September/October 2014
www.bvrla.co.uk
BVRLA News The bimonthly newsletter of the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association
Our five point plan to cut UK's real-world emissions By Gerry Keaney, BVRLA Chief Executive Air pollution is at the top of the government rankings in terms of threats to Public Health, with only smoking seen as a greater problem. Among the most dangerous pollutants, nitrogen oxides (NOx) are a major byproduct of combustion engine vehicles. The UK is currently under threat of huge EU fines for failing to hit reduction targets across the country. Mayor of London Boris Johnson has described a ‘massive failure of public policy’ that has seen the government focus on reducing road transport CO2 emissions while not doing enough to tackle air pollutants. With the benefit of hindsight, it is easy to say that he is right, but the truth is that efforts to clean up road transport have been held back by a system of vehicle emission test cycles that are no longer fit for purpose. The current test procedure for establishing official car CO2 emission figures is out of date and has led to discrepancies of up to 40% between official and real-world figures. Meanwhile, recent research conducted for the Dutch government suggests that the new Euro 6 standard for diesel engine emissions introduced at the start of 2014 has failed to produce any improvements in real-world NOx emissions.
Something clearly has to be done, but it is important to remember that it is these test cycles that are broken, not the tax regime. The vehicle rental and leasing industry has been tremendously successful in working with the government’s CO2-based tax regime to produce a major reduction in ‘official’ emissions. If this regime was harnessed to a robust and accurate test cycle for CO2 and NOx, there is no reason why a similar fall in realworld emissions and pollutants could not be achieved across the UK. u
How the government can get its emissions strategy back on track
BVRLA tackles AdBlue with Volkswagen UK How your association is working to prepare for the increasing number of vehicles requiring AdBlue top-ups. page 3 Praise from HM Treasury officials Submissions to HM Treasury and HMRC have been well-received as the BVRLA lobbies against any tax regime changes. page 4 BVRLA Fleet Industry Manifesto update Politicians urged to tackle data concerns as the industry discusses the impact of new technology on fleets. page 5 Collaboration needed to address rental fraud Insurance claims data analysed by Hill Dickinson highlights annual potential for £22 million of fraud pages 6 BVRLA latest - staff, events and awards Retirements, promotions and new members of staff, plus news on the Industry Conference, Annual Dinner and Industry Hero awards page 9 2014 Golf Day: picture highlights and recap We review the BVRLA's annual Golf Day, which took place in Oxfordshire on 11th September. page 10
• Promoting responsible road transport since 1967 •