Fleet World November 2014

November 2014

FLEETW RLD All that matters in the world of fleet

interview Michael O’Shea of Volkswagen

stopping power Why fleets should check their brakes

MODEL PUPIL Behind the wheel of Tesla’s remarkable Model S

2014

MPG Marathon

100mpg in real-world driving from a C-segment estate? The UK’s premier economy event sees if it’s possible... fleetworld.co.uk

contents

November 2014

22

Why fleets are currently enjoying lower fuel prices.

28

The long-awaited new Mondeo arrives in Europe.

FLEETW RLD All that matters in the world of fleet

interview Michael O’Shea of Volkswagen

stopping power Why fleets should check their brakes

MODELPUPIL Behind the wheel of Tesla’s remarkable Model S

2014

MPG Marathon

100mpg in real-world driving from a C-segment estate? The UK’s premier economy event sees if it’s possible... fleetworld.co.uk

41

Managing Editor Ross Durkin ross@fleetworldgroup.co.uk

23 cars, three vans, 300-plus miles, a thunderstorm or two, some very steep hills and as little fuel as possible. Welcome to the 2014 MPG Marathon...

Publisher Jerry Ramsdale jerry@fleetworldgroup.co.uk Editor Steve Moody steve@fleetworldgroup.co.uk Deputy Editor Alex Grant alex@fleetworldgroup.co.uk Business Editor Natalie Middleton natalie@fleetworldgroup.co.uk Features Editor Katie Beck katie@fleetworldgroup.co.uk VFW Editor Dan Gilkes dan@fleetworldgroup.co.uk Sales Director Anne Dopson anne@fleetworldgroup.co.uk Sales Executives Darren Brett darren@fleetworldgroup.co.uk Claire Warman claire@fleetworldgroup.co.uk Circulation Manager Tracy Howell tracy@fleetworldgroup.co.uk

54

Head of Production Luke Wikner luke@fleetworldgroup.co.uk

A week with the Tesla Model S...

Designers Tina Ries tina@fleetworldgroup.co.uk Samantha Hargreaves sam@fleetworldgroup.co.uk

Published by

66 72

Volkswagen’s head of fleet, Michael O’Shea, on avoiding complacency.

The fleet spotlight falls on Volvo’s all-new XC90.

Stag Publications Ltd, 18 Alban Park, Hatfield Road, St Albans, Herts, AL4 0JJ tel +44 (0)1727 739160 fax +44 (0)1727 739169 email fw@fleetworldgroup.co.uk web fleetworld.co.uk

VAN FLEETW RLD

91

Renault Trafic, Vauxhall Combo, Peugeot Boxer, Jordan Bennett, LCV telematics, refrigeration.

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fleetworld.co.uk / 03

fleetreview This month, editor Steve Moody on MPG Marathon future stardom, the transformation at the Highways Agency, and the scourge of mobile phone usage while driving...

MPG Marathon is addictive I’m not usually allowed to take part in the MPG Marathon, with the judgement from above being I don’t having the patience or the requisite skill to deliver a positive result.

Well, this year I sneaked in when the organisers weren’t looking and even managed to not embarrass myself, or the car I was driving. And I’d have done even better if I didn’t have to keep stopping for pictures for the feature on page 41.

But if you’ve not tried the MPG Marathon, I urge you to give it a go next year, because there is something rather hypnotic and satisfying about nailing a roundabout without stopping, or seeing your MPG rise and rise through cunning use of gradients to eek a few yards of travel without fuel, or a cleverly thought-out route that avoids hold-ups.

Some of the results were staggering – far better than my effort – but I’ll definitely be back next year and I’m already planning my strategy. 100mpg, here I come!

a fully Government-owned organisation, held to account by two bodies, one to monitor the performance of the network (and run by the Office of Rail Regulation) and the other championing the cause of users (and run by Passenger Focus, which currently represents bus, coach and tram passengers).

The goal is to make the network more efficient, more accountable and attract investment too. Certainly Colin Matthews, who took over as the new chairman of the agency last month, did a great job in his previous role at Heathrow, where it was widely agreed among people who know that he turned things around.

Having held governments to account for 60 years over rail, Passenger Focus is well used to the public sector politics and influence, but one thing is stark among all the announcements of good intentions. Not one mention of the most important users of our road network: businesses. I hope Passenger Focus will be able to make the leap from champion of the consumer to champion of fleets.

I’ll go and ask them, and report back next month.

The 5% too busy on their phone to notice

Welcome to the new Highways Agency...

There has been a big restructure in how our roads are managed. The Highways Agency is to be transformed into

04 / fleetworld.co.uk

Some research by BCA has found that 95% of drivers reported having seen another motorist on their phone while driving in the past month. To be honest, such is the scourge of driving while using a phone, it made me wonder what the other 5% were up to not to have seen anyone?

They must have been too distracted talking on their own phone to notice.

Don’t miss out on all the latest daily news! Visit fleetworld.co.uk

Ford NEWS All-New Transit range extended FORD is extending the all-new Transit range to include the full line-up of more than 450 model variants, including chassis double cab, double cab-invan and extra-long L5 versions.

This completes an unprecedented renewal and expansion of Ford’s entire commercial vehicle range in the last 24 months – something that helped Ford achieve its best-ever CV sales in Britain in September, with 15,503 sold.

The first phase of all-new Transit production began in spring this year and included the standard van, chassis cab and minibus versions. The line-up offers customers impressive fuel efficiency with the extended choice of Transit ECOnetic models with CO2 emissions from 169g/km and delivers significantly reduced maintenance and repair costs, exceptional durability, increased cargo volumes and smart loadspace features. The new variants include new body styles, chassis lengths and the all-wheel drive (AWD) range.

The complete Transit chassis cab line-up offers five lengths for the single cab (L1-L5) and four for the double cab (L2-L5), with GVM ranging from 3.1 to 4.7 tonnes. With a single cab, the L5 models offer an exceptional load length of more than 5.2m and 11.5m2 of cargo area when fitted with a factory dropside body.

The double cab-in-van can accommodate up to seven people with standard four-person second-row seating, along with a spacious and secure load area. Three body configurations are offered, from the medium wheelbase L2 with medium roof, to the extended long wheelbase L4 H3 model with high roof which provides more than 10.5m3 of cargo space (SAE).

Ford wins MPG Marathon A Ford Fiesta ST driven by Formula Ford racers Harrison Scott and Louise Richardson in the ALD Automotive/Fleet World MPG Marathon has proved that Ford EcoBoost performance engines are not only fast but also frugal.

They recorded an exceptional 75.77mpg over a distance of 307 miles to win the Best Improvement award in a Fiesta ST. Powered by Ford’s 182PS 1.6-litre EcoBoost engine, the Fiesta ST boasts an official combined economy figure of 47.9mpg, which the pair improved upon by 58 per cent.

Close behind was another Ford, a Focus ST 2.0-litre driven by Andrew Marriott and Andy Dawson, who bettered the model’s official combined economy figure by more than 44 per cent on the way to their MPG Marathon figure of 56.78mpg. A Fiesta ECOnetic 1.6-litre TDCi returned a staggering 97.08mpg.

For further information on any vehicle in the Ford range please contact the Ford Business Centre on 03457 23 23 23, email flinform@ford.com, or visit www.ford.co.uk/fordfleet

Ford News Feature // 05

inbrief Ford’s built-in safety Ensuring the highest levels of built-in safety has been hugely important in the development of the all-new Mondeo and new Focus, while reducing weight and enhancing sustainability.

Mondeo, for instance, uses sophisticated materials and production techniques including an industry-first application of hydro-formed high strength steel for the A-pillars, B-pillars and roof rails. The weight saved during development has been re-invested into fuel-saving features such as aero-shields and Auto-Start-Stop technology; and a stronger and safer body structure. The strength of safety relevant areas has been improved by 40 per cent, verified with more than 180 real-world crash tests.

Ford’s industry-first inflatable rear seatbelt technology will make its European debut on the all-new Mondeo; in an accident, the belt expands in just 40 milliseconds to disperse crash forces across a body area five times greater than with a conventional seatbelt.

And Ford is launching a new technology that can predict when a car might skid – and by stepping in early could prevent the driver from losing control.

Enhanced Transitional Stability debuts on the new Focus; if the system identifies that a skid is imminent, braking of individual wheels is applied, by activating the advanced Electronic Stability Control.

inbusiness

Highways Agency reform plans announced

T

he Government has laid out plans for a restructuring of the Highways Agency aimed at giving it more flexibility, and to improve the accountability, efficiency and transparency of its operations.

Under the reforms, which form part of the Infrastructure Bill introduced in Parliament earlier this year, the Highways Agency will become a government-owned company and hold responsibility for 4,300 miles of motorways and major roads across England.

The company will be held to account by two new bodies. Passenger Focus, which has represented bus, coach and tram passengers for 60 years, will rename itself Transport Focus and get a broader remit to champion the needs of road users. The Office of Rail Regulation will run a monitoring service with the ability to issue fines if the Agency underperforms.

‘The reform of the Highways Agency and the introduction of a long term vision for the road network is at the heart of this government’s £24 billion commitment to improving our road network and ensuring long term certainty in unlocking economic growth,’ said Road Minister John Hayes.

‘These changes along with the introduction of a new road monitor and watchdog, will make sure road users’ voices are heard and that decisions made are accountable to taxpayers, building on the good work that the Office of Rail Regulator and Passenger Focus do now.’

Sainsbury’s to get first supermarket hydrogen station

S

ainsbury’s is to become the first supermarket to offer refuelling for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, with the store in Hendon, in North West London, due to get a dispenser by the end of the year.

Working with hydrogen infrastructure specialist Air Products, the site will gain a fast 700-bar SmartFuel station, offering support for current-generation hydrogen-powered buses and taxis, as well as the expanding selection of hydrogen fuel cell passenger cars due from 2015.

The UK government recently announced it would fund an £11m network of 15 hydrogen stations nationwide by the end of 2015, as well as providing £2m to roll out the technology in the public sector. This will more than double the existing network of 13 stations, spread between London and the Shetland Islands.

New Euro 6 engines for Ford Kuga

F

ord has introduced a range of Euro 6 compliant petrol and diesel engines for the Kuga crossover, with fuel efficiency improvements across the range.

The 2.0-litre TDCi, as fitted to 95% of UK cars, will be offered with either 148bhp or 177bhp, replacing the outgoing 138bhp and 161bhp units fitted from launch, and the former now returns 60.1mpg and emits 122g/km with two-wheel drive – a 12% improvement on its predecessor’s 53.3mpg and 139g/km.

With four-wheel drive, both versions of the 2.0 TDCi engine now achieve 54.3mpg and 135g/km with a manual gearbox, and 140g/km and 52.3mpg for cars with the sixspeed automatic. The Kuga is also now available with the 1.5-litre EcoBoost petrol, as used on the new Focus.

06 / fleetworld.co.uk

fleetweet a few soundbites from a month in fleet

@candctaxis Twitter account of C&C Taxis, 100% electric taxi company

Time flies when you're charging at the service stations using @ecotricity. By the time you've answered passerby questions you’re charged!

@richardaucock Richard Aucock, motoring journalist & MD of Motoring Research

Staggering: @Halfords_uk says 3.9 million motorists admit to never checking their oil. S’pose that’s what the red light’s for, innit. #erk

@OLEVgovuk Official Twitter account for the UK’s Office of Low Emission Vehicles

Congratulations @AudiUK. The A3 e-tron is about to be added to the list of cars eligible for the plug-in car grant.

@MattNealRacing Matt Neal, three times British Touring Car champion

Am actually starting to think Mr Frugal @gordonshedden thinks he's personally paying for the fuel today? #MPGMarathon

@EST_Scotland Twitter account of the Energy Saving Trust, Scotland

Walk or cycle to work once a week. You could save around £150 on #fuel and 290kg of CO2 a year #EnergySavingTips

@HantsPolRoads Official Twitter account for Hampshire & Isle of Wight roads policing unit

Day 3 mobile phone campaign. 72 offenders given tickets. Remember it’s illegal to drive using a phone or hand held device.

@TimPollardCars Tim Pollard, executive editor of Car magazine

Nissan has built an extraordinary two million Qashqais in Sunderland since 2007. #NextGen

Over 150,000

units installed

One of the UK’s most respected telematics companies

Van Fleet World

Call us today for a quote

0870 013 6663 • enquiries@quartix.net • www.quartix.net

inbusiness

A touch of class Ford's about to go upmarket with its new Vignale sub-brand and userchoosers can expect a red carpet treatment from dealers accredited to sell it. Motor Trader editor Curtis Hutchinson reports.

f

rom the second quarter of 2015 Ford is launching its up-market Vignale sub-brand and the first model to wear the badge is the new generation Mondeo. It’s a bold move. Much of the Mondeo’s success over the last 20 years has been down to its everyman appeal. While the car has repeatedly set the benchmark for its class it has never been an aspirational user-chooser car. This could change.

The Vignale project does not lack ambition. The Mondeo, in both saloon and estate guises, is the first of many Vignale models. Next up will be the all-new S-Max in late 2015 and it would lend itself to the forthcoming all-new Edge SUV. Rather than simply being another trim level, Ford will offer user-choosers a totally different dealer experience.

The carmaker is busily piloting a plush Vignale lounge at its flagship TrustFord site on London’s Edgware Road before rolling it out to 65 sites across the UK covering all the major conurbations. These sites, designated as FordStores, will be top-end dealers displaying the full Ford line-up of both cars – including next year's righthand drive Mustang muscle car – and vans, which will be housed in a dedicated Transit Centre.

Dealers are keen to be part of this exclusive club.

More than 30 have already applied for FordStore status, even though joining the programme will not be an inexpensive process, as they can clearly see the long term benefits of being able to offer an upmarket service for top-end customers.

The Vignale will be sold almost exclusively into fleets so what can user-choosers expect in terms of red carpet treatment? For starters each dealership will have a dedicated relationship manager as a point of

contact from pre-sale through to aftersales. When the car is due in for a service or repair work, the relationship manager will organise its collection from the driver's home, or place of work, and a courtesy car will be provided if needed. As befitting a premium service, the car will be returned valeted, while a complimentary monthly car wash is also available.

Mark Ovenden, Ford's UK managing director and chairman, has high hopes for the sub-brand, especially as over 50% of Mondeo drivers currently choose the Titanium and Titanium X trim levels; Mondeo Man likes bells and whistles without paying over the odds for them. So will the brand manage to upgrade existing drivers as well as conquest new ones?

‘In terms of where I see sales of Vignale coming from some of them will come from existing Ford customers, who maybe feel they want to move upmarket a little bit more and now we have an offering for them. There will also be people out there in the marketplace who see that even in its Vignale guise you can have an awful lot more Mondeo for an equivalent price versus a premium car and that will be a compelling proposition to people.

‘We will not plan to do any rental on Vignale and we will keep short cycle business to a minimum. The bulk of the sales will come from fleet user-choosers and contract hire companies.’

Ford has every reason to be confident that its Vignale branding will strike a chord with discerning userchoosers but badge conscious drivers will struggle with the concept of not having a German car on their drive, even if it is more modestly specified.

See the Ford Mondeo launch report on page 28.

WE’RE ALWAYS RIGHT BEHIND YOU IT’S OUR WAY OF PUTTING YOU IN FRONT

When it comes to vehicle leasing and fleet management, we work hard to understand our customers’ business objectives. Our team has the knowledge and expertise to deliver a first-class service to achieve those objectives.

So whatever your requirements are, we’re here to help deliver a solution that best suits you.

Keeping you one step ahead 10 / fleetworld.co.uk

www.aldautomotive.co.uk

THE NEW JAGUAR XE. FROM 99G/KM OF C02 AND UP TO 75 MPG

THE SPORTS SALOON REDEFINED. The new Jaguar XE features our lightweight, all-new aluminium architecture and F-TYPE-inspired design and technology.

With class-leading emissions from as low as 99g/km of CO2 and up to 75 mpg, the new Jaguar XE is the most efficient car we’ve ever built.

It’s due to arrive in 2015. For more information and to be among the first to experience the new Jaguar XE, register at jaguar.co.uk/XE or contact the Jaguar Business Centre on 0845 366 0342.

Official fuel consumption for the Jaguar XE range in mpg (l/100km): Urban 24.4-64.2 (11.6-4.4); Extra Urban 46.3-83.1 (6.1-3.4); Combined 34.9-75.0 (8.1-3.8). CO2 Emissions 194-99 (g/km). Official EU Test Figures.

For comparison purposes only. Real world figures may differ.

inbusiness

ESOS fables The Insider is trying to work out what the new Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme will mean for his fleet.

B

y now I’m guessing you will have heard about ESOS. My first thought was “more work” followed by “jobs for the boys” but given that sometimes it’s good to get ideas from someone looking in from outside of the organisation, I’m learning to look upon it as an opportunity rather than a nuisance.

Just in case you haven’t heard about ESOS (Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme), here is a brief overview.

EU legislation will soon require most employers to undertake a formal energy audit of their organisation once every four years. If you have more than 250 staff, or fewer staff but an annual turnover in excess of £40m and a balance sheet exceeding £34m, you will need to comply. This includes charities, yet public bodies are exempt – I have no idea why. I should have thought they would be the first to require auditing.

Anyway, the first audit must be complete by December 2015 so we have only a year to get our act together.

It’s important to fleet managers because as well as including energy used in buildings and industrial processes, the audit will include your company car, van and truck fleet; and your grey fleet vehicles.

Energy used by staff commuting, or travelling on business by bus or train is excluded.

This is not just a one-way audit for the sake of counting beans. It has been designed with a view to identifying quantified consumption and savings opportunities, and then making recommendations on how those savings can be achieved.

Companies need to appoint a lead assessor with appropriate knowledge and experience.

These can be internal staff or external professionals listed on an Environment Agency (the scheme administrator) approved register. However if you already have ISO50001 accreditation, I understand you should meet the terms of ESOS. Whether that accreditation includes fleet information as standard, I haven’t been able to establish.

In theory you could also qualify as an ISO50001 internal auditor and given the ESOS audit requirement is here to stay and looking at the prices offered for training, this might be something worth looking at, both in terms of long-term company savings and also one’s personal career development. I can’t imagine these audits are going to be cheap. By the way, if you don’t

14 / fleetworld.co.uk

have ISO50001 it’s recommended you go for ESOS compliance first, since the former can apparently take some time to complete. But the lead assessor who carries out your initial review should be able to advise.

Time is ticking because companies need to register with the Environment Agency by December 2014 or face penalties of up to £50,000.

Curiously, participants are not required to implement the energy efficiency recommendations identified by their ESOS assessments but presumably would be mad not to, having gone through the effort in the first place. There are estimates of an average 0.7% energy reduction being bandied about. Figures specific to fleet are suggested at 2% reduction in energy consumption for business travel in company car fleets and 1% for vans. For those individual fleets which aren’t yet managing fuel and mileage efficiently I shouldn’t be surprised if the figures were significantly higher.

As I alluded to in a previous month, our mileage capture scheme – which accurately measures the split of business and private mileage – saw us reduce the overall quantity of fuel purchased by a gratifying figure, and monitoring does improve overall cost where the employer and drivers are all paying for their fuel at the same rate. So at least our own fleet is already in a good position to report on that aspect.

Presumably the audit will also throw light on grey fleet usage, and encourage companies to look at whether they continue to allow staff to use their own cars for work, or opt for more use of short-term rental, which can often be a cheaper option than paying a large cost per mile via AMAP. I reckon the break even point is around the 100 miles mark, even allowing for home delivery and collection charges on top of the rental price, plus refuelling. Spreading the rental over two days can still be beneficial. Of course, not all of us are reimbursing at AMAP in the first place, and if it’s possible to safely and suitably use smaller rental vehicles then the savings will be greater. It’s just that some fleets haven’t worked that out yet.

So, ESOS is here to say and no doubt it will throw up a few other cost savings areas not yet thought of.

UK Government predicts that it could help deliver savings of nearly £2bn across British business, and that’s not to be sniffed at.

BAROMETER Making sense of the surveys

We’ve pulled together the pertinent points from the myriad of research done in the fleet industry this month to give you a clearer view of what’s really going on...

grey fleet concerns According to Lex Autolease, a large number of British firms are still not taking the time to check that grey fleet employees are properly insured.

The firm undertook a survey of 633 employers who have privately funded cars, with the results – when extrapolated across Britain, indicating that there are 14 million cars in the grey fleet, with nine million of these used for work purposes on a regular basis.

Lex Autolease said uncheked grey fleet drivers pose a significant challenge for organisations in terms of employee safety, the environmental impact of their vehicles and in extreme circumstances the potential for corporate manslaughter charges.

20% of the organisations surveyed failed to always carry out adequate checks to establish that employees have the correct insurance in place to use a private car for work purposes.

Source: Lex Autolease

12% said they only undertake sporadic checks on staff driving for work.

While 8% admitted they do not carry out any insurance checks at all.

comfortable with telematics Business drivers are becoming increasingly comfortable with telematics being installed in their vehicles as “Big Brother” concerns diminish, according to research carried out on behalf of Masternaut.

68% of the 2,032 drivers surveyed by Atomik Reseach said they were now comfortable with the idea of telematics being installed in their vehicles.

Top reasons for the remaining 32% feeling uncomfortable were concerns around privacy (51%), not understanding how the data is used (14%), and not understanding the benefits of such a system (18%).

However, 72% of respondents said that neither their work nor personal vehicles were currently fitted with a telematics device, suggesting an untapped opportunity for fleets to better manage their fleet drivers.

Source: Masternaut

16 / fleetworld.co.uk

Martin Hiscox, CEO and chairman of Masternaut, commented: ‘In the past, UK drivers have shown a measured response to vehicle tracking technologies, which is now largely over both from a consumer and business perspective. But we mustn’t be apathetic – the concept of telematics being purely a vehicle tracking technology is outdated and we need to continue talking more about the safety and efficiency benefits instead.’

dangerous tyres A worrying percentage of drivers do not check the overall condition of their tyres as often as they should, the results of a new survey published by tyresonthedrive.com suggest.

Despite safety recommendations stating that tyres should be checked once a month and before long journeys, 13% of respondents said they do not check their tyre pressure at all, while 16% said they ‘never’ check tyre tread.

The results suggest that younger drivers are least likely to carry out checks, with only 24% of the 18-24 year olds questioned saying tyre condition is ‘imperative’ to road safety, compared to 62% of over 55s.

Answers also varied by gender, with 78% of men claiming that they were completely confident checking the overall condition of their tyres, compared to only 43% of women.

Drivers face three penalty points on their driving licence for having defective tyres. According to the Department for Transport, there were 968 casualties in the UK caused by illegal, defective or under-inflated tyres in 2013, of which 18 people were killed.

Source: tyresonthedrive.com

vulnerable road users

Source: Brake & Licence Bureau

A new report published by Brake and Licence Bureau suggests that many companies do not have good practice procedures in place to protect vulnerable road users.

In a survey of 228 companies, Brake found that 54% do not provide driver education on protecting pedestrians and cyclists.

68% do not instruct drivers to slow down to 20mph around schools, homes and shops.

While 61% don't instruct drivers on looking twice and checking mirrors at junctions for cyclists or motorcyclists.

70% of large commercial vehicles do not have blind spot cameras fitted, rising to 80% for car fleets.

Pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists currently account for 59% of UK road deaths and serious injuries. Steps to minimise risk to vulnerable road users include journey planning, driver education, making use of telematics and building a culture of always putting safety first.

Brake is encouraging employers to sign up now to take part in Road Safety Week, 17-23 November, which will focus on the theme: “look out for each other”.

for the latest daily news from the fleet industry, visit fleetworld.co.uk fleetworld.co.uk / 17

inbusiness

fleetonfleet Helen Brislane, fleet administrator, Momentum Instore Fleet size 25 permanent cars, 50–300 short-term hire cars & vans, 80 grey fleet Momentum Instore has an enviable client list. Tell us a bit more about what they do?

Here at Momentum Instore we provide all the essential elements to make an instore marketing campaign a success. And we’ve been doing it for over 35 years.

This experience combined with our expert knowledge, comprehensive range of services and award winning solutions means that we can ensure the UK’s biggest retailers will get the very best return from their instore marketing activity. Our core service offering ranges from retail audits, installation, merchandising and field marketing.

