They will all be available from January 2011. From March 2011, the following will be availabe: Nissan Leaf, Tata Vista and Citroen CZero. Finally in 2012 the list of eligble vehicles will include: Vauxhall Ampera, Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid and Chevrolet Volt.

The association is also concerned about the lack of guidance on how the grant will work in practice. For example, how the grant will be treated for VAT purposes. The government needs to act on the lessons learnt from the scrappage scheme, which was launched without adequate guidance.

Plug-in van grant: The BVRLA is disappointed that the £8,000 maximum discount is inclusive of VAT, reducing the potential benefits which business purchasers of ultra-low carbon vans can attain.

To view our previous comments on the proposals for the grant click here and to view the full criteria compared with the BVRLA's calls click here.

Contact:
Amanda Brandon, amanda@bvrla.co.uk
01494 545701

Plugged in Places

The Office for Low Emission Vehicles is taking forward the £30 million funding which has been made available for cities/regions to bid for the infrastructure development needed to support electric vehicles, e.g. charging points. OLEV have announced the first round of funding and Transport for London, supported by several BVRLA members, have been successful in their bid for funding to support charging points in rental branches within London.

Members who wish to include electric vehicles on their fleet can contact the cities and regions who are bidding for funding to support their bid and get 50% match funding for charging points. To qualify for the match funding the charging points have to be seen as publicly available and the Office for Low Emission Vehicles are happy that rental company branches qualify given the utilisation figures we have provided. This does not mean that your branches would need to allow the charging points to be accessed by any vehicle.

Members may need to convince cities or regions of the benefits of including rental branches as part of their bid and the BVRLA has put together a document which will help you win the argument. It can be accessed from the link below and will need to be populated with your own data.

Winning the argument

This document helped to convince Transport for London and the Office for Low Emission Vehicles that car rental provides an excellent opportunity to get electric vehicles into the hands of the ordinary motorist with no risk.

London Electric Vehicle Partnership

The BVRLA has a seat on the London Electric Vehicle Partnership, formed by London mayor Boris Johnson in 2008 with the aim of encouraging take-up of electric vehicles in the capital. The partnership aims to bring together key stakeholders and decision-makers from within the vehicle manufacturing industry, the London boroughs, the Greater London Authority (GLA) Group, energy and infrastructure suppliers, and electric vehicle users in order to identify the costs and benefits of electric vehicles and to develop an action plan to encourage their greater use.

The partnership has launched a website which aims to be the central source of information on electric vehicles in London, Source London can be accessed by clicking here.

Contact:
Amanda Brandon, amanda@bvrla.co.uk
01494 545701

SMMT Electric Vehicle Working Group

One of the key areas which members have highlighted to us is the importance of the manufacturers representing the needs of their customers when developing electric vehicles. To help us achieve this objective we have been invited by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) to join their electric vehicle working group. The group aims to provide a forum for high-level discussion and development of industry consensus views on strategic, technical and sector-critical issues.

The SMMT has published an Electric Car Guide to help motorists make more informed decisions when purchasing an electric vehicle, the BVRLA supported the production of the guide which can be downloaded by clicking here.

Contact:
Amanda Brandon, amanda@bvrla.co.uk
01494 545701