Essentially we help brands and retailers to convert browsers into buyers by ensuring their instore displays are the best they can be.

That must make for a mixed fleet. Do you have HGVs and need to get involved with O licences?

The fleet is made up of around 80% cars and 20% commercial vehicles. We have a small permanent fleet for essential users alongside a larger short term hire fleet, as our intermittent drivers are based from home, all around the UK. You run a huge number of rental vehicles – what particular challenges does that bring?

The biggest challenge is keeping track of where they all are! As we’re off-hiring and on-hiring every day with varying hire periods for different client’s teams, having accurate daily reports formatted to highlight potential

issues such as a vehicle collection failure is a must. Of course, as with other essential user fleets, we also face a huge challenge with damage management, in particular small claims for scraped alloys, dents and scratches.

Ah yes, accident damage – do you penalise drivers for damage to vehicles?

Historically, we have had several policies in place for dealing with damage, and we have found that the current “honesty” policy has the best results. Drivers will be penalised in the pocket for damage that happens whilst the vehicle is on rent to them if it is not reported.

However damage that is reported is generally not. We also conduct Post-Accident Interviews. As the driver is aware he’s not going to be penalised we have found that we get more information from him, which helps us with our insurance claim. We have also recently launched a Driving for Success incentive scheme aimed at encouraging drivers to report damage to vehicles on delivery.

Fuel costs are a challenge. Are they more difficult to control with a constantly changing vehicle population?

Fuel is an important and costly issue for any fleet, and running a short term hire fleet only adds to the burden.

Vehicles must be returned full to the hire company or a fuel surcharge is applied. Jobs are costed using average MPG figures for the relevant grade vehicle and any irregular fuel expense claims are queried by our admin teams. We do run a small permanent fleet and our higher business mileage users have fuel cards.

trading places

in

in

out

Lesley Slater to head up new LeasePlan division LeasePlan UK has appointed Lesley Slater to the newly created board-level position of business development director, responsible for seamless delivery of services to fleets.

Her former role as director of the LeasePlan brand will be filled by Simon Carr of LeasePlan Go, while head of remarketing James Hopkins has been appointed brand director of Network.

New additions to Alphabet team Alphabet has appointed David Bushnell as eMobility consultant in a move to bolster its expertise in the use of electric vehicles.

In addition Chris Berry has been promoted to the role of market development manager with overall responsibility to develop and bring to life Alphabet’s future sales strategy through new products, sales channels and innovations.

ACFO’s Julie Jenner to stand down ACFO director and former chairman Julie Jenner is to step down from the association due to a career promotion.

Jenner, GE Capital Fleet Services’ key solutions manager for eight years, has been promoted to a new role as pan-European strategic account manager for the vehicle leasing and fleet management company.

18 / fleetworld.co.uk

The new C-Class Estate.

Practically engineered.

Only 109 g /km* CO2.

A Daimler Brand

The numbers work.

Official government fuel consumption figures in mpg (litres per 100km) for the new C-Class range: urban 40.4 (7.0) –72.4 (3.9), purposes and actual performance will depend on driving style, road conditions and other non-technical factors. *Model featured is a new C 220 BlueTec Sport Estate at £33,205 on-the-road with optional metallic paint at availability. Prices correct at time of print 10/14.

extra urban 61.4(4.6)–83.1(3.4), combined 51.4(5.5)–78.5(3.6). CO2 emissions 133–94 g/km. Official EU-regulated test data are provided for comparison

£645 (on-the-road price includes VAT, delivery, 12 months’ Road Fund Licence, number plates, first registration fee and fuel). Some combinations of features/options may not be available. Please contact your local Retailer for

inbusiness

2015 The year of falling fuel prices?

Oversupply and shale gas causing significant drop in oil price, which may lead to lower fuel costs for fleets – at least for early 2015.

W

hisper it quietly, but 2015 could see a year of falling fuel costs due to a drop in the price of global oil.

According to analysts at investment bank Goldman Sachs, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude will fall to $75 a barrel and Brent to $85 a barrel in the first quarter of 2015, both down $15 from their previous forecast.

WTI could fall as low as $70 in the second quarter and Brent as low as $80, when oversupply would be the most pronounced, before returning to first-quarter levels, Goldman said.

The key drivers for the fall are increased output from non-OPEC countries, such as Brazil and Mexico, a slowing Chinese economy and the huge investment in shale gas production in the USA which has softened demand for oil. However, analysts have warned that the drop in prices could be a ploy by the OPEC cartel to push profit margins on shale gas so low as to make it unviable.

Irrespective of long term corporate strategies, it could spell lower fuel prices in the early part next year for fleets. The supermarkets are already reacting to the falls, with Asda announcing it was reducing the price of petrol and diesel by 2p a litre. It said the price of its petrol would fall to 120.7p a litre and that diesel would be cut to 124.7p a litre – its lowest prices since December 2010. Morrisons followed by saying it would be cutting petrol and diesel by up to 2p a litre.

But fleets should not plan for a long term drop in fuel costs just yet. According to The AA spokesman Luke Bosdet, it is unlikely prices will fall significantly over most of 2015, with the oil companies still keeping wholesale cost of fuel opaque and the likelihood that any global economic recovery would push prices up again.

22 / fleetworld.co.uk

RAC calls for urgent action on motorway fuel prices The RAC is calling for action on motorway service fuel prices after it found it can cost up to 10p per litre more than the national average.

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: ‘It’s no wonder that motorists feel held to ransom with prices on the motorways inflated to such an extent. In some cases motorway petrol and diesel might even be 15p dearer than the cheapest forecourts which would add as much as £8 to the price of a tank of an average-sized vehicle.

‘We can see no reason why motorway fuel should be so much more expensive. In fact, arguably it is much easier from a delivery point of view than it is getting fuel to urban filling stations. Questions need to be asked to find out what reasons motorway service operators have for charging such increased prices.’

In May 2013, as part of a review into motorway fuel prices, Prime Minister David Cameron said motorway services could be forced to advertise their fuel prices in advance, but to date there has been no progress in making these changes, nor has there been an update on tackling high motorway fuel prices.

Williams added: ‘We hope that the Government takes action – preferably within this parliament – to make the much-needed change to motorway signage as well as addressing the bigger issue of pricing to make it more affordable for millions of motorists to fill up at motorway services.’

G H I B L I

THE HEAD SAYS YES. THE HEART SAYS DEFINITELY, YES.

MASERATI GHIBLI. THE ABSOLUTE OPPOSITE OF ORDINARY. STARTING FROM £49,160

THE NEW MASERATI GHIBLI IS POWERED BY A RANGE OF ADVANCED 3.0 LITRE V6 ENGINES WITH 8-SPEED ZF AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION, INCLUDING, FOR THE FIRST TIME, A V6 TURBODIESEL ENGINE. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE MASERATI GHIBLI, CALL 01943 871660 OR VISIT MASERATI.CO.UK

Official fuel consumption figures for Maserati Ghibli range in mpg (l/100km): Urban 18.0 (15.7) – 37.2 (7.6), Extra Urban 38.7 (7.3) – 56.5 (5.0), Combined 27.2 (10.4) – 47.9 (5.9). CO2 emissions 242 – 158 g/km. Fuel consumption and CO2 figures are based on standard EU tests for comparative purposes and may not reflect real driving results. Model shown is a Maserati Ghibli S at £69,638 On The Road including optional pearlescent paint at £1,776, 21” Titano design alloy wheels at £3,670 and Red brake callipers at £432.

www.maserati.co.uk

inbusiness

Part of the Process Using innovations from super computers, the small but powerful Tegra K1 chip is set to introduce unprecedented functionality and design into tomorrow’s cars, as Alex Grant explains.

What is it?

The Tegra K1 is a mobile computer processor developed by NVIDIA, a brand best known by the computer gaming industry for its graphics processing units (GPUs). Adopting technology already used in the film industry and for medical imaging, it’s promising to revolutionise the next generation of vehicles and is already used in production models.

What does it do?

A GPU has traditionally only been tasked with processing visual data, but this requires a lot of power.

While the central processing unit (CPU) in a modern smartphone has four processor cores and handles data sequentially, GPUs can have thousands of cores and tackle many tasks simultaneously.

Recognising this untapped processing power, NVIDIA pioneered a system where the CPU can offload the most memory-intensive 5% of an application’s code to the GPU. So the Tegra K1 has a quadcore CPU, but can also use its 192-core GPU to accelerate performance as required, improving the speed, accuracy and responsiveness of applications for phones, tablets and in-car systems.

The claims With built-in processors for video, image and audio, NVIDIA claims the Tegra K1 can become a central brain for the myriad sensors and cameras fitted to modern cars. Because it can process more data at a higher speed, it could use this information to enable – for example – partially or fully autonomous driving.

It can also radically improve infotainment sys-

24 / fleetworld.co.uk

tems. The GPU allows touchscreens to respond quickly and intuitively to driver inputs, powers more accurate and intelligent voice control and provides the processing power for higher audio quality. It can do all of this while allowing clearer displays and navigation which can render three-dimensional topography and buildings, and overlay satellite imagery.

Further ahead, this technology could lay the foundations for augmented reality head-up displays. It can power the graphics for a transparent TFT screen sandwiched between the layers of a laminated windscreen, and has the capacity to monitor the driver’s eye movement to position this information in the correct part of the screen.

As manufacturers move towards virtual instrument panels, NVIDIA foresees increased customisation and downloadable themes. The Tegra K1 can render lifelike materials in high definition, including shadows and reflections, while data from other sensors could enable these virtual displays to respond realistically to surrounding lighting.

Where is it used?

NVIDIA already has several large automotive clients on board, with an estimated six million vehicles already using its processors and further clients in the pipeline set to grow the market exponentially.

The Tegra K1 is used across the Volkswagen and BMW Group product portfolios, notably including the Audi TT’s virtual cockpit, and in Honda’s new Connect infotainment system. Tesla uses two in the Model S, powering the 17-inch central display and instrument panel.

ASTRA 1.6CDTi

WELCOME TO THE QUIET REVOLUTION Whispering diesels are now powering Vauxhall’s quiet revolution. Refined, smooth and quiet, they’re a new generation of lightweight and compact aluminium 1.6 litre turbo diesels that are worth shouting about.

FROM

P11D £17,680 FROM

CO2 97g/km† FROM

BiK 15%* COMBINED

UP TO

MPG 76.3mpg†

Book your FREE** 3 Day Test Drive at www.vauxhall3DTD.co.uk or call 0870 240 4848

VAUXHALL FLEET Call 0870 010 0651 | visit www.vauxhall.co.uk/fleet

Official Government Test Environmental Data. Fuel consumption figures mpg (litres/100km) and CO 2 emissions (g/km). Astra 1.6CDTi: Urban – 58.9 (4.8)-72.4 (3.9). Extra-urban – 74.3 (3.8)-80.7 (3.5).

Combined – 67.3 (4.2)-76.3 (3.7). CO 2 emissions 110-97g/km. † = Official EU-regulated test data are provided for comparison purposes and actual performance will depend on driving style, road conditions and other non-technical factors. * = 2014-15 tax year. General Motors UK Limited, trading as Vauxhall Motors, does not offer tax advice and recommends that all Company Car Drivers consult their own accountant with regards to their particular tax position. ** = Excludes fuel and lubricants; congestion charges; parking and speeding fines and the £250 insurance excess (if applicable). 3 Day Test Drive vehicles are subject to availability and terms and conditions apply. Please refer to www.3daytestdrive.co.uk for full terms and conditions. Drivers must be 25 years or older and is available for Mainland UK only. All figures quoted correct at time of publication (November 2014).

g fleet e k

Ampy Kinetic Charger

Division Furtive Type 50 As rare as it is unusual, this is the latest futuristic design from Canadian wristwatch maker Division Furtive. Its linear LED displays can function as a torch as well as showing time, date, moon phases and three time zones. Setting these is no less conventional, using the light from a computer or smartphone display to literally flash a message into the watch.

Price: £220 from division-furtive.com

Amazon Fire Phone Designed for intuitive use, the Fire Phone features clever tilt, scroll, swivel and peek functions to enable one-handed operation and incredible 3D maps. It also has a 13 megapixel self-stabilising camera capable of reading and translating web and e-mail addresses, phone numbers and barcodes for 90 million items, as well as recognising television shows, films and music direct from the screen.

Price: On contract, see amazon.co.uk

Recapture a little of your lost energy with this clever smartphone charger. With a lithium-ion battery that gets topped up as you move, and a USB port for your device to connect to, it’s claimed to add three hours of battery life during an average day of walking and can be plugged into the mains as a backup too.

Price: £80 from getampy.com

Everykey Wristband A skeleton key for all your accounts, the Everykey wristband automatically logs you into websites and electronic equipment via a Bluetooth connection when you’re in range. It can generate unbreakable passwords, encrypts all stored data to avoid hacking and future functionality could allow it to unlock doors, replace credit cards and provide keyless starting for cars.

Price: £100 from everykey.com

apps of the month

Congestion Charge Checker

Next

ParkRight

Reckoning that 30,000 people forget to pay the London Congestion Charge each week, the latest version of AutoAlert’s app tracks the user’s location and notifies them when they enter the zone. There’s then an opportunity to pay directly from the app, get alerts for non-payment, add other zones and devices to track colleagues and download reports to Excel as required.

Price: £2.99 from iTunes Store

The simple way to be money conscious, Next logs and categorises all of your expenses in one place, backed up to the cloud and synchronised with all your other devices for easy access wherever you are. It can then publish regular reports, show trends and export data to Excel or Numbers to keep on file, and offers the option to customise home screen tabs for the most popular categories.

Price: £1.99 from iTunes Store

Worth making a trip into London to try, this detailed app receives data from 3,000 recently installed infra-red sensors in parking spaces across the West End. So it can provide real-time parking availability for the entire region, and offers a list of 41,000 spaces across the City of Westminster with the ability to pay through the app.

Price: Free from iTunes Store and Google Play

26 / fleetworld.co.uk

www.renault.co.uk

ALL-NEW RENAULT TRAFIC. YOUR SUCCESS BOOSTER.

Visit renault.co.uk/business or call the Renault Business Team on 0800 040 7344.

• Air Conditioning and Rear Parking Sensors as standard • Up to 4.15 metre load-through-bulkhead, making it one of the most flexible LCV in its class • Formula One inspired ENERGY engines with fuel efficiency of up to 47.9mpg combined* • Available from £191.95 per month on contract hire**

trust europe’s no.1 van manufacturer

BUSINESS USERS ONLY. *EU Directive and Regulation 692/2008 test environment figures. Fuel consumption and CO2 may vary according to driving style, road conditions and other factors. **Model shown: Renault Trafic SL27 Business + dCi from £24,699 inc. VAT. Available from £191.95 per month on business contract hire. Price excludes metallic paint, delivery and dealer related charges. Term 36 months, based on 10,000 miles per annum.

Payment profile: 3 month advance payment at £575.85 followed by 35 payments at £191.95 per month. Prices exclusive of VAT unless otherwise indicated. Finance provided by RCI Financial Services Limited, PO Box 149, Watford WD17 1FJ. Subject to status. Guarantees and indemnities may be required. Terms and Conditions apply. Offer cannot be used with other schemes or finance offers and are available on Trafic until 31 December 2014 (orders).

Ford Mondeo Ford has upped its game with the all new generation of its fleet car stalwart. By Curtis Hutchinson.

SECTOR Upper Medium PRICE £20,795–£27,550 FUEL 38.7–78.5mpg CO2 94–169g/km

M

ost carmakers claim their latest model is eagerly awaited. Ford, however, can make a claim more credible than most with its fourth generation Mondeo.

The all-new iteration of the fleet favourite has been around for a while, having been revealed at the Paris Motor Show two years ago and on sale in the US as the Fusion since 2012. The delayed European launch, caused by shifting production from Genk to Valencia, itself no small undertaking, must have been a frustration for the carmaker but the forced delay showed just how good the last generation model was as its life was extended into an unplanned seventh year.

Each successive Mondeo has been a game-changer but the outgoing model set a particularly high benchmark for what is achievable in the volume D-segment. So how do you make an outstanding car better? The latest model adds plenty of new technology, safety features – including the first rear seatbelt airbag – and creature comforts to the mix. Importantly, though, as the first European model to be built on Ford’s new global CD-segment platform it also benefits from even better driving dynamics. higher levels of comfort and refinement than before. Even, While the attractive styling nods to continuity, the prooutside its natural environment up and down the tight file is more coupe-like than before, and the wagon has sweeping inclines of Andalucia, both saloon and wagon never looked better. Unfortunately the grille is shared an agility and responsiveness that belied every bit as over-sized as it looks in the phototheir generous proportions, with the small FLEET FACT graphs. While it is easy to be seduced by the petrol unit admirably punching above its weight. upmarket look and feel of the cabin, with its Petrol will be offered across four engines but Petrol-electric plethora of bells and whistles and sheer roomionly account for 5% of projected sales. Fleets ness, it is the driving experience which continwill be more focused on the three 2.0-litre diesel hybrid Mondeo ues to distinguish the Mondeo. options – which also include 150 and 210bhp offers CO2 emisWe tested a five-door 2.0-litre 115g/km outputs – which collectively will account for sions of 99g/km.

180bhp TDCi diesel and 1.5-litre 134g/km 69% of total sales. A 1.6-litre 115bhp 109g/km 160bhp EcoBoost petrol wagon across long and diesel will also join the range in the spring and demanding road routes in southern Spain. The motorway take 23% of sales. All-wheel drive diesel variants join the lineruns revealed how the Mondeo has actually improved upon up for the first time early next year. its primary purpose as a no-nonsense mile muncher with Prices start at £20,795 for the diesel-only Style, £21,045 for the Zetec and £22,245 for the Titanium. While the Titanium X pack, which includes LED headlamps and leather trim and powered seats, adds a further £2,000. In keeping with the established tradition of savvy company car drivers opting for the highest possible spec for their budgets, Titanium will be the most popular trim level accounting for 51% of sales.

Furthermore, according to Ford boss Mark Ovenden, the decision to pull back from fast churn daily rental has resulted in an average uplift in residual values of £1,200 across the new range. This should result in lower contract hire rates with Ford Lease already offering the 2.0-litre Zetec diesel from just £229 a month over three years.

This sector has changed beyond recognition since the last Mondeo was launched, with the premium marques now dominating company car sales and crossovers presenting practical alternatives. Yet once again Ford’s flagship model offers a compelling proposition that will reward userchoosers wishing to maximise on their allowances, minimise their BiK exposure and enjoy first class driving dynamics.

28 / fleetworld.co.uk

what we think

highlights 1.4 million Mondeos sold in UK since 1993.

Fourth generation model and first to offer AWD and petrol-electric hybrid.

The Ford Mondeo continues to deliver a compelling fleet story, from its fresh new sporty look, refinement and wide choice of low emission diesel engines, to better than before driving characteristics, higher RVs and lower contract hire rates. What's not to like?

Hatchback and estate models on sale from October.

Diesels will account for 92% of all sales.

key fleet model Ford Mondeo 2.0 TDCi 150 Titanium

fleetworld.co.uk / 29

Volkswagen Passat The new Passat is classier, more refined and even more attractive as a company car, says Julian Kirk.

SECTOR Upper Medium PRICE £22,215–£37,035 FUEL 52.3–68.9mpg CO2 103–140g/km

S

tep out of the new Passat after a few hours behind the wheel and you’re left with the over-riding impression that Volkswagen has thrown the kitchen sink at this model.

It’s been a long time since I’ve driven a car that is not only as comfortable as the Passat, but also as refined – the lack of wind and engine noise into the cabin is quite extraordinary for a car in this sector. You can imagine covering hefty mileage in this car. And that’s before you bring the improved handling into the equation.

The new Passat is a shining example of the modular chassis architecture Volkswagen has developed, enabling it to make not only huge strides in comfort and handling, but also liberating more room.

While 12mm wider than the previous Passat, this new model is 2mm shorter and 14mm less tall. However, the MQB architecture has allowed a 79mm improvement in the wheelbase which gives more room for all occupants, as well as increased boot space (up 21 litres in the saloon and 47 litres in the estate). three versions of the ubiquitous 2.0 TDI in 148, 187 and This stretching of the wheelbase has also helped 237bhp guises. The latter, a twin-turbo unit mated to a with the styling – with the wheels pushed further into the DSG gearbox and with four-wheel drive, powers the rangecorners of the car, a much more muscular topping model, but with prices starting at look is enabled. In fact it’s a very handsome around £35,000 it won’t make much of a dent FLEET FACT car, and one that wouldn’t look out of place on the sales charts. It’s a very accomplished in an Audi showroom. car, but for this sort of money the siren call of More than 80% Inside is a familiar Volkswagen experience a premium badge is hard to ignore. but the level of quality and refinement has Reign in the power and price and you’re left of Volkswagen been taken up a notch – aside from some with the sweetspot of the range in 2.0 TDI 150 Passat sales will diesel engine noise at start-up and idle, guise, which will fuel the vast majority of be to fleets. there is little cabin noise intrusion at all sales. With CO2 emissions of 106g/km and when on the move, while wind noise is all but claimed average fuel economy of just over non-existent.

60mpg it’s an ideal vehicle for blending on-road and payFor the fleet-centric UK market, Volkswagen will only slip performance. The TDI 190 version is also intriguing, sell diesel models, offering a 1.6 TDI in 118bhp guise and but none were available to test at the car’s launch.

Come January and first deliveries, the Passat range will stretch from £22,215 to £37,035 (yes, really) and with a choice of S, SE, SE Business, GT and R-Line trim. SE Business is a UK-specific trim to reflect that fact than more than 80% of Passats are bought through companies, adding satellite navigation as standard on top of SE grade niceties.

Basic S models offer DAB radio, a touchscreen system, Bluetooth and USB ports as well as mis-fuelling prevention and post-collision braking, while SE gains adaptive cruise control, comfort seats and parking sensors front and rear.

By mid-way through 2015 Volkswagen will add a GTE plug-in hybrid model (costing around £32,000 after the £5,000 Government green grant), plus the option on SE models and above of a head-up display and the impressive TFT screen which replaces all the dials in the instrument binnacle with a multi-view screen. Expect a jacked-up and body-clad 4x4 Alltrack variant of the estate towards the end of the year.

32 / fleetworld.co.uk

what we think

highlights Estate boot space up by 47 litres.

Fleet-special SE Business trim level.

Alltrack 4x4, 78mpg BlueMotion diesel and GTE plug-in hybrid due in 2015.

Sharper styling, more room inside and increased specification make the Passat a hard act to beat in the volume market. Add in improved driving dynamics and excellent refinement and Volkswagen’s latest offering is a company car star. Plug-in hybrid and BlueMotion models will be key additions mid-2015.

Mis-fuelling protection standard on all models.

key fleet model 2.0 TDI 150 SE Business fleetworld.co.uk / 33

VALUE ADDED TAX

PETROL DUTY

MATERNITY ALLOWANCE

1973

ELECTRIC CALCULATOR

CORPORATION TAX

BENEFIT IN KIND

1961

1965

2002

1908

WE HAVEN’T JUST MADE HISTORY.

WE’VE MADE RUNNING A FLEET £1,000s CHEAPER. With the new Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, we haven’t merely made a new car – we’ve found a way to seriously impress your employer. The fusion of electric and petrol technology can deliver a staggering 148 mpg1 and creates a fraction of the CO2 emissions of a small car - just 44g/km.

As a result business users will only pay 5% Benefit in Kind rather than the 25%+ most business users pay - boosting employees’ pay packets by thousands a year2. The business itself will make savings on its National Insurance Contributions3 and will be able to write down 100% of the cost of a new Outlander PHEV in year one4. Even a business with a small fleet of cars could save thousands in Corporation Tax5. We’ve made history – you just need to make time for a test drive. We call this Intelligent Motion.

Compare the corporation tax savings of a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV against a typical company car.

PROFIT BEFORE TAX (PBT)

OUTLANDER PHEV

£100,000

£100,000

SMALL BUSINESS TAX

20%

20%

LIST PRICE OF VEHICLE

£33,000

£32,899

CAPITAL ALLOWANCE %

18%

100%

CAPITAL ALLOWANCE (£)

£5,940

£32,899

TAXABLE PROFIT (ON £100,000 PBT)

£94,060

£67,701

CORPORATION TAX (NO VEHICLE PURCHASE)

£20,000

£20,000

CORPORATION TAX (WITH VEHICLE PURCHASE)

£18,812

£13,420

SAVING DUE TO CAPITAL ALLOWANCE

£1,188

£6,580

BUYING A PHEV WILL SAVE YOU A TOTAL OF £5,392 IN CORPORATION TAX (YEAR 1)

Make time for a test drive | Search: Outlander PHEV Visit: mitsubishi-cars.co.uk to find your nearest dealer

TYPICAL VEHICLE

THE WORLD’S FIRST 4WD PLUG-IN HYBRID SUV Compare the tax savings of running a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV as your company car against these market leaders.

COST OF THE CAR - P11D VALUE

OUTLANDER PHEV GX4H AUTO

HONDA CR-V EX AUTO

BMW X3 XDRIVE SE AUTO

AUDI Q5 S-LINE PLUS AUTO

MERCEDES E-CLASS SE ESTATE AUTO

£37,8996

£33,995

£34,500

£39,225

£36,005

GOVERNMENT GRANT REDUCTION

£5,000

£0

£0

£0

£0

ADJUSTED FINAL PRICE

£32,899

£33,995

£34,500

£39,225

£36,005

CO2 EMISSIONS G/KM

44

180

138

184

140

BENEFIT IN KIND RATE

5%

32%

23%

29%

24%

£758

£4,351

£3,174

£4,550

£3,456

VEHICLE BENEFIT CHARGE WITHOUT FUEL PROVIDED THE EXTRA TAX YOU PAY VS PHEV (40% TAXPAYER) VEHICLE BENEFIT CHARGE WITH FUEL PROVIDED THE EXTRA TAX YOU PAY VS PHEV (40% TAXPAYER)

–

£3,593

£2,416

£3,792

£2,699

£1,192

£7,129

£5,170

£7,067

£5,540

–

£5,937

£3,978

£5,875

£4,348

1. Official EU MPG test figure shown as a guide for comparative purposes and may not reflect real driving results. 2. Outlander PHEV GX4h compared with Honda CR-V, BMW X3, Audi Q5 and Mercedes E-Class - average saving £4,438pa for a 40% taxpayer. The savings for business drivers with a company fuel card are higher. 3. Class 1a NI only payable on 5% of list price compared to 25%+ average. 4. Outlander PHEV qualifies as low CO2 emissions vehicle for the purpose of Capital Allowances. 18% write down allowance used for comparison. Vehicles with CO2 emissions greater than 130g/km will only qualify for 8% from 1st April 2014.

5. Savings achieved due to lower Profits Chargeable to Corporation Tax (PCTCT). 6. Prices shown include VAT (at 20%), exclude VED and First Registration Fee. Metallic paint extra. Model shown is an Outlander PHEV GX4h at £33,399 including metallic paint. Prices correct at time of going to print. For more information about the Government Plug-in Car Grant please visit www.gov.uk/plug-in-car-van-grants.

Outlander PHEV range fuel consumption in mpg (ltrs/100km): Full Battery Charge: infinite, Depleted Battery Charge: 48mpg (5.9), Weighted Average: 148mpg (1.9), CO2 Emissions: 44 g/km.

Audi A6 2.0-litre TDI ultra The midterm facelift on the Audi A6 is more than just a new set of headlights. By Danny Cobbs.

SECTOR Large Executive PRICE £31,955–£35,485 FUEL 67.3mpg CO2 109g/km

A

fter three years and more than 500,000 sales, If Audi’s figures are to be believed, then this 187bhp Audi has decided the time has come to give the A6 turbo-diesel will return, on average, 67.3mpg while emita bit of makeover. And, like so many cars which ting just 109g/km of CO2 emissions, which is down from 114g/km. This sees it move up a VED banding, from C to are on the receiving end of a mid-term tweak, the focus of band B, while BiK benefits are down a percentage point, attention tends to linger longest on the bits which are the from 18% to 17%. easiest and least expensive to modify.

However, these figures are only achievable on the SE So the A6’s grille has been completely redesigned, as trim with the S tronic transmission, which uses the smallhave the bumpers and tailpipes, while xenon lights est 17-inch alloy wheels and offers a fuel-saving freebecome part of standard SE package or LED headlamps wheeling function. The latter is more a momentary on the S line trim. decoupling of the gearbox from the engine whenever it There is a price hike though. On average the A6 will now detects an idle throttle. Not that this cost an additional £1,441. But before decoupling is noticeable, and the gear you start thinking you could get a changes are far smoother than the old cheaper nose job from a backstreet Multitronic CVT it replaces.

Bulgarian plastic surgeon, ask yourself There has been a slight trade off for this; would you get a four-zone climate having these efficiencies. Despite control, acoustic glazing, and an boasting a 0-62mph time of 8.2 secupgraded infotainment system too? No. onds and a top speed of 144mph, it But that’s exactly what this particular never exudes any real sense of urgency. rhinoplasty is offering, together with And that’s all fine and good when all an 8-inch colour dashboard-mounted you’re asking of it is to cruise in a retractable monitor which becomes the straight line up a motorway. In fact, it’s nerve centre for the usual things, such a very serene place to be sat, even at as the sat nav, Bluetooth and audio con70mph and beyond. trols, plus it also serves as a display for Within the Audi Drive Select system Audi Connect, the bespoke 4G internetImproved fuel efficiencies there is the option to change the drivbased media streaming app. and a higher level ing mode and deploy something a little To further justify the price increase of standard equipment sportier; which will quicken the gear there’s also a new set of engines – five change, remap the throttle and stiffendiesels and three petrols. All are more means the A6 2.0-litre up the steering, but this will then have efficient than the ones they replace and Ultra lays down a detrimental effect on fuel consumpall are Euro 6 compliant. Out of the the gauntlet for its tion and contradicts the reason for first eight, it’s the revamped 2.0-litre TDI market rivals to better. choosing the Ultra over the standard Ultra which will muster the most inter2.0-litre TDI. est for the fleet market.

what we think

36 / fleetworld.co.uk

Mercedes-Benz S500 Plug-in Hybrid The first of many plug-in Mercedes model, the S500 will take some beating. By Craig Thomas.

SECTOR Luxury PRICE £87,965 FUEL 100.9mpg CO2 65g/km

I

n the quest to produce the most efficient cars, carmakers such as Toyota, BMW and Tesla are increasingly pushing back boundaries. But Mercedes-Benz will make up a lot of ground as it introduces 10 plug-in hybrids between now and 2017.

This is the first, and it will undoubtedly shake up the luxury sector. The S-Class is already the segment pacesetter and this new model, with its eyebrow-raising figures, will certainly prove persuasive, especially for customers making regular trips into central London.

The drivetrain is a combination of 328bhp biturbo V6

petrol engine and electric motor, which adds the equivalent of another 114bhp – enough to power this 2.2-tonne luxury behemoth to 62mph in a deceptively swift 5.2 seconds (faster than some Porsche Boxster and Cayman variants).

Despite this performance pedigree, however, in daily use it is incredibly quiet and, in electric mode, virtually silent, with the barest minimum of road noise intruding into the cabin.

While the refinement is impressive, the economy is even more so. The official fuel consumption is 100.9mpg, with CO2 emissions of 65g/km and an electric-only range of 20 miles (charging takes two to four hours, depending on whether you use a wallbox or a domestic supply). Realworld economy will vary depending how much of its time is spent driving on electricity, but the 51mpg we attained on a route comprising of city streets, motorways and rural highways is still noteworthy.

The biggest question before deciding on this environmental paragon is whether the premium over a diesel engine – in the region of £24,000 – is recoupable. That will be a big hurdle, but the PR kudos, particularly for Londonbased chauffeur fleets, will undoubtedly prove persuasive.

So, while this won’t sell in its thousands, it’s a preview of the technology we’ll see on more affordable models, and is undoubtedly a significant benchmark.

Fleet insurance for drivers in your business and drivers of your business...

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about delivering lower costs together with better tailored products.

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As a leading independent insurance broker, Bluedrop Services offers a unique level of service to managers of fleets of all sizes and vehicle types, suited to the people who drive, manage and finance your vehicle fleet, whether it’s 3 taxis or 300 trucks.

Of course we offer all the bells and whistles on a wide range of policies, but moreover we do our homework on your individual needs, cutting out unnecessary costs in the process.

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We’ll demonstrate why the policies and service we offer, not only enhances the support you offer to the people who drive your vehicles, but also the people who drive your business.

Call 0845 548 0163 Visit www.bluedropservices.co.uk Email info@bluedropservices.co.uk

Options for mixed fleets under one policy We can help any size of business operation Incredible range of policy options Any Driver policies available Competitive pricing

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Bluedrop Services (NW) Limited Company No: 7287668 Registered Office: Unit 23 Basepoint Centre Andersons Road Southampton SO14 5FE Bluedrop Services (NW) Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registration No. 530244.

Volvo V40 T5 Drive-E

Danny Cobbs drives the Volvo V40 T5, the first petrol Drive-E engine to be sold in the UK.

SECTOR Lower Medium PRICE £31,900 FUEL 47.9mpg CO2 137g/km

F

itted with the all-new eight-speed automatic gearbox as standard, the V40 T5 becomes the latest member of the Volvo clan to receive the Drive-E powertrains. It’s all part of a £190 million investment by Volvo which will eventually see variants of its all-new 2.0-litre petrol and diesel engine replace eight drivetrains across three platforms.

Drive-E is based on Volvo’s latest mantra that power has nothing to do with cylinder count, so long as you can get more air through a smaller engine. Bearing that in mind, the T5 is a four-cylinder, 2.0-litre turbocharged affair and

offers the sort of performance figures which concur with that statement from Volvo. There’s 245bhp of available power which, in turn, delivers a 0-62mph time of 6.3 seconds, and a top speed recorded at 149 mph.

It has enhanced efficiencies over the outgoing five-cylinder engine, too. CO2 emissions are down to 137g/km and Volvo claims the average 47.9mpg figure can be improved even further, by 5%, when the dashboard mounted ECO+ mode is deployed. This function cuts the engine while slowing below 4mph, enables “coasting” at low loads and reduces turbo input. It also changes throttle pedal sensitivity, remaps the gear change and deactivates the air conditioning to also save fuel.

There is a distinct difference between the two driving settings. ECO+ noticeably blunts the V40’s on-road performance, and is really best suited to gentle cruising, shifting back into the default mode when extra power is needed. The new eight-speed auto-transmission is much better suited to this engine than the T4 diesel. At normal speeds it changes gears very smoothly indeed. Only when its put under pressure does it lack a certain amount of finesse, and tends to be a bit jerky when shifting through its many ratios.

On sale now and only available in the one trim level; the T5 Geartronic R-Design Lux Nav is priced at £31,050.

Volvo V40 D4 Drive-E

The V40 finally gets the engine it has needed. Danny Cobbs tests the V40 D4.

SECTOR Lower Medium PRICE £24,570–£28,220 FUEL 74.3mpg CO2 99g/km

L

et’s forget about any preamble and cut straight to the chase; the D4 is the engine the V40 has been waiting for. We’ve driven this engine before (in the S60, V60, XC60, V70, XC70 and the S80) but never has it transformed any of them as it has with the V40.

Like the engine it replaces, it still has a 2.0-litre displacement, and drives the front wheels, except this time around the number of cylinders has been cut from five to four. This gives it improved fuel efficiencies; from 62.2mpg to 74.3mpg, while CO2 emissions have plunged three BiK bands lower, to 99g/km. Yet despite better economies, power has increased to a whacking 190bhp. It’s faster from a standing start too, shaving nine-tenths off its 0-62mph time; it’s now accomplished in 7.4 seconds.

This engine, then, instantly makes the V40 D4 a class leader in the high-performance diesel-powered hatchback market, surpassing the likes of the Volkswagen Golf GTD and BMW 120d. User choosers take note.

The V40’s transmissions have been updated too. The choice is between either a new six-speed manual or the optional eight-speed automatic. Of the two, and if it’s being bought as a BMW or Golf alternative, then stick to the shortgated manual. The auto is just a little too premature on the change and selects the next cog a tad before the engines’ 38 / fleetworld.co.uk

power curve has fully reached its maximum potential.

There’s a 30kg weight saving on this engine too, which has an obvious and immediate impact on efficiencies and performance, but it’s also had an adverse effect on the handling. Combine the loss of weight over the front wheels with the engine’s extra power and the result translates into something which isn’t as cohesive as it could be.

So while the V40 D4 isn’t the most focused driving machine in its class, it ticks a lot more boxes than before.

business.peugeot.co.uk /308sw

CLASS-LEADING CO2 CLASS-LEADING BOOT SPACE

NEW PEUGEOT 308 SW

1.6 BlueHDi 120 FAP 6-speed manual stop start

CO2 MPG Boot space

from 85g/km up to 88 up to 1775 litres

SENSATIONS EXTENDED You CAN have it all. The lowest CO2 for this kind of car – and no road tax to pay. The biggest boot in the market, with one-touch folding seats and a flat boot floor. Excellent driving dynamics due to a strong, light chassis.

And inside a sleek, technologically-advanced interior including the Peugeot i-Cockpit with 9.7" touchscreen+.

The 308 SW is your new business leader. Find out more by visiting business.peugeot.co.uk/308sw or calling 02476 884 644 for more information.

Official Fuel Consumption in mpg (l/100km) and CO 2 emissions (g/km) for the 308 SW range are: Urban 43.5 (6.5) – 78.5 (3.6), Extra Urban 64.2 (4.4) – 94.2 (3), Combined 54.3 (5.2) – 88.3 (3.2) and CO 2 119-85.

MPG figures are achieved under official EU test conditions, intended as a guide for comparative purposes only, and may not reflect actual on-the-road driving conditions. Model shown is a 308 SW Feline with 18" Saphir alloy wheels. +9.7" touchscreen and satellite navigation available on Active level and above.

NEW PEUGEOT 308 SW

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Choose hybrid and clean up Quitting diesels for cleaner petrol full hybrids makes business sense. With low CO 2, near zero NOx and zero particulate emissions, companies save through lower tax, reduced NI contributions and better fuel efficiency. Drivers also save through lower BIK tax liability.

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Model shown is Lexus NX hybrid SUV, due for launch October 2014. More information available on launch.

MPG MARATHON 2014

ALD Automotive โ ข Fleet World MPG marathon 2014

MPG Marathon promoting smarter driving for better business

23 cars, three vans, 300-plus miles, a thunderstorm or two, some very steep hills and as little fuel as possible. The MPG Marathon doesn't get any tougher than this...

fleetworld.co.uk / 41

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MPG marathon

MPG MARATHON 2014

2014

Marathon Men An Alfa Romeo 4C isn’t the most likely eco car, but light weight and a small engine should make it a contender, editor Steve Moody reckoned. Here’s how he got on.

H

ave you ever been out driving, seen a steep hill and just the very sight of it has illed you with dread right to the very pit of your stomach? If so then you were either just about to run out of fuel, or on the MPG Marathon.

Somewhere in Hampshire, trying to ind a coffee stop on the second day, we took a wrong turn, rounded a corner and were faced with a B road that resembled the North face of the Eiger. There was nowhere to turn round either and so I no choice but to ascend, gamely attempting to spurt our little car up it in short applications of throttle. At the top there was a turning, so I drove in, feeling rather de lated, for I had watched the instant fuel economy gauge register single igures on a few occasions, jabbing me accusingly with its need to dip so gluttonously into our tank. At least we got to run back down again, I consoled myself, but it was meagre consolation for those few hundreds yards of torture.

This is the challenge of the MPG Marathon then: to negotiate your way round with as little pain as possible, as little stress on your car and engine, as few litres of fuel burnt. To do this, it isn’t about driving as slowly as possible, I believe. What’s the point? There has to be some real-

42 / fleetworld.co.uk

ity to it, so it is more about keeping going, using momentum, understanding where your car runs most ef iciently (not always at the slowest speed) and planning your route.

Well, planning your route better than I had, anyway.

It had all started so well. Alfa Romeo, theorising that its new superlight 4C sports car could be driven incredibly ef iciently, offered one up for the test. I forced myself to take up the challenge. Two days in a gorgeous Italian rocket, with 240bhp from its 1.8-litre turbocharged engine and weighing less than 900kg thanks to its carbon ibre construction: who could refuse?

Day 1 Setting off from the Cotswold Water Park on the irst day, my plan was simple. Get the thing into as high a gear as possible early on, and keep rolling. Every change was to take place at less than 1,900 rpm as it was about then the turbo kicked in, which is bad for fuel economy.

Handily, the engine is right behind your head, so you know if you have messed up because there is a noise like a 747 taking off as the turbo spools up.

At the first roundabout, barely 500 metres down the road I encountered the first problem. If you change

Day 1

Moody Marriott

down yourself on the automated manual gearbox, the produces little low end torque with wide wheels it was throttle blips to match the revs. This is not good. a disaster. The 4C carries no natural momentum of its Throttle blipping on the MPG Marathon is not the own, so hitting standing water, the combination of that preferred technique. and tyres acting like dams meant we would have virtuWith a bit of trial and error I worked out if you ally come to stop without more throttle, and as a result changed up using the paddles and then just rolled off our fuel economy plunged. Mile after mile we toiled the accelerator to slow down, the engine management through this storm, every puddle sucking more fuel system dropped gears itself, without any noisy, thirsty from our tank. Consequently, I was having to give the histrionics too. car gentle little shoves of throttle to keep it rolling, And so we cruised out of Wiltshire, past Cirencester which isn’t the smoothest way to travel but proved to and on to our irst target: Abergavenny, Wales. It was be the best course of action. all going swimmingly as we swooshed along the A40. I Obviously, you can spend as much time as you want was expecting sitting in the 4C to be uncomfortable, pre-planning your route, but if Mother Nature is in a but at our relaxed pace it rode quite happily and the mood, there’s not much you can do. I tried as much as seats, although hard, are actually possible to keep to quiet A and B supportive and comfortable. With the roads, iguring the 4C’s ability to take ‘You can spend as aircon turned off it didn’t get too bends without slowing would be an much time as you warm either, no doubt helped by the advantage while other diesel cars engine stowed aft so heat was swept chugged along duel carriageways and want pre-planning away from the cabin. motorways. It certainly made for fun your route, but if As we approached the lunch stop, driving, but from time to time, that Llansantffraed Court , our readout was Mother Nature is in lack of mass was a hindrance rather telling us the car was managing a help. a mood, there’s not than 52mpg, and I was rather proud of that, On downhill stretches, the little car much you can do.’ seeing as the of icial combined igure just wouldn’t pick up much speed and is 41.5. Light weight and an unstressed what momentum it did have was journey on A roads had produced an impressive result. quickly spent going uphill again. Part of the skill of the Things then started to take a turn for the worse.

MPG Marathoneer is to use every last drop of energy On the way back into England, towards the second you gain to keep you going forward when other drivers stop at Worcester, it started to rain. But not just any old might already be on the throttle pedal, but this was one rain, but biblical amounts of the stuff, which illed the ace we didn’t have up our sleeve. roads with standing water. Now, if we had been in a Nevertheless, as we cruised back into the Cotswolds, heavy hatchback with a big diesel engine up front we we were still showing 48mpg and I was pretty happy would have ploughed through it and thought it an with that, not least because everyone reckoned I inconvenience and not much more. wouldn’t be able to stop myself from revving that But in a lightweight sports car with an engine that incredible sounding engine.

fleetworld.co.uk / 43

¡

MPG marathon

MPG MARATHON 2014

2014

Day 2

¡

Moody Marriott

Day 2 The second day saw the ield take on Salisbury Plain and Bath and it was interesting to see which way everyone went. Being a local yokel to those parts in my youth I went for a cross country route through Marlborough and Pewsey while others took the M4 round the outside. The heavy rains and wind of the previous day had swept a lot of countryside onto the road and as a result our B road route was quiet but slow. When you’re doing the rural straight line you are hoping not to meet too many tractors or random blockages on your way – reversing back on twisting country lanes isn’t ideal.

But actually we were lucky on that front, but planning could have been better for our sat nav, gaffa-taped to the dash kept falling off and Paul the photographer seemed keener on doing his job and getting nice photos than plotting a smooth, unruf led course through the countryside.

The result was we did more climbing than we wanted and it was hurting our fuel economy badly, especially as the egnine kept wanting to kick down just when we didn’t want it to.

The 4C is typical of sports cars these days that come with automated manuals, in that they are programmed to put you right in the performance rev range, and so I spent quite a bit of the day having differences of opinion with it on what gear we should be in. A manual version would have been more economical I’m sure because I would have been able to hold gears for longer.

But nevertheless we kept chugging along, taking in views of the Marlborough Downs, Stonehenge and a surprisingly uncongested skirt round the edge of Bath. The 4C is great fun, even at these fairly pedestrian speeds, with roundabouts the best challenge as in the dry it scoots round them with barely a murmur. Keeping moving is one of the most important elements of eco-driving, and roundabouts the sternest obstacle, especially in a left-hand drive, low car which is the same height as armcos. It makes timing your

44 / fleetworld.co.uk

run quite hard, but getting it right is amazingly satisfying.

Who said eco driving is dull?

The run from Bath to home was fairly straightforward, along the M4. Brimming is always a nerve wracking time because the average readouts in cars aren’t always very accurate and often on the ambitious side of optimistic. But the Alfa’s was spot on, and it turned out we’d managed just under 47mpg. From the heady heights of the first morning, the result wasn’t as good as we would have wanted but we had spent quite a bit of time shuffling the car about and finding locations for photography which knocked a couple of mpg off.

Alfa 4C surprisingly comfortable and efficient, although left-hand drive makes life harder for hypermiling.

So what can we learn from this?

Plan routes better, avoid hills, bad weather has a big effect and photographers cost fuel. Take this advice and your fleet, even it is not comprised of stunning Italian exotica, will be more efficient.

MPG marathon

MPG MARATHON 2014

2014

Zero MPG Alex Grant on driving an electric Renault ZOE on the 300 mile-plus MPG Marathon route.

What could possibly go wrong?

R

ange anxiety. Two words which, within a few minutes of talking to drivers who are unfamiliar with electric vehicles, are likely to come into the conversation. Yet, over two days and 344 miles, I didn’t experience any.

A few thousand miles at the wheel of the ZOE have taught me that it’s easy to get from A to B with a little planning, as there are strategically placed Electric Highway points along most of the motorway network. So, with one exception, I was easily within reach of the next charging point and knew I could recover a usable range back within 20 minutes.

Unfortunately, Strensham Services, at the M5/M50 junction, doesn’t have charging points yet and meant all three electric vehicles had to plan a slightly longer route on day

46 / fleetworld.co.uk

one, heading back to Gloucester before going north to Worcester for the afternoon tea stop. But, on day two, the electric vehicles got around the course in a similar time to the petrol and diesel cars.

So my challenge was maximising efficiency, just like the rest of the entrants. Deciding where I should use downhill sections to regenerate energy and where this would cost me too much momentum to be worthwhile, choosing between flowing motorways and the more direct, but hillier, back roads.

Having shown that it can be done, and easily too, hopefully this is a class which will continue to grow in popularity in years to come.

MPG MARATHON 2014 MPG marathon 2014

Impressive figures...

H

onda engineers Fergal McGrath and James Warren, driving a Honda Civic Tourer, won MPG Marathon eco-driving challenge in a nail-biting inish with last year’s champions, Nick Chapman and Rosemary Homer.

Over the two days of the event, which was sponsored by ALD Automotive and TRACKER, the Honda pair expertly guided a Civic Tourer 1.6 i-DTEC around the specially designated 330-mile route, recording an outstanding 97.92mpg.

However, it was a very close run thing following a determined and sustained challenge from reigning champions, Chapman and Homer, both employees of Leicestershire County Council.

Again driving a 1.6 litre TDCi Ford Fiesta Titanium ECOnetic, the Leicester pair achieved an average of 97.08mpg, just fractions of a mile per gallon behind the eventual winners.

In third place overall were John Kendall and Paul Nieuwenhuis, who achieved a very creditable 95.0mpg in Citroën’s new C4 Cactus crossover. The pair drove the lowemission BlueHDi 100 Feel model which emits just 82g/km of CO2.

Alongside the competition for the best outright MPG, the Marathon also challenged drivers to improve on the manufacturers’ of icial fuel consumption igures for their vehicle.

And claiming irst place in this category were Marathon newcomers and current Ford motor racing stars, Louise Richardson, and her co-driver, Harrison Scott.

Louise, 21, star of the family-run Richardson Racing team, is the irst female racer of an EcoBoost Formula Ford car, while 18-year old Falcon Motorsport driver Harrison is current leader of the 2014 Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship.

The pair were driving a new Ford Fiesta ST-3 1.6 litre

182ps EcoBoost model with an of icial combined fuel consumption of 47.9mpg. But the racing stars blew that igure completely out of the water, achieving an astonishing 75.77mpg, over 58% better than the of icial igures.

In second place in the percentage improvement category was the pair of Richard Aucock and Katie Beck. Driving an rear-wheel drive Subaru BRZ Sports Coupe 2.0i SE Lux with a combined fuel consumption of 36.20mpg, their performance of 55.42mpg was 53% better than the of icial igures.

Claiming third spot in this category were former rally star, Andy Dawson, and long time co-driver and motorsports journalist, Andrew Marriott, the 2012 MPG Marathon champions.

Behind the wheel of a Ford Focus ST-3 2.0T 250PS with an of icial fuel consumption igure of 39.20mpg, the highlyexperienced duo achieved 56.78mpg, some 44.84% better than the manufacturer’s own igures.

Other notable achievements this year included that from British Touring Car Championship stars, Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden, both members of the 2014 Honda Yuasa Racing Team, who were driving a Honda Civic 1.6 litre diesel Tourer.

Taking part in their irst-ever MPG Marathon, their performance of 80.23mpg saw them inish in ninth place in the ield of 26 teams of competitors.

In the light commercial vehicle category, there was a quite brilliant performance from Dan Gilkes, editor of VAN Fleet World, and co-driver, Ray Penford.

Behind the wheel of Renault’s all-new Tra ic SL27 Energy dCi 120 Business, the pair achieved 55.55mpg, the best overall mpg and also the best percentage improvement, being 16% better than the manufacturer’s of icial igures of 47.90mpg.

MPG Marathon FACT All participating vehicles were again fitted with TRACKER tracking equipment so that event organisers knew exactly where each car was and how far it had travelled.

48 / fleetworld.co.uk

Fuel-sipping Honda Civic triumphs at 2014 MPG Marathon Honda’s Earth Dreams Technology 1.6 i-DTEC diesel engine has once again proved its real-world efficiency, beating 25 other vehicles to take top honours at the 2014 Fleet World/ALD Automotive MPG Marathon.

The team of Swindon-based engineers, comprising Fergal McGrath, James Warren, Tony Shiggins and Julian Warren averaged 97.92mpg over the gruelling 330-mile course – a 31.8% improvement over the Civic Tourer’s combined fuel economy with no modifications.

Organised by Fleet World magazine and sponsored by ALD Automotive and TRACKER, the MPG Marathon demonstrates the benefits of smarter driving techniques on fuel economy. Despite adverse weather, four out of the five Civics entered bettered their official figures, with drivers including Honda BTCC drivers Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden tackling the two-day event.

Built in Britain, the acclaimed 1.6 i-DTEC engine is available in the Civic, Civic Tourer and CR-V, and will be offered in the forthcoming HR-V crossover from 2015. It delivers 118bhp with CO2 emissions from 94g/km and up to 78.5mpg, offering low running costs for business users.

MPG marathon 2014

Honda BTCC drivers Gordon Shedden & Matt Neal returned an impressive 80.23mpg in a Civic Tourer 1.6 i-DTEC

To see how Earth Dreams Technology can benefit your fleet, visit honda.co.uk/cars/corporatesales

97.92mpg Civic Tourer 1.6 i-DTEC

advertisement feature

MPG marathon

MPG MARATHON 2014 the results

2014

WINNER BEST MPG Honda Civic Tourer 1.6 i-DTEC

97.92 mpg

WINNER % IMPROVEMENT Ford Fiesta ST 1.6 EcoBoost

58.19%

WINNER % IMPROVEMENT (VANS) Renault Trafic SL27 ENERGY dCi 120 Business+

15.98%

WINNER LOWEST ENERGY USE Nissan LEAF Acenta (6.6kW Charger) Auto

68.90kWh 50 / fleetworld.co.uk

• Class 1 • Passenger cars powered by petrol with CO2 emissions of 120g/km or less

• Class 2 • Passenger cars powered by petrol with CO2 emissions of 121g/km or more

• Class 3 • Passenger cars powered by diesel with CO2 emissions of 120g/km or less

• Class 4 • Passenger cars powered by diesel with CO2 emissions of 121g/km or more

Best outright fuel consumption – Cars

Best % improvement – Cars

1st 2nd 3rd

1st 2nd 3rd

Honda Civic Tourer 1.6 i-DTEC Man 97.92mpg Ford Fiesta 1.6TDCi Titanium Econetic 97.08mpg Citroën C4 Cactus – Blue HDi 100 Feel 95.00mpg

Ford Fiesta ST-3 1.6 EcoBoost SCTi 58.19% Subaru BRZ 2.0i SE Lux 53.10% Ford Focus ST-3 2.0T 44.84%

Class winners – Cars – outright fuel consumption

Class winners – Cars – % improvement

Class 1 Class 2 Class 3 Class 4

Class 1 Class 2 Class 3 Class 4

Citroën C1 – PureTech 82 Flair Ford Fiesta ST-3 1.6 EcoBoost SCTi Honda Civic Tourer 1.6 i-DTEC Man Kia Soul 1.6 CRDi ‘Connect Plus’

79.12mpg 75.77mpg 97.92mpg 66.15mpg

Citroën C1 – PureTech 82 Flair Ford Fiesta ST-3 1.6 EcoBoost SCTi Honda Civic Tourer 1.6 i-DTEC Man Kia Soul 1.6 CRDi ‘Connect Plus’

20.43% 58.19% 31.78% 17.08%

Drivers

Model

% MPG MPG Figure Combined Improvement

CO2 g/km

Steve Moody & Paul Marriot

Alfa Romeo 4C 1750 Tbi 240bhp TCT

46.88

41.05

12.97%

157

John Challen & Mark Nichol

Audi A3 Saloon 1.4 TFSi CoD Sport S Tronic

64.59

60.10

7.48%

109

Andrew Merritt-Morling & Wayne Gorrett

Citroën C1 – PureTech 82 Flair

79.12

65.70

20.43%

99

John Kendall & Paul Nieuwenhuis

Citroën C4 Cactus – Blue HDi 100 Feel

95.00

91.10

4.28%

82

Nick Chapman & Rosemary Homer

Ford Fiesta 1.6TDCi Titanium Econetic

97.08

85.60

13.41%

85

Harrison Scott & Louise Richardson

Ford Fiesta ST-3 1.6 EcoBoost SCTi

75.77

47.90

58.19%

138

Andy Dawson & Andrew Marriott

Ford Focus ST-3 2.0T

56.78

39.20

44.84%

169

Matt Neal & Gordon Shedden

Honda Civic Tourer 1.6 i-DTEC SR MT + DASP

80.23

72.40

10.81%

103

John Kerswill & Ian McKean

Honda Civic Tourer 1.6 i-DTEC Ex Plus Man

74.12

72.40

2.37%

103

Tim Dickson & Kevin Booker

Honda Civic Hatch 1.6 i-DTEC SR

88.66

78.50

12.94%

98

Paul Clifton & Shaun Cronin

Honda Civic Tourer 1.6 i-DTEC Ex Plus Man

86.51

72.40

19.49%

103

Fergal McGrath & James Warren

Honda Civic Tourer 1.6 i-DTEC Man

97.92

74.30

31.78%

99

Robin Roberts & Chris Goffey

Kia Soul 1.6 CRDi ‘Connect Plus’

66.15

56.50

17.08%

132

Andrew Andersz & Pat Andersz

Mazda 3 2.0 120ps Hatchback

58.40

55.40

5.42%

119

Chris Russon & Kevin Jones

Peugeot 308 SW HDi 120

80.92

88.30

-8.36%

85

Stuart Bladon & Hugh Bladon

Peugeot 308 Hatchback Blue HDi 120

83.49

91.10

-8.35%

82?

Mark Armstrong-Read & Ian Murray

Peugeot 308 Hatchback Blue HDi 120

78.02

88.30

-11.64%

84?

Victor Harman & David Hancock

SEAT SE 1.6TDi Ecomotive 110ps

83.93

85.60

-1.95%

87

Richard Aucock & Katie Beck

Subaru BRZ 2.0i SE Lux

55.42

36.20

53.10%

181

Andrew Duerden & Cath Woodman

Vauxhall Insignia Techline 2.0 CDTi Ecoflex

75.28

76.30

-1.34%

98

Vans Doug Powell & Trevor Holland

Fiat Ducato Van 35 SH1 2.3 130 Multijet II

48.03

44.10

8.92%

170

Dan Gilkes & Ray Penford

Renault Trafic SL27 ENERGY dCi 120

55.55

47.90

15.98%

155

George Barrow & Kevin Swallow

Vauxhall Vivaro Sportive L1H1 2900 1.6 CDTi

53.78

47.90

12.28%

155

kWh

MpkWh

Cost

Electric Rhys Harrhy & Peter Thomas

Nissan LEAF Acenta (6.6kW Charger) Auto

336.99

69.90

4.82

£9.08

Jerry Clist & Peter Thompson

Nissan LEAF Acenta (6.6kW Charger) Auto

344.25

68.90

5.00

£8.96

Alex Grant & Roger Harris

Renault ZOE Dynamique Zen

342.39

71.00

4.82

£9.23

mpgmarathon.com

See you at the 2015 MPG Marathon 6th- 7th October 2015 in Cirencester

MPG marathon 2015

fleetworld.co.uk / 51

THE BMW 5 SERIES

NOW WITH EMISSIONS FROM 109G/KM.

The BMW 5 Series range is now a more compelling executive choice than ever before. New engines inspired by BMW EfficientDynamics technologies emit lower emissions and achieve even more impressive fuel economy, keeping Benefit in Kind down to as little as 17%. The new more efficient engine in the BMW 520d Saloon emits just 109g/kg CO2 while achieving fuel economy of 68.9mpg (combined).

Coupled with a high level of standard specification, including BMW Business Advanced Navigation system, Dakota leather upholstery and front and rear Park Distance Control, this is an executive decision you will definitely want to make.

To find out more visit www.bmwcorporate.co.uk or call 08081 280034.

Official fuel economy figures for the BMW 5 Series Range: Urban 22.8 – 57.6 mpg (12.4 – 4.9 l/100km). Extra Urban 38.7 – 76.3 mpg (7.3 – 3.7 l/100km). Combined 30.7 – 68.9 mpg (8.8 – 4.1 l/100km). CO2 emissions 214 – 109 g/km.

Figures may vary depending on driving style and conditions. BMW EfficientDynamics reduces BMW emissions without compromising performance developments and is standard across the model range.

RANGE.

BMW Corporate Sales

bmwcorporate.co.uk

The Ultimate Driving Machine

FEATURE Tesla Model S

Extraordinary in ordinary

‘There’s no adjustment in driving style here, as there often is with electric cars.’

54 / fleetworld.co.uk

Game changer, revolutionary, upstart.

Tesla’s all-electric luxury car has caused a stir in the industry, but does it work as a day-to-day car? Alex Grant spent a week with the Model S to find out. ¥

fleetworld.co.uk / 55

FEATURE Tesla Model S

Tuesday

¡

No range anxiety. For all the technology on board, that’s the detail which should grab businesses’ interest. There’s a large 85kWh battery pack sandwiched into the car’s loorpan, offering a range of 312 miles on the NEDC test, or 250-260 miles according to an average over the previous fortnight. That’s good going for a press car.

The acid test, though, is whether it comes anywhere near. Long range will make this attractive as a motorway car, but high speed jaunts tend to blunt range in EVs because there’s no opportunity to lift off the throttle and regenerate. As a luxury car, it’s important that this isn’t true of the Model S. Looping from the dealership in West Drayton to the of ice in St Albans, then back to Cardiff in the space of one afternoon, would mean throwing this in at the deep end.

But there’s no adjustment in driving style here, as there often is with electric cars. It’s possible to track your last 30 miles of driving and get a predicted range via the dashboard display, and air conditioning and the novelty of the way this car accelerates don’t seem to punch a hole in its range.

Press the brake pedal to start the drivetrain, slot it into drive, and use it normally.

That’s a big deal, for now. Tesla already has a network of its own Supercharger charging points spanning most of Europe, and major UK routes will be connected within months. These offer an 80% charge in less than half an hour, for free, for the life of the car. A longer range means fewer are needed, but there are only ive UK Superchargers at the moment.

In the meantime, this will plug into the Renaultbranded side of the Electric Highway charging points and take a 22kW AC charge. That’s three times the rate you’ll get at home, and at no cost, adding 68 miles of range per hour you’re plugged in. Luckily most service stations also have WiFi.

56 / fleetworld.co.uk

Wednesday Rolling the garage door open to see the dew-covered Model S still charging on the drive, it’s not dif icult to see why this has generated so much hype. Looking like a stretched coupe on its optional 21-inch wheels, the digital dashboard and that explosive power delivery mean irst impressions are its forte.

But that doesn’t always translate into long-term satisfaction. Complicated infotainment systems, nascent charging infrastructure and overall functionality can fall short on plug-in cars. This is up against stiff competition as a performance saloon as well as a luxury car, and the nagging feeling is that the novelty could wear off when it’s tasked with replacing established rivals.

After a brief top-up on the way home, I’d arrived in Cardiff with almost a third of the range left. But, after almost 14 hours connected to my home wallbox, the Model S was still taking energy on board when I pulled the plug to run some local errands on my lunch break. That enormous range comes from a battery with almost four times the capacity of a most EVs, but this also means it will take almost four times as long to “brim” it using a home wallbox.

So the marginally small cost to upgrade from the 3.6kW/16 amp home charging point most companies offer through OLEV’s scheme to the 7.2kW/32 amp version is a no-brainer. Rolec offers this for free (most will charge around £100) but it cuts the charging time from 30 hours down to 15. That’s for a full charge, from lat, though, and shouldn’t be necessary every day for many drivers.

Tesla will have its own charging points nationwide, but top-ups on the Electric Highway network are useful for now.

¡

FEATURE Tesla Model S

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Thursday Though the Model S arguably has a broader appeal than most electric vehicles, early adopters are likely to be weighted towards businesses with sustainability at the core of their mindset, as well as en eye for technology.

Treglown Court, the purpose-built home for the Cardiff practice of Stride Treglown architects, has a lot of parallels with the Model S. Both are designed from the same blank-page ethos with energy ef iciency at their core. In the building’s case, this includes movement-activated low energy lighting, ef icient boilers, recycled rainwater and using the natural movement of warm air currents through the building instead of air conditioning.

With a 106m2 photovoltaic array on the roof and south facade, Treglown Court produces more energy than it takes from the grid, achieving Carbon Zero status and an A+ Energy Performance Certi icate. Like the Tesla, it’s a billboard for a company wanting to demonstrate environmental credentials without sacri icing functionality. It’s forward-thinking.

The rich pearlescent red paintwork didn’t take long to draw a crowd from the glass-fronted of ice. Simplicity of form came highly praised inside and, in an environment where Tesla’s key rivals have a foothold in the car park and design counts as heavily as clever engineering, the Model S stood up to close scrutiny. If Treglown Court offers a glimpse of the ESOS-era business of tomorrow, then the Model S is a hint of what might be parked outside.

¡

‘Early adopters of the Model S are likely to be weighted towards businesses with sustainability at the core of their mindset.’

58 / fleetworld.co.uk

FEATURE Tesla Model S

¡

Friday

Saturday

‘Isn’t this a massive distraction?’ a friend asked from the passenger seat, playing with the Tesla’s 17inch display screen. Almost all functions are controlled via this tablet-like display, which means new features can be added with software updates – a little like a smartphone – as the car gets older.

As a new Dad, I’ve recently become very aware of lexible in-car storage. Supposedly it’s a detail that’s not too dif icult to get right, but memories of struggling to it baby paraphernalia into other cars has proved that it frequently isn’t.

Considering its coupe-like silhouette, the Model S couldn’t be much more practical. There are two ISOFIX points on the folding rear bench and boot capacity, at 744 litres, is 50% bigger than most estates, accessed via a large motorised hatch rather than a pokey saloon bootlid. This also drops into a large additional compartment ideal for storing charging cables, so there’s plenty of space for a buggy.

With the motor and transmission between the rear wheels, the added string to the Tesla’s bow is there’s another large boot up front. So the back end of the car can swallow heavy or dirty items like buggies, golf trolleys and so on, while overnight bags, laptops and food can go in the front, in a useful mud-free compartment where there’s nothing to tear the bags open. It’s brilliant.

There are some frustrations for long-distance drivers though. Tesla has made a feature of the car’s lat loor by itting a large storage bin under the touchscreen.

There are no door pockets, no grab handles, only two cupholders and the bin isn’t textured to stop phones, coins and charging point cards sliding around. On an otherwise well thought-out car, these are surprising omissions.

Sunday

I’d stopped noticing it. Despite the technology-rich dashboard, it’s so logically laid out that it is an asset rather than a challenge. Tesla includes a three-year data package, to power the internet radio, offer remote access via the smartphone app and the Google Maps navigation. It’s so responsive to use and beautifully designed, that it makes you wonder why all manufacturers don’t do infotainment systems this well.

But it is really a reminder that Tesla has come from a technology, not an automotive background, engineering the Model S from a blank sheet rather than a legacy of building cars. So it switches itself off and locks the doors as you walk away, the air suspension remembers where it needed more ground clearance, and the navigation automatically scans your commute for traffic before you set off. Next year the Model S will get sensors that will eventually allow semi-autonomous driving. Data isn’t an add-on, it’s what makes this car tick.

60 / fleetworld.co.uk

The P85+, which until recently was the most powerful version, produces a supercar-worrying 416bhp. It’s fun in short bursts, but what’s different here is that the range is long enough to actually go for a drive. You can get a long way from the city in the Model S, and the potential to get from Cardiff to the Brecon Beacons and back on one charge is an entirely new experience.

There are few places less electric vehicle friendly. The National Park’s topography may be gorgeous to look at but steep hills have the potential to suck energy out of the battery at an alarming rate, and the most dramatic scenery strays far from the nearest slow charging points, let alone the M4’s rapid chargers. Run out of range in Brecon, and it’ll take at least three hours to get enough charge to crawl to the nearest Electric Highway point.

Miles from anywhere and with the large panoramic roof reclined, there’s only the faint whoosh of under-load electric motor to disturb the near silence. Each steep climb put a spike on the energy graph on the main display’s energy graph, in turn reducing the available range, but never enough to worry about getting home again.

This left me free to enjoy the drive. The sportier front seats are a must-have but, for a large and heavy car, it’s neither unwieldy nor unnerving on winding Welsh roads, and most of the weight is in the battery, which is the lowest part of the body. This is a similar size to a 6 Series Gran Coupe and, though it’s de initely more of a 650i than an M6, the Model S is an addictive way to cover ground and enjoyable without the nagging worry of a lat battery.

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FEATURE Tesla Model S

¡

Monday Bristol, and another meeting, beckoned. It’s an easy 90-mile round trip over the Severn Bridge, which meant there would be no need to seek a charging point en route, and I could treat the Model S like a normal diesel-burning motorway car, just as a business user might.

It’s a great tool for the job. Undoubtedly the air suspension on the P85+ (usually a £1,900 option) helps with ride quality, but it takes rough surfaces better than many cars with wheels far smaller than the 21-inches under each corner of the test car. The lip side, with no engine noise, is it’s harder to ignore the roar of low pro ile rubber on tarmac at motorway speeds.

After six days, it’s starting to dawn on me just how signi icant this car is as a moment in motoring history. This is the point at which electric vehicles become genuinely usable long-distance travellers, not through a reliance on a conventional engine as a backup, but through a structured approach to building a car and the infrastructure to go with it. The Model S doesn’t work because it’s a halfway house, it works because it’s a brilliant electric vehicle.

And that’s not a given, even at this price point. A top spec Model S is competing head to head with plug-in hybrid versions of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, Porsche Panamera and BMW’s ultra-futuristic i8 supercar, none of those can offer the same interior lexibility or charging options. Tesla may be a newcomer, but with a compact executive EV on the way and a blank sheet approach to building cars, it’s setting some high standards for the rest of the market which last long beyond irst impressions.

SPECIFICATION Tesla Model S P85+ Power/torque: 416bhp / 443lb.ft 0-62mph: 4.2 seconds

Range: 312 miles Price (as tested): £82,980 (including Plug-in Car Grant)*

* P85+ pack no longer available, price for P85 Performance with options 62 / fleetworld.co.uk

Bolder is beautiful Debuted at this year’s Paris Auto Show, the latest Infiniti Q70 brings changes including a bold new design along with an exclusive efficient 2.2-litre diesel for the European market, offering an impressive package for fleets.

Infiniti Q70

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DESIGNED to break the normal conventions of a flagship luxury saloon, the Infiniti Q70 has now been revised with a package of changes to help keep drivers’ pulses racing whilst bringing added benefits for fleets.

Like the new Q80 Inspiration concept, which was also unveiled at the Paris Motor Show, the new Q70 also embodies the expansion of Infiniti's upper range, providing strong indication that Infiniti is on track to increase its vehicle portfolio by 60% over the next five years, and to more than double the number of engines and transmissions.

Recently launched in North America, the model starts deliveries from December, bringing a stylish, much upgraded exterior along with revised engine choices.

On the outside, aesthetic changes bring the Q70’s design closer to that of the all-new Q50 mid-size premium saloon, which launched in 2013. Both the front and rear bumpers feature a more chiselled appearance, while the “Infiniti eye” headlights gain LEDs as standard equipment. The new Q70 also gains a revised standard grille and Sport grille to further echo the Q50 aesthetic while the tail-lights are also made bolder with the use of LEDs. Of particular note for fleets will be the addition of a new engine designed specifically for Europe. The efficient and clean 2.2-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder delivers 167PS with 400Nm of torque, giving brisk acceleration and pulling power. Meanwhile both turbo-diesel lag time and fuel consumption are reduced thanks to the Infiniti-specific injectors and single variable-geometry turbocharger. From a fleet perspective, the Q70 2.2d emits just 129g/km CO2.

And the Q70 Hybrid also gains further refinements to its award-winning 170PS powertrain featuring the Infiniti Direct Response Hybrid® system with Intelligent Dual Clutch Control.

Changes include reduced mechanical friction of the 3.5-litre V6 petrol engine as well as new software programming managing the whole powertrain – as a result, CO2 emissions are down to 145g/km and possible EV range is slightly increased and the “sailing” function while at highway cruising speeds with the decoupling of the engine is extended.

CUTTING-EDGE SAFETY EQUIPMENT The new Q70 also adds to its extensive range of safety kit with the worldwide launch of the cutting-edge Around View Monitor (AVM). This state-of-the-art technology uses front and rear cameras, sensors and lasers to help drivers at blind intersections, tight urban situations, as well as during parking manoeuvres.

The package of new additions is finished off by additions to the Q70’s leading-edge technology, with a greatly enhanced connectivity interface for current smartphones now offered, as well as additional 12V outlets placed strategically about the cabin and cargo area, plus added small stowage spots for these personal devices. Meanwhile the climate control now syncs up with the Start/Stop function on the 2.2 turbo-diesel Q70 for Europe, allowing cabin comfort to be maintained as necessary whenever the engine is stopped.

The result of all these changes is a luxury saloon that offers stunning looks, sharp performance and pioneering technology to provide the ultimate driving experience for business drivers. The stunning New Infiniti Q70 range starts at £32,650 on-the-road.

To find out more, visit www.infiniti.co.uk

Book your test drive now at infiniti-instinct.co.uk

Q80 Inspiration: A brave statement of intent • Aggressively-proportioned Q80 Inspiration marks Infiniti’s first

foray into the premium saloon category.

• Autonomous driving technology, human-centric interiors and

bold design highlights Infiniti’s creative approach to the segment.

• To be powered by smart, eco-friendly hybrid powertrain.

SPOTLIGHT Volvo XC90

Nordic XCess A smörgåsbord of Volvo’s latest technology, Alex Grant finds out if the all-new XC90 has what it takes to challenge the premium SUV class.

A new era The result of an $7bn investment programme from Chinese owner Geely, the XC90 marks the first full step away from the Ford parts bin. It’s based on an all-new platform, which is lighter and stronger than before, allows new technology to be integrated easily and will mean everything from the 60 Series upwards can be built on the same production line.

Volvo’s new platform enables more flexibility in terms of layout. So front and rear overhangs are reduced and the frame is stiffer to improve handling without hurting ride quality, while interior space is optimised helped by all-new seats. These are shaped to increase space in the second and third rows, the latter offering legroom for passengers up to 170cm (5’7”) tall.

66 / fleetworld.co.uk

FLEET FACT Volvo sold all 1,927 “First Edition” cars in 47 hours.

Engines Petrol and diesel engine options are all taken from Volvo’s Drive-E range, so the familiar denominations are all based on a single 2.0-litre, four-cylinder architecture with power increased by turbocharging or electric motors. The entire range will feature four-wheel drive at launch.

Diesel engines include the 190bhp D4 already available in other models, but the most popular option is expected to be the D5. Twin turbocharging means the 225bhp Drive-E D5 is 10bhp more powerful than its 2.4-litre, five-cylinder predecessor, yet returns 48.7mpg with CO2 emissions of 152g/km. A 60g/km petrol plug-in hybrid with 400bhp will also be available.

Technology

What we think...

As a flagship model, the XC90 gets Volvo’s cutting edge technology on board. It can autonomously brake, steer and accelerate in slowmoving traffic, brakes automatically to avoid collisions in town and offers a comprehensive road sign recognition package. Unique features include a function which applies the brakes if the driver crosses an intersection in front of other traffic, and occupant protection for run-off-road crashes.

To de-clutter the interior, most functions are moved to a tablet-style touchscreen with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay smartphone integration, allowing compatible apps to be displayed and controlled from the display and steering wheel. Information can also be shown on the fully-digital driver display, and projected onto the windscreen.

Elegant, modern and with design cues that set it aside from the German premium SUVs, the XC90 has lived up to the promises laid out during its long development process. With significant weight reductions and improvements to interior space, drivetrains and infotainment, it shouldn’t have problems persuading executive-level drivers into Volvo showrooms and suggests an interesting future for the resurgent brand. AG

fleetworld.co.uk / 67

FEATURE Brakes

Stopping power As winter closes in and roads become more hazardous, brake condition is a vital aspect of fleet safety. But with advances in vehicle design, braking has become more complex, and potentially expensive. Katie Beck investigates.

N

eglecting a vehicle’s braking system can lead to expensive repair costs and vehicle downtime, not to mention increased risk to the driver should it underperform. Especially at this time of year where road surfaces become more slippery and weather conditions affect stopping distances.

So are your fleet's brakes in the best health? A number of factors can influence their lifespan, from the weight of a vehicle to the types of roads it is being driven on, which means it has never been more important to keep a close watch on their condition.

Impact of electronic driver aids Manufacturers are itting smaller/thinner brake components as part of a weight-saving strategy to improve ef iciency; a trend that Peter Lambert, KwikFit leet director, suggests could result in brake parts on modern vehicles needing to be replaced more frequently than parts on older, heavier vehicles.

‘Vehicles with electronic driver aids (lane assist, ESP etc.) are also becoming more commonplace,’ Lambert continues. ‘These vehicles can use brakes without the knowledge or intervention of the driver, which can potentially increase brake wear, especially on the rear.’

And how does the cost of brake repair on modern cars with bigger wheels and more powerful engines, compare to older, less advanced models?

‘Braking systems overall are becoming more complex with additional electronics being added, which is affecting the cost of other components like calipers with built in-motors for electronic parking brake (EPB) systems, or wheel bearings with integrated wheel speed sensors,’ Lambert explains.

‘Some EPB systems are already becoming an expensive repair for drivers as components fail relatively early in the life of the vehicle. However, prices for the majority of common service components (pads/discs) have been relatively stable for a number of years. The cost of these is largely driven by competition versus the OEMs, with more popular vehicles having a tendency to have lower cost parts.’

68 / fleetworld.co.uk

Regenerative braking Most common on hybrid and electric vehicles, regenerative braking systems function very differently to conventional brakes. Instead of using the friction between a pad and disc, they use the resistance of the magnets within the traction motor to slow the wheels.

As well as generating electricity which can be used to drive the car, regenerative braking means drivers don't use the friction brakes when slowing gently. This means hybrid and electric vehicles tend to offer longer service life on brake pads and discs than a conventional car.

However, regenerative braking is ineffective when the battery is fully charged, and a friction-based system is still required to slow the car under dif icult conditions such as wet roads or emergency stops. It is just as important that these work irst time when the driver requires more stopping power, and they should be inspected as frequently as the brakes on a petrol or diesel model.

Driving style The AA stresses that brake wear is an indeterminate science – in some cases the brake pads will do 70,000 miles while other drivers will find they need changing after only 25,000 miles. The type of vehicle, type of use and driving style all have an influence on component lifespans.

Although town driving involves frequent application of the brakes, such low speed use doesn't cause as much wear as heavy braking from high speed. Motorway slip roads are one of the main culprits and this is more likely to contribute to disc warping, causing juddering of the vehicle.

Drivers are also advised to try to avoid holding the car back with the brakes on long downhill runs, as this will put a lot of heat into the discs, leading to increased wear and potentially warping or brake fade. Using a lower gear so engine braking can be exploited to reduce pressure on the brakes is recommended.

As well as the risk of warping, heavy braking causes brake luid to heat up. Brake luid is hygroscopic, which means it absorbs water from the atmosphere over time, and in extreme cases this can boil and vapourise, leading to a spongy pedal and a reduction in performance.

¡

‘Brake checks are an important part of fleet maintenance, and drivers should be encouraged to be alert for signs or brake disrepair.’

fleetworld.co.uk / 69

FEATURE Brakes

Stopping power Keeping brakes healthy Brake checks are an important part of fleet maintenance, and drivers should be encouraged to be alert for signs or brake disrepair. Drivers who regularly clock up high mileage should have their brakes checked at least every 12 months, regardless of service intervals.

Kwik-Fit’s Peter Lambert advises that these checks should include a full strip and inspection of the system, not just a “peer through the wheels” check.

ATS Euromaster also recommends leet drivers take advantage of a free brake check to ensure their cars and vans have maximum stopping power.

The complimentary check is suitable for all makes and model of car and van up to 3.5 tonnes.

Brake checks include a thorough inspection of the pads, discs and shoes, plus calipers, brake lines and cables – with any necessary remedial work highlighted to the driver. Technicians will also inspect the tyres – which also play a critical role in a vehicle’s ability to stop safely – and brake lights.

‘Fleets can’t afford vehicle downtime as the result of an accident, much less potential injury to a driver or other road users; a free brake check between scheduled services is a simple way of maximising safety and supporting Duty of Care. Having con idence in your brakes is also one less thing for drivers to worry about,’ comments Peter Fairlie, ATS Euromaster’s group sales director.

70 / fleetworld.co.uk

Maintenance

Signs of severe brake wear: • Vibration in the steering wheel when stopping.

• Grinding or squealing noises.

• Increased braking distances.

• Longer pedal travel.

• Feeling the car “pull” to the left or right when stopping.

• A weak emergency stop.

• A bad smell after coming to a hard stop.

Ideally leet operators will have a policy in place that covers brake maintenance. While some manufactures set service intervals as high as 30,000 miles, it may be worth considering lowering the interval so worn brake pads are captured as soon as possible.

‘Northgate has a policy of replacing brake pads during a service if they are more than 50% worn as the chances are they will not last to the next service interval,’ explains Gary Dean, UK technical support manager at Northgate Plc. ‘This may seem an additional cost but in fact it is much more cost effective than having to replace them as an emergency purchase in-between services and additionally it keeps our customers on the road longer with reduced downtime.’

A policy should also specify the quality of the brake friction material being itted. Only OE quality parts should be used, and any service providers should be instructed to change any other brake consumable parts as recommended by the manufacturer.

Brake luid must be changed at least every two years and low brake luid should be immediately investigated, as this can be a sign that the brake friction material is worn close to a point where replacement is needed.

The Android Tablet Designed Specifically for Fleet Management

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With the fleet 670, service providers can introduce customized applications and value-added services that meet their unique requirements as well as connect and control a wide range of external devices over Wi-Fi®, Bluetooth® or serial cable. www.garmin.com/uk/solutions

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fleet™ 670

‘The competition keeps us on our toes. There’s always somebody looking to take your position.’

72 / fleetworld.co.uk

INTERVIEW Michael O’Shea VOLKSWAGEN

Earning the right, every day Volkswagen head of fleet, Michael O’Shea, says despite the firm’s success, they are not complacent. By Steve Moody.

S

ome jobs, you might think, are just a case of turn up for work, grab a coffee, put your feet up and watch the orders come tumbling in. Certainly it might seem like that from the outside looking in at Volkswagen Fleet. An unending supply of quality new cars, residual values with a healthy glow across the board, customers who default to the brand time and time again, and a leasing industry keen to sell your products for you. What could possibly go wrong?

I put this scenario, rather mischievously, to head of fleet Michael O’Shea. It’s not a world he recognises though.

‘We have to have zero complacency. Every day, every week we get up and ensure we maintain, defend and grow our position. We constantly have to earn the right to be on a company car policy, we have to earn the right to be on a user chooser’s shopping list.

‘The competition keeps us on our toes. There’s always somebody looking to take your position so as soon as you think you’ve done it and are arrogant or complacent your days are numbered. But we have our own internal drivers and try and grow market share that are right for our business.’

Part of the reason that life isn’t as easy as it might seem for Volkswagen is that it holds a unique position in the market, its brand sitting above most of the volume players, yet still more affordable than the premium competition. So instead of having it all their own way, O’Shea reckons they cop it from all sides.

‘The market place is very challenging due to a number of factors. It might sound a bit glib, but we have pressure from volume and premium all trying to compete with us.

‘What we’re experiencing as a brand is the growth of premium brands from a true fleet perspective. Those brands now have around a quarter of that volume, but in 2006/7 they would have accounted for 15%, so clearly they are more active in the market and Volkswagen is clearly a target of theirs.’

But despite the pressures, Volkswagen is holding its own. It sold 104,000 cars in fleet, and retains a strong position, just over 9% of total fleet market share but crucially 11% in true fleet.

Cars such as the Golf perform an incredible job for the brand, as O’Shea explains: ‘One in five cars, or 20% in the hatchback true fleet segment is a Golf, whereas A3,

1 Series and A-Class combined are at 33%, which shows you just how strong our car continues to be.’

Much of that is down to the leasing business, through which up to 90% of Volkswagen fleet sales are channeled.

But again, O’Shea is keen to stress it’s not a case of launch a car, and let other firms get on with selling it for you.

‘The leasing sector is massively important, and a critical relationship for us and with those companies we have made a really conscious effort to try and work closer with them, giving them greater clarity on brand strategy, to ensure we can align our strategy with their strategy. We have to be clear of their and our goals around the various sub-channels within true fleet, such as corporate, SMEs, public sector, whichever, because for us there are distinct channels and some leasing firms will have a stronger position in some of those than others, and what I have been trying to do is line all that up to then see where there’s a mutual opportunity to optimise the performance.’

A lot of work is done by his sales team, O’Shea claims, ensuring that the end users are getting the right cars at the right price, so that the leasing company can then supply them.

‘I have to make sure my team are going to the end user companies and that they are positioned right, in the right choice lists with the right specs. We’ll then create a situation where there’s an end user agreement but we have got to be 100% clear on our strategy and make sure the leasing companies are clear on our alignment with the end user.

‘We have to keep a close eye on RVs too, because even a couple of percentage points’ difference at a leasing company could mean a £15 a month difference for the end user, which could knock a particular car out of a particular choice list bracket and that could mean significant volume opportunity missed. So that’s that kind of attention to detail that we strive for.’

Currently, the eighth generation Passat is occupying his and his team’s mind, and although that market is shrinking, O’Shea says Volkswagen has broadly managed to hold its share and because of the huge leap in quality, it might be time to take the fight back to the premium brands, and customers who have grown tired of smaller, lower spec executive saloons. It seems that Volkswagen is most definitely not resting on its laurels.

fleetworld.co.uk / 73

DIARY DATE

SPONSORED BY

ASSOCIATION TH

SILVERSTONE CIRCUIT

12TH MAY 2015

To find out more about Fleet Show 2015, call +44 (0) 1727 739160, email info@thefleetshow.co.uk or visit www.thefleetshow.co.uk 74 / fleetworld.co.uk

The fast way to cut business fuel costs by an average of 25% *

Barclaycard Fuel+, developed in association with The Miles Consultancy (TMC), is the next generation fuel card†, proven to reduce fleet fuel expenses by an average of 25%*. It’s powered by Visa, meaning it’s accepted almost everywhere** and features an award-winning Mileage Capture and Audit system. With no transaction charges and total visibility, you can take full control of your business fuel spend. It’s the clear way to move your fleet forward.

To see how our fuel solution could make a difference to your business visit barclaycard.co.uk/business/fuelplus or call 0844 822 2400*** †

Please note that, at present, Fuel+ is available only to organisations with a business fuel spend of more than £100,000 p.a. *This is based on the first year business fuel savings of 24 TMC customers calculated in 2012. TMC is a trading name of The Miles Consultancy Ltd, a provider of Mileage, Fuel and Mobility Management solutions. Registered Office: TMC House, Minshull Vernon, Cheshire CW1 4RJ. **Please note that a few small fuel retailers with a shop may be classified by their Visa processing bank as a supermarket or convenience store and your card may therefore be declined. Only an outlet classified as a fuel retailer will accept your card. ***For BT business customers, calls will cost no more than 5.5p per minute, min call charge 6p (current at October 2014). The price on non-BT phone lines may be different. Calls may be monitored and/or recorded.

Barclaycard is a trading name of Barclays Bank PLC. Barclays Bank PLC is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority (Financial Services Register Number: 122702) and subscribes to the Lending Code which is monitored and enforced by the Lending Standards Board. Registered in England No: 1026167. Registered Office: 1 Churchill Place, London E14 5HP.

Barclaycard Fuel+. Miles ahead.

FEATURE Taxation & Funding

What WLC actually means: Please complete our short survey at www.surveymonkey.com/s/WholeLifeCost to have your say.

The survey has already generated some valuable responses and we will publish the results in an upcoming edition of Fleet World.

Part 2

Whole life costs Professor Colin Tourick delves deeper into what constitutes whole life costs.

M

any people in the industry use the expression whole life cost yet there is no “official” definition of what this actually means. Last month we tried to make sense of this expression but only managed to prove that it means different things to different people.

Last month’s article also included a list of the items that should – in my humble opinion – be included in that calculation. The list of items to take into account also included: • Any interest cost incurred in the purchase of the vehicle or within the lease rental (or opportunity costs incurred by using own funds) and • The cost of capital used by the company to make all payments (including finance payments, payment from bank deposits, lease rentals and other costs) More than one person asked whether the and between those two items should be an or. ‘Surely,’ they said, ‘if you are paying interest on the loan you’ve taken out to buy a car, or interest is included within the rental you are paying to lease the car, that’s your cost of financing this car and you don’t need to include this thing called cost of capital?’

Great question. And you can see where it is coming from. ‘If we’re paying interest to use someone else’s money to acquire a car, surely that’s the only interest cost we’re incurring?’

However, the answer to both questions is no, that isn’t the only interest cost you’re incurring.

The easiest way to look at this is to ask the question; ‘I’m about to pay my lease rental, where is that money coming from?’ Most UK businesses will be paying the rental from their bank current account. Let’s say that this account is in overdraft. When you pay the rental you won’t just be paying the interest rate that the leasing company built into its rental, your bank account will go slightly more overdrawn and you will incur a small interest cost on that payment.

That’s a real cost that is directly attributable to the acquisition of the vehicle and is therefore clearly part of whole life cost. It cannot be ignored.

Similarly, if you buy a vehicle using a loan that is repayable in equal instalments of capital and interest – as some SMEs do – you will be paying interest to the funder. Let’s say that today that rate might be 6% p.a. However, you will also be

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paying a little bit of overdraft interest every time you pay an instalment – and that could be at a different rate, say bank base rate + 3% p.a.

So there are in fact two interest rates that need to be considered here; the rate that a funder charges and another rate.

So far we’ve said that this other rate would be the overdraft interest rate but it’s more complicated than that.

The company’s bank account may swing into and out of overdraft over time, meaning that interest is being charged at some times and not at others.

Perhaps the company’s activities are funded by some very large loans which cost it 10% p.a. and it only uses the overdraft to help with day-to-day cash management. In that situation you could argue that the “official” interest rate should re lect the cost of the large loans rather than the overdraft rate.

Alternatively, the company may have no overdraft or debt at all and may be running large cash surpluses at the bank: huge deposits on which it was earning interest. In that case the payment of a lease rental would still be costing it money – the deposit account interest that it would be losing as a result of paying the rental and reducing the deposit balance.

This is an opportunity cost – the loss of interest that arises from using cash for one purpose and which stops it being used for another revenue generating purpose.

Or the company may have been financed by a group of investors who have put in a lot of money and expect a minimum return on that money. In that case the “other” cost we referred to above should be the return – expressed as an interest rate – that these investors expect over time.

Most finance departments will look at all of their sources of funding and calculate this “official” cost by weighing up all the various sources of funding the business uses and the different cost of those funds. This is called the weighted average cost of capital and it is expressed as an interest rate, e.g. 9% p.a.

This rate needs to be included in the whole life cost calculation in addition to the actual interest cost that a third party is to fund or lease the vehicle to the company.

And that’s why the answer to the question posed earlier was no. There are two interest rates at work here and you need to take both into account in whole life cost calculations.

FLEET ANALYSIS Digging a little deeper into the topical issues affecting the fleet industry today and tomorrow... we ask Matt Freeman from CAP Consulting about the reality, the issues and the likely impact.

Electric strategy Mercedes-Benz is positioning the new electric drive B-Class as part of the range, rather than a standalone EV.

FUEL ECONOMY

Would we all like to see a real world MPG figure for our vehicles?

This question continues to rumble on, most recently in the Daily Mail. But what exactly is a real world MPG? Some people like to drive “enthusiastically” as the euphemism has it: If you drive a performance oriented model or sports car you’re likely to push it harder than someone in a family car or MPV. What about people living in congested cities versus others in the sparsely populated Scottish Highlands, or the latlands of East Anglia? It’s impossible to cover every environment and driving style except in a neutral environment.

Another thing struck me: Be careful what you wish for. If fuel consumption, and more importantly CO2 emissions were stated on a ‘real world’ basis (if that’s possible), then the tax implications would be pretty

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EVs Electric vehicles were present at the Paris motor show but it was interesting to see how Mercedes positioned the electric B-Class as just another powertrain in a new model range, unlike the French where the Renault ZOE is a stand-alone EV, likewise Nissan LEAF. One wonders how this positioning might affect resale values.

Electric vehicles were present at the Paris motor show but it was interesting to see how Mercedes positioned the electric B-Class as just another powertrain in a new model range, unlike the French where the Renault ZOE is a stand-alone EV, likewise Nissan LEAF. One wonders how this positioning might affect resale values.

The EV market remains in its infancy, so it’s difficult to draw conclusions at this early stage of development.

However, it seems that where the vehicle is a standalone EV its RVs are being judged on its own merits and priced accordingly on the used market. EVs which are part of a range, like the Mercedes B-Class and Audi A3 e-tron are judged as part of the wider range: so

unpleasant for most drivers: VED and company car tax rates would rise signi icantly if emissions ratings were raised by 30%. So you might have a better idea of fuel economy, but you’d be likely to pay a lot more tax!

At the end of the day the laboratory test is exactly that – it’s an indication of the relative performance of the vehicle, but to take it as an example of real world performance is I think naïve. There are plenty of magazines, websites and so on where cars are test driven in more realistic environments, including sites where people submit their own real world MPG, so the information is out there. And if you want to know what is achievable, Fleet World’s own MPG Marathon is a great insight to what you can do to keep your fuel consumption down. So, when the next clamour for real MPG igures rears its ugly head, my message is to stop and think about it for a few minutes, listen to the experts and then decide, is that really what I want?

CAP Consulting provides not just analysis, but the ability to understand how your business environments develop over time. We make it our business to understand what affects your brand and how you can unlock greater value from customer offerings, products & services.

CAP Consulting provides support optimising residual values, bespoke technology solutions and corporate sales & fleet operations assistance.

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if the range is successful, this tends to “rub off” on the EV. However, looking longer term, at CAP Consulting we have the luxury of looking at all past and present alternative powertrain vehicles to take a view on how they’ve developed, and we have seen that once the standalone vehicle breaks through with the market, and becomes accepted on its own terms, RVs improve. If we look at the Toyota Prius we can see this happening.

The Prius has clearly built on its reputation as a recognisable hybrid vehicle (as opposed to a hybrid version in a range) and improved as a vehicle from one generation to the next, widening its appeal beyond those wanting to be seen driving a hybrid car. So now it offers the best of both worlds. It’s a good benchmark of success.

I think EVs will follow a similar path.

As range improves and the charging network becomes wider and deeper, their appeal will broaden, and then they will be able to build on their unique nature as the go-to products for people finally taking the plunge – increasing demand and thus improving values.

HYDROGEN FUEL CELLS OLEV has announced a further £11m in funding for the development of a hydrogen refuelling infrastructure, but will this technology ever have a real impact in the UK?

The issue with all alternative fuels is exactly this: they are seen as an alternative. And they will continue to until there is an infrastructure which can support them on the same basis as the prevailing technology.

To be frank, £11 million is not going to translate into a significant improvement in the hydrogen network. Let’s not forget that as well as the petrol/diesel network, the EV charging network is growing apace. I see more and more charging units, especially at motorway service stations, and the network is growing in towns and cities across the country. As people become aware of the infrastructure so consumer will see EVs as a viable choice of vehicle.

OLEV’s investment will see the UK’s hydrogen infrastructure grow to up to 15 refuelling stations nationwide, upgrading existing units and adding up to seven more “public facing” hydrogen stations. To put that in perspective there are 7,290 EV charging points in 2,926 locations and 8,613 filling stations in the UK. 10 years ago it was estimated that in the US alone it would cost half a trillion dollars to replace the fuel station network with hydrogen stations.

Car makers have been experimenting with fuel cell vehicles for decades – GM built one as early as 1966 – and pretty much every brand has shown concepts or run limited numbers of prototypes. Other types of fuel cell vehicles have been built: busses, commercial vehicles, motorcycles, boats, even aircraft and submarines, but we’re still no closer to seeing something we can buy.

A number of companies have announced plans to sell hydrogen fuel cell vehicles from 2015, but despite the prototype vehicles the technology isn’t so much unfamiliar as invisible to the ordinary consumer. I think it will be a very long time before consumers even consider a hydrogen vehicle, let alone buy one. Will the EV market have one eye on Hydrogen? Possibly, but not at the moment (maybe half an eye).

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MARKET OVERVIEW Fuel Management

What types of vehicles does your cards cover?

Do you offer a chip and pin security system?

Do you provide data download into PC-based fleet management systems

Do you offer a facility for splitting business and private mileage?

Do you charge a card fee?

Do you offer a non-pump price agreement?

BP

Do you offer rebates to major fleet customers?

Barclaycard and the Miles Consultancy

Do you offer a card to pay for non-fuel items?

Allstar Business Solutions Ltd

Does your card offer pan-European coverage?

Service unavailable

Do you offer account and database management via the Internet

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Do you provide management reporting?

Service provided

Is your card single-branded or multi-branded?

What is the number of filling stations at which the card is accepted?

Key to services

FLEETW RLD

7.6k

Multi

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Allstar Business Solutions Ltd The Allstar network covers sites which deliver 96% of the fuel drawn in the UK, including motorway sites and lower cost supermarkets.

With an Allstar fuel card, drivers enjoy the ease and convenience they need and don’t have to drive off route in order to fill up. This means businesses benefit from savings in not just fuel, but time and cost too.

Our consolidated invoice is HMRC compliant and ensures you can claim back up to 100% of your business fuel VAT. Allstar cards will soon have Visa chip & PIN technology to reduce the risk of fraud and streamline reporting.

Tel: 0870 419 2849 www.allstarcard.co.uk

fuelcardsales@allstarcard.co.uk

Barclaycard and the Miles Consultancy

BP

TMC and Barclaycard provide a total fuel solution. The exciting new Fuel+ card gives you the power of integrated audited mileage capture with the ability to purchase fuel at nearly 99% of UK filling stations, including all supermarkets. It’s the single, powerful, secure solution for consolidated corporate vehicle fuel purchasing and mileage expense management. There are NO transaction charges (although card fees may apply). Fuel+ offers unbeatable Chip & PIN security and you will love our customer service. Winner of the 2014 Fleet World Honours Best Fleet Service Award, Fuel+ offers multiple opportunities to control fuel and mileage expenses.

Whether you are managing a fleet of HGV’s, cars, vans or a mixed fleet, no matter what size, BP has a range of Fuel Cards to support your business.

By partnering with the UK’s favourite forecourt you can benefit from: • Better control of your spend- via fuel savings and advanced security • Our extensive and strategically located network of sites • Account management and customer service teams • Reduction in fleet administration time and cost- via online fleet management tools Our Fuel Card solutions are used by thousands of companies across multiple industries, fleet sizes and fleet types. Find out how BP can help drive your business forward.

Tel: 0844 822 2400 www.barclaycard.co.uk/business/fuelplus

Tel: 0845 603 0723 www.bp.co.uk/fuelcards

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BPCardsAdmin@bp.com

2 E=MC TMC Mileage Audit turns energy costs into savings of up to 25% *

You probably already know that thousands of fleets are affected by the government’s new Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS).

The good news is that TMC’s award-winning fleet fuel and mileage tools cut energy and costs at the same time.

So whether or not your fleet is covered by ESOS, talking to TMC will help you to cut your bills down to size.

How do we do it? Our unique Audited Mileage Capture System accurately separates business and private mileage. Powerful tools like TMC Carbon Reporting track and report your fleet’s energy use, making ESOS reporting dead easy. And TMC’s experienced account managers will help you create your ESOS action plan and start saving on fuel costs straight away.

Call TMC today and receive these two free guides explaining ESOS and showing why you may be paying much more for fuel and mileage than you need.

Call 01270 525218 or email reply@themilesconsultancy.co.uk

www.tmcuk.co.uk *24.7% saving based on first-year business fuel savings of 24 TMC customers calculated in 2012.

TMC is a trading name of The Miles Consultancy Ltd, a provider of Mileage, Fuel and Mobility Management Solutions. Registered office, TMC House, Minshull Vernon, Cheshire, CW1 4RJ

MANAGEMENT UK Fleet Forum

UK connecting the UK’s fleet community ~ Formerly Fleet Academy

Join the Using a mobile phone whilst driving – the legal perspective Quentin Hunt, Barrister, www.bestcriminaldefencebarrister.co.uk

Fleet World magazine’s UK Fleet Forum – formerly Fleet Academy – provides a forum where fleet industry experts can exchange views on a wide range of topics, from taxation to speeding fines.

At the heart of the UK Fleet Forum is a team of fleet professionals who play a key role in the industry, either as fleet managers, consultants or fleet suppliers. These fleet experts provide a regular feed of information that is posted on the website forum in the form of discussion topics.

Typical areas of interest include, but are not limited to: taxation, finance and accounting, legislation, environmental issues, fleet safety, insurance, fleet management, supply issues and security.

Fleet suppliers are permitted to respond to queries if it is felt that their response represents honest and impartial advice. This aspect of the service is strictly moderated in order to ensure that the quality of information provided remains of the highest standard.

We have already attracted a strong network of fleet professionals, and our expert contributors have submitted a number of thought provoking discussion topics, a few of which are previewed to the right.

We hope you will consider joining us in this exciting new venture into the world of fleet.

To find out more about the UK Fleet Forum and request membership, please visit:

theukfleetforum.co.uk 82 / fleetworld.co.uk

It is commonly known that it is illegal to use a mobile telephone or similar handheld device whilst driving.

The penalty is three points and a £100 fine, and upon conviction in court this can give rise to a driving ban and a fine of up to £1,000.

Commonly I am seeing clients coming to me with an active dispute as to whether they were "on the phone" when driving, so it may be useful to clear up some misconceptions.

Using a mobile handheld device covers all use - texts, emails and browsing the internet, not just making calls.

Obvious I know, but amazingly some clients don’t seem to appreciate this. It also applies if you are using your mobile telephone as a satellite navigation system, either using a mobile app or Google maps.

The legislation also covers when you are stopped at traffic lights or are in a traffic jam as driving is taken to be when the vehicle is moving or while waiting to resume moving. This can be a grey area in truly awful traffic jams (engine off, people out of vehicles), but my advice is to be on the safe side and not use the device. The only exceptions to the legislation are if you are safely parked or if you are responding to a genuine emergency and it is impractical or impossible for you to stop the vehicle.

It should also be noted that if you are supervising a learner driver it is an offence for you to use a mobile handheld device, as you are deemed to be in control of the vehicle despite the fact that you are not actually physically driving.

I have an increasing number of clients who complain that they have been stopped by police when they were not actually using their phone. What can you do if this happens?

Firstly, show your call record and text messages to the officer. Be insistent that they make a record of data in their pocket notebook.

Secondly, if your device supports this, take screenshots at the time of your mobile device’s call history, text his-

debate...

Meet the experts... tory and internet history showing a lack of usage.

Lastly make sure that you maintain all you billing records which should give an audit trail of your usage of the device.

The tip of the iceberg Natalie Middleton, Business Editor, Fleet World Could Vauxhall’s move to abandon its “Lifetime” warranty have a domino effect? Certainly that’s the view of Warranty Direct, which says it could prompt other manufacturers to turn their back on promised longterm cover.

Under the announcement by Vauxhall, the carmaker is dropping the current warranty of 100,000 miles for an unlimited amount of time for the first owner of the car, and will instead move to the standard threeyear/60k warranty with options for extension.

The new warranty will apply to all new cars and vans, with the exception of the Vivaro and Movano, which have a three-year/100,000-miles warranty.

Vauxhall has blamed its decision on the rise of PCP (Personal Contract Purchase) and other tempting financing offers, which now account for 65% of new car sales. After three years, most buyers simply choose to replace their car with a new one, rolling the finance deal over into a new three-year period.

In response, Warranty Direct highlighted that several OEMs provide protection beyond the traditional three-year warranty period, promising comprehensive cover for mechanical mishaps for up to 10 years in some cases.

It added that it has previously questioned the quality of cover provided directly by manufacturers for cars over three-years old, highlighting how protection quickly tapers off and small print loopholes render policies useless as mileage and age increase.

Certainly for many emerging carmakers such as Kia and Hyundai, extended warranties have played a key role in building brand confidence and sales. Does the removal of such warranties change fleets’ buying policies? Or were the efficacy of such warranties always a grey area?

Gary Killeen, Fleet Services Commercial Leader, GE Capital With over 20 years experience with GE Capital, Gary first joined the company in 1988 as a trainee financial accountant. he has in-depth expertise across asset based lending, working as general manager for GE Capital's structured financial solutions before taking up his role as fleet services commercial leader. As well as leading the fleet business, he is also the leader of the sales office where he is responsible for the day-to-day business welfare of the workforce.

Thomas Strachan, UK Insurance Manager, Northgate Plc As UK insurance manager for Northgate Plc, Thomas is responsible for placing the company insurance program both for the UK and Eire operations, ensuring they meet the continual requirements of an evolving and growing business. Thomas deals with operations, depots, insurers, solicitors, police and other official bodies on a daily basis. He is also responsible for undertaking audits of service providers, insurer claim files, claim reserves and ULR providers as well as internal driver licence reviews both for UK and Eire.

Martin Wilson, Fleet Director, Hyundai UK Martin has been fleet director of Hyundai UK since January 2013. His early career began at Lombard’s motor finance division between 1994 and 1998, while still finding time to play as a contracted semi-professional rugby player for Newcastle Falcons. He moved to Jaguar in 1998, working up to corporate sales manager for Jaguar Land Rover. Following this, Martin moved to Hyundai in 2007, joining as regional corporate sales manager. He has held several other senior sales positions before being promoted to fleet director.

fleetworld.co.uk / 83

our fleet Mercedes-Benz E300 BlueTEC Hybrid SE Estate

IT’S time for the E-Class to go back, and I’m genuinely disappointed to see it go. It has been one of the best long terms I’ve ever run, because it does everything you could ever want of a car.

It is hugely practical, with a massive boot and lots of kit on board, looks classy in a very understated way, and the diesel-electric hybrid drivetrain proves that it’s not just in Formula One that Mercedes-Benz engines are way ahead of the competition.

Tax wise, with its CO2 emissions of 114g/km it makes a lot of sense for somebody looking for an executive express with a very low BiK bill, although the official combined figure of 64mpg was never going to be achievable.

But all hybrids struggle to hit their official figures: it’s a shortcoming of the measuring system rather than the car in my view. Nevertheless I can easily get more than 50mpg out of this in real world use, because the four cylinder diesel

powertrain does a great job on the long runs and the electric motor cuts in around town. No other manufacturer has nailed the complex challenge of marrying curmudgeonly diesel with slick electric so well. I’ll take that.

Except that recently I’ve discovered it’s not the best diesel-electric hybrid on the market. That accolade goes to its big brother, the S300 Bluetec Hybrid. A much heavier car, it has CO2 emissions of 120g/km but in terms of refinement, is a step on from the E-Class. It’s a remarkable piece of kit – smooth, fast, economical – and shows how quickly Mercedes-Benz is progressing this technology.

So I can’t wait to find out what the next diesel hybrid in the line-up will be like: the C300 Bluetec Hybrid. It has CO2 emissions of 94g/km, and refinement in the cabin for the standard models is already a huge leap forward from the E-Class. Imagine how good that is going to be….

Steve Moody

the figures OTR PRICE £41,670 POWER 201bhp @ 4,200rpm (+27bhp electric motor) TORQUE 369lbft @ 1,600–1,800rpm 0-62mph 7.8 seconds TOP SPEED 144mph COMBINED MPG 62.8mpg CO2 119g/km (19% BiK)

Volkswagen Golf GTD OUR Golf GTD has much in common with the SEAT Leon FR that we ran last year – the impressive two-litre turbo-diesel and

84 / fleetworld.co.uk

the Volkswagen Group MQB architecture.

Volkswagen has made much of the MQB architecture which is simply a means of designing a car so that all the important bits go in the same place, fixing the position of the engine and other components whether it’s a Volkswagen Golf, Leon or Audi A3. The result is that the cars are simpler to build and from a driver perspective, it should make build quality better and more consistent.

The two-litre diesel will be the big draw for enthusiastic drivers. As you can see from the performance figures, it’s

no slouch, while our car, which has now racked up some 9,200 miles, is averaging around 50.7mpg, according to the on-board computer. I’ve seen around 55.0mpg on some longer trips and this is without switching into “eco” mode, one of the four available drive modes.

My particular likes are the effortless performance combined with good economy, impressive chassis and long distance comfort. The ride is a bit stiff, but I think that’s an acceptable trade-off for the sharp handling.

John Kendall

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our fleet Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV GH4hS SO as the E-Class Hybrid leaves I’ve been put in something even more electrically charged: our Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. It will be interesting to see if it can live up to the claims that by plugging it in every day the driver can spend more of their life on electric.

First signs were not good. I couldn’t even get the thing to charge. I rang Mitsubishi and after much discussion they said it may be a fault with the plug and it might have to go to a dealer to be looked at. Not a great start.

I fiddled about some more and discovered an iPod hiding in the central storage tub. Our International FW editor John Kendall had been running the car for a few weeks and as I peered at the screen I noticed some timers were set. Poking the screen a bit it became clear it was set to

only charge at night when electric was cheaper, and after switching all the timers off, the charging system sprang into life. Seems skinflint John parked the car in his garage and charged it up cheaply every night.

Not having that luxury I was poking a cable out of a window of our house during the day, but once I had the batteries topped up, I had 25 miles of green driving at my fingertips. And since that day, I’ve barely used any petrol at all, swooshing about silently on electric. What a marvelously enjoyable experience that is, especially in such a big SUV, the type of which would usually be rumbling about on diesel. So after a sketchy start, it’s been a pretty enjoyable, and cheap (if not as cheap as John!) few weeks so far.

Steve Moody

Kia Carens 1.7 CRDi “2” Manual I’M feeling well placed for a six-month test of our new seven-seat Kia Carens MPV. For one thing I’ve got a noisy brood of family/friends all ready to put it through the rigours of busy everyday family/work life. Plus, having tested a different version earlier this year, I found it was more than up to such rigours.

Kia promises class-leading style with no practicality compromise and, while I’m not sure about the former, the latter is definitely true. The second row of seats individually slide and fold over, the rearmost two seats fold into the floor and, although they don’t slide, they’re easy to raise/lower from both the front and back. However, like most rivals, they’re sized only for kids and access isn’t great.

With all seats folded down, there’s a large, flat load area with up to 1,650 litres of space –already been put to good use to assist with a house move. There’s also a rather nifty storage space to house the tonneau when it’s not in use.

Meanwhile the interior also offers plenty of cubbies

86 / fleetworld.co.uk

including underfloor storage in the second row and other handy items like trays on the back of the front row seats. It’s already very much part of family life but I look forward to testing it further and reporting back over the coming months.

Natalie Middleton

SEAT Leon ST SE Ecomotive AS the main support vehicle in the recent MPG Marathon (see page 41 for the full review), our Leon ST estate couldn’t be more suited to the task at hand. Enough space to fit in all our associated paraphernalia, enough pace to get from checkpoint A to checkpoint B as efficiently as possible, and enough MPG showing on the average trip computer to not feel like the poor relation compared to the hatchback Leon competing in the event.

In fact, the other support vehicle was our newly-acquired Peugeot 308 SW – pretty much a direct rival to the Leon ST in terms

of price, accommodation, spec and ability.

A quick straw poll of the FW team saw opinion divided between the two in terms of preference, but with both being praised for refinement, build quality and realistic 60mpg+ economy.

The SEAT’s heated seats in SE trim (for once, not allied to leather upholstery) are a real bonus as far as we’re concerned, the current temperate November climate notwithstanding, and will no doubt come into their own as the mercury heads south.

And that’s the thing with the Leon ST, it’s such a good all-rounder that 7,000 miles

have flown by in our hands. Yes, it’s understated and a little unremarkable, but it is remarkably good at what we need it to do.

Luke Wikner

Ford Transit ECOnetic FWD L3H2 OUR long term Transit provided the first real chance to really get to know Ford’s all-important range-topping LCV on UK roads. Driving around predetermined routes on European launches is one thing, but using a van on journeys that you know, with a variety of loads on board, can show the vehicle in a very different light.

Fortunately for Ford, our initial good impressions were more than confirmed, as the Transit soon became an invaluable part of the Fleet World team. Whether working to support this year’s MPG Marathon or transporting furniture from Hampshire to the west of Ireland, the Transit was never less than a comfortable and relatively economical partner.

In ECOnetic trim, our van offered a claimed 40.9mpg, though we found that mid to high 30s was a more realistic target. That’s nothing to be ashamed of however, indeed for a 3.5 tonne van with a medium high roof it is a strong result.

Of course those prepared to pay for the ECOnetic models, in search of ultimate economy, might not be quite so thrilled, but they would probably have a specific duty in mind, rather than general use. For the money I would probably forego the lower fuel consumption and opt for a regular 125hp van with the higher Trend specification, adding essentials like heated door mirrors and the excellent heated front windscreen. Plus as we’ve said before, we would be ticking the air-con box.

Our only expense over six months, other than fuel, was for an indicator repeater lens, following a close shave with a roadside branch on a country lane in Ireland. Once a lens could be located, two screws, a few minutes work and an £18 bill seemed more than reasonable.

In conclusion, the big Ford remains a winner in the heavy van class and it’s little surprise that Transit continues to dominate the UK market.

Dan Gilkes

the figures OTR PRICE £27,075 POWER 125bhp @ 3,500rpm TORQUE 258lbft @ 1,450–2,000rpm GVW 3,500kg KERB WEIGHT 2,021KG COMBINED MPG 40.9mpg CO2 179g/km (23% BiK)

fleetworld.co.uk / 87

our fleet Peugeot 308 SW Active BlueHDi 120 IS it just me, or are small estate cars, Sport Wagons as most manufacturers seem to like to call them, getting larger? The Peugeot 308 SW that has joined our fleet, though commendably compact on the outside, seems to have TARDIS-like load carrying abilities once in the back.

With the rear seats in place, it boasts 660 litres of load volume, rising to a voluminous 1,775 litres with the back seats folded flat. That compares well for instance with the Kia C’eed SW that we ran earlier this year, that claimed a totally reasonable 510/1,162 litres.

It’s not at the expense of interior space, with both front and rear seat passengers having plenty of room to stretch their legs.

Unfortunately the pearl white of our test car doesn’t do the slippery exterior styling any favours, looking rather blobby to my eyes.

SUPPLIER

DIRECTORY electric vehicle charging Ensto UK Ltd Tel: +44 7432 701524 ensto.com/chago

Things are altogether more individual inside though, with what must be the smallest steering wheel in the class and a dash that you look at above the wheel, rather than through it.

While easy to adapt to, having almost every interior control running through a single touchscreen is perhaps less successful, though undeniably the way that technological integration seems to be going.

Dan Gilkes

Total Accident Management Tel: 0845 078 4157 www.totalaccman.co.uk

Audi A5 Sportback S Line Ultra SPEAKING to various people at Audi over the last few years, they’ve been pretty excited about the arrival of the new “ultra” versions of their cars. And in a market where low CO2 counts, it’s not hard to see why.

The philosophy behind ultra is different from other rivals, where their eco subbrands have shared common characteristics in terms of weight or specification. At Audi it’s more a mantra with ultra versions of A7 and TT also available. Simply put, it’s a drive towards the lowest possible emissions without compromising performance.

And if the evidence of our long-term A5

accident management

TDi is anything to go by the ultra designation (there’s no visible badge) is an attainable goal. The engine is still barely run in but still achieving fuel consumption on a long run in the high 50s or low 60s.

That’s still a little below the combined figure of 67.3mpg, but when I’m heading home to the south-west late at night on a deserted M5, I couldn’t put my hand on my heart and honestly claim that I stick rigidly to 70mph.

Importantly from a driver’s perspective, it’s a really easy, intuitive car to drive – extremely comfortable and very stable at speed.

Ross Durkin

fast fits & tyres ATS Euromaster Tel: 0870 066 3624 www.atseuromaster.co.uk

fleet insurance Bluedrop Services Ltd Tel: 01706 658608 www.bluedropservices.co.uk

insureFLEET Tel: 0333 202 3133 www.insurefleet.com

driver licence checking Jaama Tel: 0844 8484 333 www.jaama.co.uk

SMR Autoserve Limited Tel: 0844 888 3001 www.autoserve.co.uk

88 / fleetworld.co.uk

FLEETW RLD SUPPLIER DIRECTORY contract hire, leasing & finance

daily rental

fleet management software

risk management

Maxxia 020 7520 9450 www.maxxia.co.uk

Nexus Vehicle Management Ltd Tel: 0871 984 1947 www.nexusrental.co.uk

Jaama Tel: 0844 8484 333 www.jaama.co.uk

Cardinus Risk Management Tel: 01733 426015

Tel: 0845 769 7381 www.lexautolease.co.uk

Alphabet (GB) Limited Tel: 0870 50 50 100 www.alphabet.co.uk

Europcar Tel: 0116 217 3530 www.europcar.co.uk

Chevin Fleet Solutions Tel: 01773 821 992 www.chevinfleet.com

ARI Fleet UK Tel: 0844 8000 700 www.arifleet.co.uk

JCT600 Contracts Limited Tel: 0113 250 0060 www.jct600contracts.co.uk

Contract Hire a Car Tel: 0370 218 8015 www.contracthireacar.com

Promote your company here and online for just £500/year.

Bynx Tel: 01789 471600 www.bynx.com

MAC GB Ltd Tel: 01745 828180 www.reduceroadrisk.com

Arnold Clark Vehicle Management

Fleet Alliance Tel: 0845 601 8407 www.fleetalliance.co.uk

Enterprise Rent-A-Car Tel: 01784 221 300 www.enterprise.co.uk

Civica Tranman Tel: 01454 874002 www.civica.co.uk/tranman

AA DriveTech Tel: 01256 495732

Tel: 0845 815 0019 www.dayscontracthire.co.uk

Lex Autolease

Tel: 0845 603 4590 www.acvm.co.uk

www.cardinus.com

www.AAdrivetech.com/fleetsafe DriveTech

Vehicle Management

Pendle Vehicle Contracts Tel: 08456 025697 www.pendlelease.co.uk

Zenith Tel: 0113 348 8667 www.zenith.co.uk

Budget Rent-a-Car Tel: 0844 5338 08701544 56 56 56 www.budget.co.uk

Enterprise Software Tel: 0161 925 2400 www.essl.co.uk

IAM Drive & Survive Tel: 0870 120 2910 www.iamdriveandsurvive.co.uk

Concept Vehicle Leasing Tel: 0800 043 2050 www.conceptvehicleleasing.co.uk

Volkswagen Group Leasing Tel: 0870 333 2229

Arnold Clark Car and Van Rental Tel: 0845 702 3946

Drive Software Solutions Tel: 01438 317731

RAC Risk Management Tel: 0870 606 2606

www.volkswagengroupleasing.co.uk

www.arnoldclarkrental.com

www.drivesoftwaresolutions.com

www.racfleetriskmanagement.co.uk

sgfleet Tel: 0845 154 0721 www.sgfleet.com

Venson Automotive Solutions Tel: 08444 99 1402 www.venson.com

Apex Car Rental Tel: 01323 745444

Sofico Tel:0121 288 5935/07815 601622

www.apexrental.co.uk

www.soficoservices.com

Roadmarque Tel: 0845 053 0331 www.roadmarque.com

Full listings online at fleetworld.co.uk For more information, please contact Tracy Howell on 01727 739160 or email tracy@fleetworldgroup.co.uk telematics & tracking

Full listings online at fleetworld.co.uk

car valeting Val-Tech Solutions Ltd Tel: 0333 011 6540 www.val-techsolutions.co.uk

misfuelling

fuel management

AFF Tel: 0844 879 4770 www.autofuelfix.com

Esso Fuel Cards Tel: 0800 626 672 www.essocard.com

Trakm8 Tel: 01747 858 444 www.trakm8.com

Telogis Tel: 0203 005 8805 www.telogis.co.uk

Navman Wireless UK Ltd Tel: 0845 521 1188 www.navmanwireless.co.uk

The Fuelcard Company Tel: 0845 073 0873 www.fuelcards.co.uk

Fleetmatics Tel: 0800 975 4566 www.fleetmatics.co.uk

Quartix Ltd Tel: 0870 013 6663 www.quartix.co.uk

MiX Telematics Europe Tel: 0121 717 5360 www.mixtelematics.co.uk

BP Oil UK Ltd Tel: 0845 603 0723 www.bpplus.co.uk

TRACKER Network UK Limited Tel: 0845 602 3981 www.TRACKER.co.uk

Shell Fuelcards Tel: 0800 915 6021 www.shell.co.uk/euroshell

vehicle data International Decision Systems Tel: 01256 302 000 www.idsdata.co.uk

Teletrac, a Trafficmaster company Tel: 0345 604 8813 www.teletrac.co.uk

Tel: 0845 055 8555 Ctrack www.ctrack.co.uk

fleetworld.co.uk / 89

greener fleets

MPG marathon

Pedal power

This year’s ALD Automotive/Fleet World MPG Marathon once more underscores the huge savings that fleets can make by addressing the driving behaviour of business drivers, says Mel Dawson, Managing Director of ALD Automotive.

W

hilst global oil prices have fallen in recent weeks due to high supplies and weaker demand, the threat of soaring fuel prices is never far away – but thankfully there is an effective and practical solution for fleets to reduce their fuel costs regardless of the cost of Brent crude, as shown by this year’s ALD Automotive/Fleet World MPG Marathon.

The event, now in its 13th year, again demonstrates the massive savings that drivers can bring about in their fuel costs by, simply, employing some common sense driving practices.

This was particularly showcased by the impressive result put in by Honda engineers Fergal McGrath and James Warren who managed to wring an outstanding 97.92mpg from their Civic Tourer over the two-day 330mile event, scooping the prize for the best outright MPG. This compares with the official combined fuel consumption figure of 74.3mpg.

The Marathon recognised every driver’s effort to improve on the manufacturers’ official fuel consumption figures for their vehicle, with the top prize going to Ford motor racing stars, Louise Richardson, and her co-driver, Harrison Scott.

Driving a new Ford Fiesta ST-3 1.6-litre 182PS EcoBoost model with an official combined fuel consumption of 47.9mpg, the Ford team recorded an astonishing 75.77mpg; 58% better than the official figures.

From a fleet perspective, the event is a key reminder of the major bottom line gains to be had from changing driver behaviour, the key ingredient in reducing fuel costs.

It also addresses the widely accepted belief that it’s unrealistic to expect manufacturers’ official mpg figures

Contact ALD Automotive:

90 / advertisement feature

t 087000 111 81

in real-world conditions. Whilst skilled driving was required throughout the two-day event, it proved, with the right training and driver attitude, these figures can even be exceeded.

And this also applies to vans, with Dan Gilkes, editor of Van Fleet World, and co-driver, Ray Penford, having won both the LCV awards in this year’s event.

Behind the wheel of Renault’s all-new Trafic SL27 Energy dCi 120 Business, the pair achieved 55.55mpg, the best overall mpg and also the best percentage improvement, standing at 16% better than the manufacturer’s official figures of 47.90mpg.

But of course, mention must be made of the vehicle choice too. Whilst it is possible to exceed official fuel economy figures, of course it helps if you’re already running the latest, most fuel-efficient vehicles in the first place.

This was highlighted by this year’s inclusion of electric vehicles to the line-up – marking a first for the event. Two Nissan LEAFS and one Renault ZOE joined the conventionally powered vehicles and besides proving their environmental credentials, they underlined their relevance within the fleet market by completing the same course without any worries over recharging and without any range anxiety for the drivers.

Driven by Jerry Clist of ALD Automotive and co-driver Peter Thompson, the winning Nissan LEAF recorded an overall figure that equated to 249mpg in a comparable diesel car, at a cost of just 2.6p per mile – less than half the cost of the most efficient diesel car taking part and with zero emissions and zero pollution into the bargain.

The event also showed that technology is also a key enabler when it comes to fuel economy, such as ALD Automotive’s award-winning ProFleet2 telematics system already installed in over 40,000 units to date in the UK. Providing in-depth management information to ensure that fuel cost reimbursement is controlled effectively, whilst also helping companies looking to manage their environmental footprint, ProFleet2 can also be used to encourage a more efficient driving style.

When it comes to cutting fuel costs, therefore, there are lots of different solutions available and ALD Automotive are continually working hard with our customers to help to deliver more effective fuel management programmes and designing the optimum fleet policy.

e ukinfo@aldautomotive.com

w www.aldautomotive.co.uk

VAN

November 2014

FLEETW RLD

p96 New Renault Trafic boasts a distinctive new look, but the upgrades are far from skin deep.

at a glance driven...

Renault Trafic, Vauxhall Combo & Peugeot Boxer

plus...

Telematics & tracking, refrigeration news, INTERVIEW: Jordan Bennett, Ford Transit design manager,. vanfleetworld.co.uk

inbusiness

Transit Custom delivers vital support

F

ord is once again supporting disabled servicemen, by providing a Transit Custom Combi to carry team members to and from competitions and training throughout Europe. This is the sixth year in which the manufacturer has supported the Combined Services Disabled Ski Team (CSDST).

CSDST is a registered charity that provides ski race coaching to serving members and to veterans of the Armed Forces with a permanent disability. The majority of participants were injured on active service and several are double amputees. Several of the team members have been selected for the British Disabled Ski Team and represented their country at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, Russia.

‘Ford’s provision of another Transit this year is vital to our success as a ski team and as a charity,’ said Colonel Nick Wills OBE, CSDST chairman.

‘The vehicle enables us to move disabled skiers and their equipment all over Europe for training and competitions, and without it we would struggle to provide these opportunities for disabled service men and women.’

inshort bitesize stories from a month in the van fleet world...

Dagenham to build new 2.0-litre engines Ford is investing in a new 2.0-litre diesel engine, that will be used in its Transit van range in the coming years. The firm is investing £380m in the new 2.0-litre engines, that will be built at its Dagenham plant in Essex, with more than 250 new jobs being created in the production facility.

The first engines will be produced towards the end of next year, with a production capacity of up to 350,000 units a year. The 2.0-litre engine will be installed in Ford vehicles from 2016.

Mobile connectivity for Renault vans

Performance and equipment boost for Steed

C

hinese manufacturer Great Wall has updated its Steed pick-up range, promising improved quality, a higher speci ication and better value for money.

Prices are up £1,000 over the original models, with the base Steed S now starting at £14,998, but there are numerous improvements such as rear disc brakes instead of the previous drums.

Side indicators are now incorporated in the wing mirror housings rather than the front wings and the Steed now comes with an improved instrument cluster and seat facings. A multi-function interior mirror with autodimming and an outside temperature display is now standard on all models.

Maximum payload is 1,050kg and UK Steed models are now capable of pulling a 2.5-tonne trailer, up from 2 tonnes on the previous model.

The pick-up is equipped with a dual-range fourwheel drive transmission from BorgWarner that

offers selectable low-range gears for serious off-road use. On-demand fourwheel drive can be selected in the high range at speeds up to 12mph.

Standard equipment includes alloy wheels, daytime running lights, remote central locking, a Cat 1 alarm, electric windows, air conditioning, heated front seats and a double DIN Alpine stereo with USB/MP3 connectivity and Bluetooth.

Great Wall has a network of 50 dealers across the UK and all Steed models come with a six year/125,000 mile warranty.

Renault has introduced its R&GO infotainment system to both Trafic and Master van ranges. R&GO requires an app that can be downloaded for Apple and Android smartphones, connecting to the van by Bluetooth. The app is free to download, while a 3D turn-by-turn satellite navigation function can be activated with a one-off £19.99 payment.

As well as sat nav and a range of audio functions, R&GO provides access to the driver’s ECO2 rating and the vehicle’s fuel economy figures.

Renault to build mid-weight Fiat Renault has recently invested £180m in a revised production line at its Sandouville plant in Normandy, where the latest Trafic van range is built. The company has also announced that the factory will build a mid-weight van for Fiat, from the second quarter of 2016.

Though Trafic-based, the new Fiat van will be styled by Fiat Professional with distinct features to differentiate the two.

vanfleetworld.co.uk / 91

INTERVIEW Jordan Bennett, Ford Transit

Drawing the future How do you design a van that will be sold around the world?

John Kendall asks Ford’s Transit design manager, Jordan Bennett.

Replacing two iconic designs Replacing any iconic vehicle is never an easy prospect for any designer. Whether it’s an exotic rare car or a much loved volume produced model makes little difference. Imagine being tasked with replacing the Volkswagen Golf, sold all over the world, the Land Rover Defender, or Toyota Landcruiser – similar models with a worldwide audience and a loyal following.

So spare a thought for Jordan Bennett, design manager for the Ford Transit.

Ford’s panel van was already sold in over 70 countries before the arrival of the latest “Two-tonne” model, replacing the heavier Transit range earlier this year. For the new model, Ford pushed sales into countries where the van had not been sold before. Not just any countries, but the United States and Canada, replacing the long-running Ford Econoline.

So Bennett not only had to satisfy leets in the UK and Europe, where the Transit name has been on a panel van for almost 50 years, but he also had to come up with a design for customers who had just lost one long running model line.

Given the difference between European and North American vehicle design, the task was not getting easier.

Where do you start?

Ford acknowledged the magnitude of the task by appointing separate design teams to handle the interior and exterior.

So just where do you start, when faced with such a big design task?

‘You set yourself a set of foundation blocks,’ says Jordan, ‘In this case, it was Ford DNA, with Transit DNA. When I say DNA, I’m talking about the traits and features that you’d associate with a design philosophy. At the time it was Ford’s “Kinetic design”, although we don’t use the word any more.

‘There are certain design features that we also had to integrate for Ford DNA and Transit DNA. Again the traits for

92 / vanfleetworld.co.uk

‘We always need a philosophy, a statement of rules that we’ve designed and created for ourselves to give Ford models a family identity.’

Transit DNA are obviously, “Fit for purpose” and the fact that it had to look like it could do the job and that it could do the job reliably and dependably and obviously to the best of its ability in the market place.’

game. It looked like the front had been attached to a box, so it didn’t work. So we had to then re-think what we were doing.

Again, we had to come up with an idea that was for the bigger CVs. It’s one look for the heritage of Ford.’

Standout features

Getting it right

‘We always need a philosophy, a statement of rules that we’ve designed and created for ourselves to give them a family identity. In this case it was the trapezoidal grille. You’ll see it on all the Ford products, in various different guises, in different proportions and this is obviously the biggest. Even in North America, with the exception of the F150s (Ford’s best-selling pickup truck in the US) because they are kind of vertical either side for the grille, you’ll have this trapezoidal grille.

Even now with the next generation of Fords, they will have the trapezoidal grille. It will be slimmer for cars and a bit more substantial for commercial vehicles.

‘It’s every sort of aspect that you can go through on this van that you wouldn’t have gone through in previous Transits.

For those it would have been a matter of designing an exterior and just adhere to the engineering and feasibility, package and engineering constraints.

‘With this one, you have to make it a global Ford identi ied product. So you could cover the badge and tell where it actually came from.’

So did Ford do that with customers in design clinics? ‘We did and a lot of people guessed what it was. We tried one clinic with one that had a front end that was similar to the Transit Custom and it didn’t do so well, because it was too streamlined for the load capacity. It’s carried off on the Transit Custom because above the windscreen it’s at that level all the way across, the proportions are really well balanced.

When you come to doing something that’s got two different roof heights and three different lengths, then it’s a different ball

‘When we took it to clinics again in Europe and North America, we got a different reaction – ‘OK, this is it, we like this, this one looks like it its the van and the purpose, the strength, dependability and reliability.’ It just became a bun ight, so to speak, about the height of this bullnosed section (the grille) and it was only 30mm difference. We had two models and it really does look different.

‘In the end, we went for the lower one.”

So was there a clear split between Europe and North America in choosing the higher or lower design?

‘It was just certain factions on both sides of the Atlantic. There’s a lot of people think that because it was going to America, that’s where Ford’s headquarters are and no one else had any in luence, but it’s not the case. We took it to clinics extensively in Europe and the UK and yes, it’s different, it’s strong, it’s a proper face for Ford.’

Jordan then walked me round the van.

‘We’ve incorporated a lot of features and again, you’ll see these on the cars and other commercial vehicles. There’s a strong pronunciation of the wheel arch.

The customers and potential customers in the clinics could see it and that it gives it a good start and you want a good visual start. We took some models to clinics with more tumblehome (more taper into the body sides as they reach the roof) and it didn’t look like it could carry anything.

It didn’t look very stable, so we then had to tune it to a ine point where it met the package requirements, but didn’t look too top heavy, it was a ine line.

‘Then we had to do it again for the low-

roof version in America. It was quite a task to get that. Getting back to the pronounced wheel arch trait, when we’re designing a van, we’ve got the responsibility for the A-surface. Then there’s “real estate” on the inside between the interior and everybody is jostling for that space, so we in exterior design want a pronounced wheel arch. It’s a trade off and we’re always going backwards and forwards. It could have been a lot latter and had just one crown in it, but it would have been featureless.’

Family features Jordan then pointed out a small feature at the back of the side panel, just above the waistline, where the pressing line does not run horizontally all the way to the back of the vehicle, but rises diagonally at the end, ‘This feature here, you’ll see on every Ford product,’ he says, ‘We call it the undercut. It creates a shadow, creates a dynamic feeling that the vehicle is moving even when it isn’t and the customer sees it too.

‘The customer is not just about, ‘Yes it’s going to get good fuel mileage, you’re going to get lots of stuff in it.’ They want to be seen in the market place to be ef icient, switched on. There’s a lot of owner drivers as well as leets, but even the leets want to be seen as saying we’ve got the latest model and it shows how successful our business is.

‘You would never think about that in previous Transits. It’s like a philosophy for the cars and when you see it you think that’s synonymous with Ford design.

They’ve actually intelligently thought about what they are doing and put a bit of sculpture on a van. Nobody ever thought about putting sculpture into vans because it’s a box that you carry stuff with and it’s got to be economical and ef icient, but it doesn’t have to look like anything. But nowadays, it does. It’s a big player in the perception of success and being intelligent in what you’re doing.’

vanfleetworld.co.uk / 93

A Daimler Brand

The Vito delivers.

Economy, safety, uptime.

Discover the Vito. www.mbvans.co.uk/fleet

Renault Trafic Renault’s new Trafic is a comfortable all-rounder, with more than an eye to economy, says Dan Gilkes.

W

ith the latest version of the midweight Trafic van, Renault has achieved the seemingly impossible. Despite installing a smaller engine, it produces more power than the previous larger model, yet delivers lower emissions and improved fuel consumption.

Too good to be true? Apparently not, thanks in part to advanced turbocharging and ever-improving electronic engine control.

In the name of downsizing, Renault has ditched its previous 2.0-litre single turbo diesel engine and opted for a 1.6-litre motor, with a choice of single or double stage turbocharging. The first low inertia turbo provides high torque at low speeds for improved response when pulling away.

Then the second turbo takes over at higher speeds for improved power output and smooth acceleration.

The results are impressive and you never feel short-changed at the wheel. The 120hp Energy dCi engine in particular not only puts out a sturdy 320Nm of torque, but it manages to hit an incredible 47.9mpg with a CO2 output of just 155g/km. That’s actually better than both of the less powerful single turbo variants and the more powerful 140hp version of the twin turbo engine.

Ah yes you say, but no-one can actually achieve those claimed figures. Not so.

Admittedly few people are going to hypermile to quite the same extent, but on this year’s MPG Marathon we took a 120hp Trafic around a 311-mile route and returned 55.5mpg, despite some of the worst weather that we’ve experienced so far this year.

What’s more the 1.6-litre engine proved

96 / vanfleetworld.co.uk

what we think Renault’s Trafic van has been a popular choice with UK buyers for some years and the new model offers even more reasons to take a closer look.

specification MODEL

Renault Trafic SL27 ENERGY dCi 120 Business+ BASIC PRICE £20,445 ENGINE 4-cyl/1,598cc FUEL INJECTION Common-rail POWER 120hp @ 3,500rpm TORQUE 320Nm @ 1,500rpm Weights (kg) GVW 2,740 KERB WEIGHT 1,684 PAYLOAD 1,056 MAX TRAILER WEIGHT 2,000 Dimensions (mm) LOAD SPACE LENGTH 2,537 LOAD SPACE WIDTH 1,662 LOAD SPACE HEIGHT 1,387 LOAD HEIGHT (unladen) 552 LOAD VOLUME 5.2m3 Cost considerations COMBINED MPG & CO2 47.9mpg/155g/km OIL CHANGE 2 yr/25,000 miles WARRANTY 4 yr/100,000 miles

incredibly tractable, allowing a quick change through to the higher gears, even at low rpm. Not that changing gear to make the most of the engine output is any hardship, with a short gearlever throw permitting a quick downchange when necessary.

The new model isn’t just about the engine however and revisions to the cab, particularly in the higher Business+ trim make it a comfortable place to work. All models come with a full steel bulkhead, helping to keep noise levels in-cab to a minimum. You also get a DAB radio with Bluetooth, USB and Aux input and a trip computer.

Opt for the Business+ trim, adding £1,100 to the purchase price, and you also get manual air conditioning, a fold-down centre seat with A4 clipboard and storage, plus a smartphone dock on the dash. Business+ vans also come with a load-through hatch in the bulkhead, giving access to the space under the passenger seat and in the footwell and permitting longer loads of up to 3,750mm to be carried in the short wheelbase model.

Trafic boasts a distinctive new look, but the upgrades are far from skin deep. Moving to a smaller engine might have caused concern among buyers, but with more power, lower emissions and added economy, few could fault the new 1.6-litre driveline, particularly in twin turbo form.

There are some clever load handling ideas in the rear, while beneath the body all Trafic vans are safer, thanks to standard ESC, Hill Start Assist and Grip Xtend traction control.

Vauxhall Combo A fourth body for Vauxhall’s Combo adds to the versatility and carrying capacity, says Dan Gilkes.

F

or fleets looking at the possibility of downsizing, adopting a smaller van with lower running costs and improved fuel economy, Vauxhall’s Combo is a natural replacement for the firm’s Vivaro customers. But what if you still require the sort of load volume or payload of the larger van, but fancy the smaller external dimensions and lower costs?

Until recently there was no actual overlap between the two models. However with the introduction of an L2H2 Combo, the line between the two Vauxhall vans becomes a little more blurred.

The L2H2 Combo has a load volume of 5.0m3, which is almost on a par with vans from a class above. With a payload of up to 1,000kg, it even betters some of the smaller vans from the next class up, offering companies a real alternative.

The compact Vauxhall is of course based on Fiat’s Doblo Cargo and unlike some competitors, buyers can now specify four body sizes, with two lengths and two heights on offer.

The high roof is reasonably well integrated, with full height rear doors for easy access. The actual cab roof is untouched however, which allows the firm to offer a lockable storage compartment above the cab roof but inside the sloping section of the van top.

Combo L2H2 is offered with a choice of two 1.6-litre diesel engines, with 90hp and 105hp. They have Start/Stop as standard and both deliver 290Nm of torque. The 1.6CDTi with 90hp comes with a five-speed Tecshift automated manual box, while the

what we think The L2H2 body adds to the appeal of Vauxhall’s compact Combo van, delivering small van running costs with the carrying capability of a much larger model.

specification MODEL Vauxhall Combo L2H2 1.6CDTi S/S BASIC PRICE £17,648 ENGINE 4-cyl/1,598cc FUEL INJECTION Common-rail POWER 105hp @ 4,000rpm TORQUE 290Nm @ 1,500rpm Weights (kg) GVW 2,460 KERB WEIGHT 1,460 PAYLOAD 1,000 MAX TRAILER WEIGHT 1,300 Dimensions (mm) LOAD SPACE LENGTH 2,170 LOAD SPACE WIDTH 1,714 LOAD SPACE HEIGHT 1,550 LOAD HEIGHT (unladen) 545 LOAD VOLUME 5.0m3 Cost considerations COMBINED MPG & CO2 49.5mpg/150g/km OIL CHANGE 2 yr/21,000 miles WARRANTY 3 yr/100,000 miles

105hp motor has the more popular sixspeed manual gearbox.

The manual van is a very relaxed motorway cruiser, with that extra gear helping to keep rpm and fuel consumption low.

Vauxhall claims up to 49.5mpg should be possible. That’s combined with a CO2 output of 150g/km.

The L2H2 is designed as a workhorse and so only comes in the more basic Combo trim level, with no option to upgrade to the popular Sportive specification. The base trim isn’t that hard to live with however, all models come with remote control deadlocking, a CD/radio, reach and rake adjustable seats and steering column, electric windows, a full steel bulkhead and two sliding side doors on the L2 models.

Combo is a decent van to drive, with plenty of room for those over six foot to get comfortable. The steering is light but you’re never left in doubt about what’s going on under the front wheels. As the roof above the driver is no higher than in an H1 van, you really don’t notice the extra height from inside either. No doubt a full 1-tonne load would make its presence felt, but at half load, the Combo is a rapid means of transport capable of holding its own in town or country driving.

The real attraction of the L2H2 Combo will be for those customers who want the volume and load capacity of a mid-weight van. This L2H2 Combo comes out at £17,648, while the new Vivaro range starts at £17,995.

While that might not seem like much of a downsizing move, the operating costs of the smaller van, including fuel consumption, should be considerably lower.

vanfleetworld.co.uk / 97

Peugeot Boxer There is substance behind the styling of Peugeot’s latest Boxer line-up, says Dan Gilkes.

W

ith manufacturers all adhering to the same set of regulations and standards, and with aerodynamics driving vehicle body design, you might think that all vans are pretty much the same. That is definitely not the case though, with a Transit offering a very different driving experience and ownership proposition to a Movano or a Sprinter.

So what about a van that shares pretty much everything but its badge with other marques, like Peugeot’s new Boxer, which comes off the same production line as the Citroën Relay and Fiat’s Ducato?

Admittedly the Fiat uses a different set of engines, which puts some clear air between Ducato and the two French vans. But how do you differentiate between Boxer and Relay? Certainly the styling at the front is distinct for each manufacturer, with Peugeot’s designers having really cracked the integration of a family appearance in the grille surround and bonnet line.

Beyond that, they both bene it from the same set of upgrades, including the addition of ESP as standard on all models now. The two also have sturdier body shells, hinges and sliding side door mounts, which along with larger brake components and redesigned suspension brackets should improve longevity and cut total cost of ownership.

This is further improved with a move to 30,000-mile/two-year servicing and the adoption of a timing chain that requires no replacement.

The L3H2 van that we have here comes with the most popular 130hp engine, though not interestingly with the option of

98 / vanfleetworld.co.uk

what we think In Professional trim, the latest Boxer delivers an enviable specification for both the van driver and for the fleet manager looking at total cost of ownership.

specification MODEL

Peugeot Boxer Professional HDi 130 L3H2 BASIC PRICE £26,155 ENGINE 4-cyl/2,198cc FUEL INJECTION Common-rail POWER 130hp @ 3,500rpm TORQUE 320Nm @ 1,750rpm Weights (kg) GVW 3,500 KERB WEIGHT 1,925 PAYLOAD 1,525 MAX TRAILER WEIGHT 2,300 Dimensions (mm) LOAD SPACE LENGTH 3,705 LOAD SPACE WIDTH 1,870 LOAD SPACE HEIGHT 1,932 LOAD HEIGHT (unladen) 535 LOAD VOLUME 13m3 Cost considerations COMBINED MPG & CO2 38.2mpg/195g/km OIL CHANGE 2 yr/30,000 miles WARRANTY 3 yr/100,000 miles

Stop/Start, something that is only available with this power output. That aside, it returns a claimed 38.2mpg and 195g/km of CO2. Stop/Start, which comes at a very reasonable £200, would reduce the fuel figure by just 1mpg, but could cut up to 6.0g/km from the emissions.

With a decent 320Nm of torque and relatively short gearing, the Boxer certainly accelerates well and can happily keep pace with other vehicles in town and on rural roads. The high seating position makes it easy to place in traffic and the front drive chassis never feels anything less than secure.

At 13m3 the L3H2 sits in the middle of the Boxer range, that goes from 8–17m3. Likewise you can have a Boxer with an all-up weight of 3.0 tonnes or take that up to 4.0 tonnes, but this 3.5-tonner will be by far the most popular with UK buyers.

Perhaps more surprisingly, the Professional specification of our test van will also appeal to around 40% of UK buyers, prepared to part with an additional £1,000 for manual air conditioning, an alarm, cruise control, rear parking sensors, plus a fiveinch colour touchscreen with standard sat nav. This screen also provides a monitor for the optional reversing camera and delivers access to the van’s standard DAB radio and Bluetooth telephone connectivity.

It is perhaps this list of kit, along with the proximity of dealers, that will split the two French van firms’ products for many SME customers. Specification and trim level, along with purchase prices of course, remain the defining features of vans that share so much.

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W W W. I V E C O. C O. U K

Image shown for illustrative purposes, model shown is a 35-150. *Fuel consumption refers to the urban cycle calculated in accordance with EU Regulations 715/2007 and 692/2008, and UNECE Regulations 83 and 101, compared with the previous range.

Iveco with

flashback a look back at the company vans of yesteryear

model VW Transporter (T1)

T

sector medium van

he first Volkswagen Transporter may be the start of one of the most iconic commercial vehicle model lines ever made but, when the idea was first taken to management, it almost didn’t get off the ground.

Inspired by the Beetle-powered reverse pickups used at the factory in Wolfsburg, Dutch importer Ben Pon suggested a concept for a Beetle-derived box van in 1947 but surging popularity for the car had left no capacity on the production line. It wasn’t until his third attempt to push the concept that Volkswagen started to see the potential.

But it wasn’t a simple body swap. Early prototypes showed the floorpan needed additional strengthening to carry heavier loads, and fuel-boosting aerodynamics softened the front end shape compared to Pon’s sketches. As well as uprated dampers and a raised ride height , the Transporter gained a stronger front axle, low gearing from the Kubelwagen military vehicle and dual torsion springs at the back, while the cab-forward driving position offset the weight of the engine.

This was a versatile setup. Sharing the Beetle’s 23bhp 1.2-litre flat-four engine, the Tranporter offered a 750kg payload yet returned 31.4mpg. It was geared to climb inclines of up to 22% and, with 19 inches of ground clearance – more than a Land Rover Defender, it wasn’t confined to the Autobahn. The self-supporting chassis was useful too, allowing the load area to come close to kerb level for easy access.

Right hand drive models were initially available as a special order, and Volkswagen offered a choice of

UK sales 30,000

panel van, pickup, eight-seat minibus and ambulance or post van bodies from launch in 1950. It wasn’t until 1954 that the Transporter officially joined the UK range, making a discreet debut alongside the plethora of British manufacturers at the Commercial Motor Show in Earls Court.

At the time, the haulage industry in the UK was being de-nationalised, and operators had more freedom in the way they ran their businesses. Sales took off quickly, helped by a refresh in 1955 which introduced better ventilation above the windscreen, and a range which included upmarket De Luxe versions and the Kombi which, with its removable seats, allowed business owners to use their work van as a family car on weekends. This also inspired the first camper conversions.

The need for extra capacity meant Volkswagen started shifting production to the new plant at Hannover in 1956, where the Transporter is still built, and the range continued to evolve. Power climbed to 40bhp in 1960, then 54bhp in 1964 with the arrival of the new 1.5-litre engine, and conversions and additional body styles such as the high top and crew cab were introduced as the versatility of the platform showed itself.

Volkswagen replaced the Split Screen T1 with the Bay Window T2 in 1967, adding a stronger platform and body to the all-new van. From an initially abandoned concept, 2.3 million had found homes worldwide and, 60 years from its UK launch, it’s still a backbone of British business.

Transporter (T1)

Transporter (T5)

(1950)

(2014)

100 / vanfleetworld.co.uk

successor (T2)

advertisement feature

Reducing the risk...

With around a third of fatal and serious accidents involving someone driving for work, fleets have a duty of care to ensure they are running a robust road risk management programme. To help fleets ensure compliance with all areas associated with driving at work activity, ARI UK offers an advanced risk management service.

W

hen it comes to employers’ responsibilities for onthe-road work activities, health and safety law is unequivocal. The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HSW Act) states that companies must ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, the health and safety of all employees while at work. This was further reinforced by the advent of the Corporate Manslaughter Bill and Corporate Homicide Act in 2008, which means that organisations rather than individuals can be prosecuted where a safety failure is the cause of a workrelated death – including on the road.

And this is with good reason too – as outlined by RoSPA, driving is the most dangerous work activity that most people do. It is estimated that around 150 people are killed or seriously injured every week in crashes involving someone who was driving, riding or otherwise using the road for work purposes.

Clearly not only are such incidents a tragedy but they also come at great cost to the companies involved.

Yet the majority of these accidents can be prevented, and by running an across-theboard road risk management programme, companies can also gain further benefits.

Running such a programme will demonstrate that a company recognises its legal and moral responsibility to manage drivers and work-related road safety and has taken effective steps to manage such an obligation.

This can help dramatically improve a company’s Corporate Social Responsibility profile at a time when CSR is fast growing in importance in the corporate world.

This can also have a knock-on effect on driver attitudes, culminating in a culture shift where drivers can add value to the business or operation by driving better and safer.

Improved road risk management – and subsequent falls in accident rates – will also reduce costs consistently in all vehicle-related areas such as maintenance, accidents, insurance premiums and general wear and tear.

And fuel consumption will also improve as changed attitudes influence the way the vehicle is driven – which translates into lower carbon emissions and helps reduce the company’s carbon “footprint”.

With all this at stake, it quickly becomes apparent that management of drivers and work-related road safety is no longer an option but a requirement.

Yet change must begin at the top. And that’s where the risk management service run by Chippenham-based ARI UK – part of the largest privately held fleet management company in the

world – can help fleet drivers think and act differently.

ARI’s risk management service ensures compliance with all areas associated with driving at work activity. It changes driving culture by demonstrating to individuals that they have a clear responsibility for their actions when driving any motor vehicle, in particular on company business. Drivers become aware of the need to commit to change which, by so doing, influences not only their own wellbeing but that of others.

Driver licence, insurance and MOT validation This is one of the core products of ARI’s risk management service. ARI will validate insurance and validate MOTs using the VOSA website. For licence validation ARI utilises its risk management system that will require company drivers to apply annually for a ‘permit to drive’ via its dedicated website (www.riskmaster.co.uk).

The application requires drivers to make declarations pertinent to driving and accident history, general health, daily miles driven and hours on the road. Importantly, the application process will also require drivers to sign a licence checking mandate.

Licence checking mandate The system will then generate a communication to the driver requesting that they sign a licence checking mandate by a specified deadline. Where drivers fail to return a signed mandate to ARI by the deadline a further communication is sent. If they fail to respond on this occasion a non-compliance report will be sent for management intervention to take place. Once the mandate is received, ARI will carry out a licence check direct with the issuing agency.

The risk management programme forms part of a comprehensive fleet product and services portfolio offered by ARI UK and distinguished by award-winning fleet control and reporting technology.

If you are interested in finding out how ARI can assist you, please contact us at 0844 8000 700 and speak to the sales team, or visit www.arifleet.co.uk

refrigeration

Dearman and Hubbard develop cooling solution that runs on air

T

he Dearman Engine Company has been shortlisted for the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) Award for Automotive Innovation 2014, for its liquid air engine concept. Working with refrigerated transport specialist Hubbard Products, Dearman aims to produce a liquid air engine that will deliver zero-emission power and cooling, for a range of refrigerated vehicles.

While many refrigerated trucks are currently powered by clean and efficient Euro 5 and Euro 6 diesel engines, the smaller engines used to power refrigerated trailers and bodies are unregulated, often emitting far higher levels of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM). Even in those vehicles that use a compressor powered by the vehicle’s own drive engine, refrigeration can consume as much as 20% of the truck’s fuel, raising emissions and increasing consumption.

Hubbard will use a Dearman engine running on liquefied nitrogen (air), held in an unpressurised insulated con-

tainer at -194°C, to drive the compressor on the refrigerated unit. The system injects liquid air with a small amount of antifreeze into the engine’s cylinder. The liquid air returns to a gaseous state on exposure to ambient temperature, expanding by up to 700 times its volume to create a quiet source of drive for a piston or a turbine.

The expanded cold gas is then used within the temperature-controlled space as ‘free-issue’ refrigeration, before being expelled to the atmosphere as air.

The project is part of Hubbard’s long term business plan, that includes the building of a new facility near its Suffolk base to accommodate new product development and engineering facilities associated with sustainable refrigeration technologies.

‘While not pitched as silver bullet, liquid air technologies offer a compelling solution for reducing the disproportionate impact of diesel in a variety of transport applications,’ says Dearman’s senior group MD, Toby Peters.

School milk run for Blunham Dairy and Refrigerental

B

edford-based Blunham Dairy has turned to temperature control specialist Refrigerental for the supply of its latest fleet additions. The firm, which runs 25 vans in total, required eight new LCVs for its Peterborough branch.

Refrigerental is part of the Burnt Tree Contract Hire business, which has recently been acquired by Enterprise Rent-A-Car. The company has supplied the dairy with five Vauxhall Vivaros and three Mercedes-Benz Sprinter vans, all equipped with Carrier Viento refrigeration systems, on a two year fix and flex deal.

‘For several years now we have used an alternative vehicle supplier for our transport fleet requirements,’ said transport manager Stephen Armiger.

‘However, following Burnt Tree’s move into temperature controlled vehicle rental, we decided to run with

their Refrigerental business for the first time.’

Blunham Dairy is a family business that has been operating for more than 20 years. The eight vans will be used to distribute packaged, bottled and cartoned milk to schools across East Anglia and the Home Counties.

Added flexibility for Crafter Arctic

T

he Somers division of body building specialist Paneltex has added the VW Crafter Arctic Edition to its line-up. Built for its Dutch dealer MAN Tilburg, the Crafter is fully ATP Class C certified.

The van has a GAH Flexi-temp dual refrigeration system, that is capable of simultaneous heating, cooling or freezing in either of the vehicle’s two compartments. This is achieved using three heat exchangers providing up to 3.5kW of heating or cooling and delivering temperatures from -25° to +25°C. The van also features a removable bulkhead, adding to its flexibility.

102 / vanfleetworld.co.uk

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International Fleet World

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THE online resource for fleet decision-makers

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MARKET OVERVIEW Telematics & Tracking

Ctrack

In-Car Cleverness

Ctrack provides technicallyadvanced vehicle tracking and telematics solutions that deliver immediate benefits and financial returns resulting from the ability to better manage a fleet operation. As a result, meaningful management information is available in simple and intuitive formats, such as dashboards, reports and alerts, to provide added operational insight and business intelligence.

Ctrack delivers real advantage by enabling fleets of all sizes to address business critical performance issues as a result of greater operational visibility, control and efficiency. This includes reducing fuel consumption; validating overtime claims; eliminating unauthorised out-of-hours vehicle use; monitoring driver behaviour; achieving more jobs per employee; enhancing service levels; supporting environmental compliance; and increasing protection against vehicle theft.

Ctrack is part of DigiCore Holdings, a global company listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange with more than 830,000 tracking systems fitted in more than 50 countries across five continents.

In-Car Cleverness is a leadingedge telematics solution from the AIS Group, now featuring new business upgrades.

The development of an interchangeable device brings easy access to information on any fleet vehicle, while the device’s customisable firmware also allows businesses to tailor the data they record according to their individual requirements.

The device reads accurate data from the engine management system via the OBD port without interfering with diagnostic procedures or warranty issues.

As well as vehicle tracking, driver behaviour, journey reports and CO2 measurements, In-Car Cleverness provides remote vehicle fault diagnostics, accurate fuel measurement/mileages, service countdowns and digital accident reconstruction.

In-Car Cleverness also benefits from an iPhone/Android app and a 24/7 support centre.

Contact: Steve Thomas steve.thomas@ctrack.co.uk

Tel: 0845 055 8555 www.ctrack.co.uk

Quartix Ltd

Navman Wireless Navman Wireless, the UK’s most chosen vehicle tracking and telematics specialist, ignited the industry by making real time fleet monitoring accessible to all and reinvented the industry with the game changing M-Nav, the first combined fleet tracking, messaging and satellite navigation system. Its products are designed to give managers instant access to vehicle location and driver behaviour information and are proven to reduce fleet running costs, increase business productivity, enhance customer service and improve driver safety. Navman Wireless continues to lead the vehicle tracking evolution with its Online AVL technology and has recently reinvented driver performance monitoring with its Smart Telematics solution.

Contact: Sales Team info@navmanwireless.co.uk www.navmanwireless.co.uk

Contact: Dale Lewis enquiries@quartix.net

Tel: 0870 0136663 www.quartix.co.uk

TomTom Telematics

Telogis provides solutions for driver and commercial vehicle productivity and safety. Its cloud-based location intelligence software platform has a transformative effect on the way businesses optimise their mobile workforces, assets and data.

Telogis provides enterprises with one platform that includes: • Advanced Telematics • Mobility • Territory Planning and Route Optimisation • Work order management • Developer tools By installing location-intelligent solutions, companies can analyse when and where its vehicles are used, and how they are being driven. This gives the organisation the information it requires to improve asset utilisation, fuel consumption, and delivery schedules.

104 / vanfleetworld.co.uk

With tracking experience based on over 150,000 units installed in the fleet and insurance sectors, Quartix has established itself as one of the most respected vehicle tracking suppliers since its inception in 2001. The award-winning system’s wide range of telematics-based features gives fleet managers the tools to improve efficiency and reduce operational costs.

Ginsters, one of the country’s premier makers and distributors of savoury pasties, is using Quartix vehicle tracking to greatly reduce outgoing fuel costs throughout their fleet of vehicles. In just a six-week period, the system reduced the company’s fuel consumption by a substantial 18%.

Tel: 0845 521 1133

Telogis

Contact: Sergio Barata sergio.barata@telogis.com

Contact: Tim Eaves Tel: 08700 053 690/07917 707165 Tim.Eaves@incarcleverness.co.uk www.onboard.co.uk

Tel: 0203 005 8805 www.telogis.co.uk

TomTom Telematics is a world leading telematics solution provider with over 414,000 subscriptions worldwide. Our WEBFLEET platform is a Software-as-a-Service solution – used by businesses to improve vehicle performance, save fuel, support drivers and increase overall fleet efficiency. With 3 APIs –one in the back office, one around the vehicle and one on the driver terminal, WEBFLEET is extremely well connected.

More than 31,000 customers benefit every day from the highest level of security, quality and availability of our ISO 27001 certified service.

Our name has changed over time (TomTom WORK, TomTom Business Solutions) but our commitment to innovation and quality remains.

Contact: Giles Margerison uk.business@tomtom.com www.tomtom.com/telematics

Tel: 0207 2559774

VAN Does your system allow the geographical “ring fencing” of particular locations?

Is it possible to fit sensors to load area doors to detect unauthorised cargo area access?

Does your system have the facility to send alerts by text message in the event of a security alert?

Does your system alert the controller if vehicles stray from their pre-set route?

Can the Police locate the stolen vehicle using your system?

Does your system offer two- way communication/job dispatch facility?

Does your system offer driver behaviour analysis?

Does your management software offer real-time accurate arrival times?

Does your management software offer dashboard reporting?

Does your system take live & real time information direct from the vehicle’s onboard management system such as idle time & RPM?

Do you provide web services for third party integration?

Do you offer a management app/web tool for smartphones or tablets?

FLEETW RLD

Ctrack

In-Car Cleverness

-

-

Navman Wireless

-

Quartix Ltd

-

-

Trakm8

Teletrac, a Trafficmaster Company

-

Telogis

TomTom Telematics

TRACKER Network (UK) Ltd

Key to services

Service provided

-

Service unavailable

TRACKER Network (UK) Ltd Trakm8

Teletrac’s Fleet Director® is the most advanced and interactive fleet automation software on the market, equipped with easy-to-use navigation and safety capabilities. With innovative features that include on-board navigation, lane guidance and two-way messaging, it is the premier software for fleet tracking intelligence. Tracking more than 250,000 vehicles globally, Teletrac saves fleet owners time and money while reducing their carbon footprint. Teletrac customers report up to 30% lower fuel usage, an average of 15% less driver overtime, 12% higher productivity and less unauthorised vehicle use.

TRACKER is the UK’s number one supplier of vehicle tracking services, with over a million systems installed to date. Award winning TRACKER Fleet uses groundbreaking patented technology to allow businesses to operate at maximum efficiency. Cost savings are provided as TRACKER Fleet highlights fuel inefficiencies and reduces overtime claims. Additionally, driving styles can be monitored to ensure best practices and compliance with duty of care.

Additionally, TRACKER Locate systems can help recover vans which have been stolen with valuable tools inside, preventing prolonged inconvenience and expense.

Operating across a wide range of industries, TRACKER provides the knowledge and experience you would expect, coupled with support you can rely on for a smooth running and efficient fleet.

Contact: Mark O’Neill Tel: 0345 604 8813 fleetsales@teletrac.co.uk www.teletrac.co.uk

Contact: TRACKER Sales Team Tel: 0500 090909 enquiries@tracker.co.uk www.tracker.co.uk

Contact: Nathan Piper Tel: 03303 334 128 info@trakm8.com www.trakm8.com

Teletrac, a Trafficmaster Company

Trakm8 is a leading technology provider; designer and developer of GPRS based hardware and software to the vehicle tracking and security market. Trakm8 products enable vehicles and drivers to be monitored, allowing organisations to manage deliveries and services, or track stolen vehicles down to three metres.

Trakm8’s established fuel saving solution is designed to reduce a fleets CO2 emissions and save money off their fuel bill. Savings between 10%-20% have been achieved through changing the driver’s behaviour via our on board driver feedback display and extensive web based reporting suites. Benefits of improve driver safety has also been recognised therefore reduced accident frequency and severity.

vanfleetworld.co.uk / 105

ontheroad As the winter takes hold, our roads become more slippery. But as Anthony Ffrench-Constant is amazed to discover, most drivers blame equestrianism‌

W

hich particular aspect of the UK's crumbling road infrastructure are you currently least gruntled with?

Endless potholes? Incessant roadworks? Inadequate gritting in winter? Country lane surfaces knobblier than the face of a Doctor Who extra? Flooding severe enough to make you wish you were driving something 300 cubits long and clinker-built from Gopher wood with accommodation for two of absolutely everything that moves under its own steam?

Or, apparently, none of the above (though the prospect of mucking out the Ark does somewhat resonate).

Because, astonishingly, a recent survey suggests that what really sprinkles sand in your collective automotive Vaseline is horse riders not clearing up after their steeds.

Indeed, of 3,000 UK drivers quizzed, a stout 97% feel that riders should pick up horse manure from the road.

Were all those questioned residents of blunderbussand-bonnet central London in the mid-19th century, this I could understand. Faced with total immersion in upperclass horse pooh, those unfortunates picking their way along Piccadilly on foot must have resembled a mass audition for the next Riverdance tour. But today?

Now, considering them to be dangerous at both ends and uncomfortable in the middle, I have no truck whatsoever with horses. So I'm somewhat surprised to learn that – not including the moth-eaten specimens that have free-rein over the likes of Dartmoor and the New Forest there are some one million of them in Britain, kept by over 550,000 owners or stables.

However, because we tend largely not to kick horses out with the cat last thing at night, I'll warrant that there are a good deal fewer mounds of their pooh on our roads at any one time then there are, say, Muntjac deer. And which would you rather pile into at 60mph on a dark February night?

Besides, even assuming riders aren't so perennially busy deploying wrists of steel and thighs like tug boats in a vainglorious effort to control the second most

A recent survey suggests that what really sprinkles sand in your collective automotive Vaseline is horse riders not clearing up after their steeds.

106 / fleetworld.co.uk

dangerous end of a horse that they're blissfully unaware of what the more lethal end is up to, how, exactly, are they supposed to pull over on a main road and clean up after their mounts?

Try fitting indicators to a horse and you'll instantaneously find yourself kicked clean into next Wednesday.

Ditto hazard warning lights. Or a handbrake. So the moment you dismount, dropping the reins to deploy that XXL pooper-scooper- your steed will invariably amble off to taste some irresistible morsel of the countryside on the other side of the carriageway. Not a good idea...

Honestly, as pooh-based gripes go, wouldn't it be more sensible to target dog owners who fail to pick up after their pooches on footpaths and in the parks in which our children play?

Out here in Mudfordshire, then, if I were to pick a beef with anyone over what lies atop our road surfaces, it would be the farmers. F Giles is long acclimatised to being master of all he surveys and, in his mind's eye, this clearly includes every road running through his domain.

Legendarily grumpy about as many different things as possible all at once (the weather, combine rental costs, the weather, vet’s bills, the weather, ramblers, etc.), the last thing on a farmer's mind is clearing up after himself if there's no profit in it. Come the plough, this leaves our local byways knee-deep in mud and slicker than a by-election politician's patter. And that's properly dangerous.

Even worse is the season in which F Giles hangs a massive, flailing propeller half-inched from a Blue Riband liner off the back of his tractor, and trims the hedgerows, the detritus of which tempestuous topiary ends up all over the road.

And that includes a healthy smattering of hawthorn.

Honed at the anvil, said shrub's stiletto-sharp thorn will go through the tread of an everyday car tyre like a knife through horse pooh, making the seasonal variation in Mudfordshire puncture frequency no coincidence at all.

Happily, though I fear we have as much chance of making farmers clear up after themselves as we do horse riders, I have a solution to this last thorny issue. We must all fit tyres fabricated from giraffe tongues. After all, the four inches of finest Toledo steel that is the thorn of the acacia tree relegates a hawthorn's armoury to the status of hair brush bristle. Yet giraffe's blithely ingest the foliage without once sustaining so much as a scratch.

VAN SUPPLIER DIRECTORY FLEETW RLD daily rental

contract hire, leasing & finance

racking systems

tail lifts

fleet management software

Europcar Tel: 0116 217 3530 www.europcar.co.uk

Alphabet (GB) Limited Tel: 0870 50 50 100 www.alphabet.co.uk

Tevo Limited Tel: 01628 528034 www.tevo.eu.com

Ratcliff Palfinger Ltd Tel: 01707 382880 www.ratcliffpalfinger.co.uk

Bynx Tel: 01789 471600 www.bynx.com

Nexus Vehicle Management Ltd Tel: 0871 984 1947 www.nexusrental.co.uk

LeasePlan UK Ltd Tel: 0844 493 5810 www.leaseplan.co.uk

Bott Ltd Tel: 01530 410600 www.bott-group.com

DEL Equipment (UK) Ltd Tel: 01993 708811 www.del-uk.com

Civica Tranman Tel: 01454 874002 www.civica.co.uk/tranman

Avis Rent A Car Tel: 0844 544 5000 www.avis.co.uk

Zenith Tel: 0113 348 8667 www.zenith.co.uk

Sortimo Central Tel: 0121 511 2303 www.sortimo-central.com

Penny Hydraulics Tel: 01246 811475 www.pennyhydraulics.com

Chevin Fleet Solutions Tel: 01773 821 992 www.chevinfleet.com

Promote your company here and online for just £400/year.

Arnold Clark Vehicle Management

TRACKER Network UK Limited Tel: 0845 602 3981 www.TRACKER.co.uk

Mycompanyfleet Tel: 0845 077 7760 www.mycompanyfleet.co.uk

Trakm8 Tel: 01747 858 444 www.trakm8.com

fast-fits & tyres

Tel: 0141 332 2626 www.acvm.co.uk

telematics & tracking

Vehicle Management

Enterprise Rent-A-Car Tel: 01784 221 300 www.enterprise.co.uk

Tel: 01708 511071 www.ukvanleasing.com

Budget Rent-a-Car Tel: 0844 5338 08701544 56 56 56 www.budget.co.uk

Tel: 0845 769 7381 www.lexautolease.co.uk

UKVANLEASING

TomTom Business Solutions Tel: 020 7255 9774 www.tomtom.com/business

Lex Autolease

Apex Van Rental Tel: 01323 745444

Volkswagen Group Leasing Tel: 0870 333 2229

www.apexrental.co.uk

www.volkswagengroupleasing.co.uk

Tel: 0845 055 8555 Ctrack www.ctrack.co.uk Quartix Ltd Tel: 0870 013 6663 www.quartix.co.uk

Teletrac, a Trafficmaster company Tel: 0345 604 8813 www.teletrac.co.uk

Navman Wireless UK Ltd Tel: 0845 521 1188 www.navmanwireless.co.uk

ATS Euromaster Tel: 0870 066 3624 www.atseuromaster.co.uk

vehicle data International Decision Systems Tel: 01256 302 000 www.idsdata.co.uk

risk management STEPS AVS Steps Ltd

Venson Automotive Solutions Tel: 08444 99 1402 www.venson.com

fuel management

Esso Fuel Cards Tel: 0800 626 672 www.essocard.com

IAM Drive & Survive Tel: 0870 120 2910 www.iamdriveandsurvive.co.uk

BP Oil UK Ltd Tel: 0845 603 0723 www.bpplus.co.uk

Shell Fuelcards Tel: 0800 915 6021 www.shell.co.uk/euroshell

Roadmarque Tel: 0845 053 0331 www.roadmarque.com

Tel: 01939 235900 www.avssteps.co.uk Fleet Alliance Tel: 0845 601 8407 www.fleetalliance.co.uk

insurance Bluedrop Services Ltd Tel: 01706 658608 www.bluedropservices.co.uk

Full listings online at

fleetworld.co.uk

vehicle ventilation

accident management

Flettner Ventilator Ltd Tel: 020 8200 2321 www.flettner.co.uk

Total Accident Management Tel: 0845 078 4157 www.totalaccman.co.uk

VAN FLEETW RLD SUPPLIER DIRECTORY For more information, please contact Tracy Howell on 01727 739160 or email tracy@fleetworldgroup.co.uk vanfleetworld.co.uk / 107

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