Professional Driver Magazine April 2022

VOLUME 16 ISSUE 03 £4.95

Luxuria Germanica MERCEDES-BENZ EQS 450+ LUXURY

SHAPING THE FUTURE

p18–Taxi and private hire consultation launched p22–National EV insfrastructure fund revealed

contents

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COVER STORY Luxuria Germanica – new Mercedes-Benz EQS on test

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B usiness News The latest from around the UK private hire sector

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N ews Analysis Government taxi/PHV consultation

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N ews Analysis Unboxing the strategy for EV charging infrastructure

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R oad Test Mazda CX-5

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18 VOLUME 16 ISSUE 03 £4.95

Luxuria Germanica MERCEDES-BENZ EQS 450+ LUXURY

SHAPING THE FUTURE

p18–Taxi and private hire consultation launched p22–National EV insfrastructure fund revealed

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T he Last Mile Integrating taxis with travel booking

REGULAR FEATURES 36 The Knowledge 38 The Advisor 39 The Negotiator

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Mark Bursa 07813 320044 markbursa@prodrivermags.com

Kevin Willis, Peter Panayiotou, Iain Dooley, Mike Stone, Dennot Nyack, Adam Bernstein, Dr Mike Galvin, Tim Scrafton

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ANALYSIS: ev infrastructure

The flaws at the heart of the Government’s £1.6bn EV Infrastructure Strategy Mark Bursa

O

N MARCH 25, THE DEPARTMENT FOR TRANSPORT unveiled the Government’s £1.6 billion Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy (EVIS).

It looks good at first sight – the objective is to provide funds for 300,000 EV charge points across the UK. Crucially, this is intended to be a mix of ultra-rapid DC chargers on motorways and trunk roads, workplace chargers and AC on-street chargers in residential areas.

Of that total, £950 million is already committed to the Rapid Chargepoint Investment Scheme (RCIS), which is supporting the roll-out of 6,000 ultra-

rapid charge points across UK motorways.

These are being installed and operated by large chains such as Gridserve, Ionity and Instavolt.

The additional element is the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) fund, which it is pivotal to the overall strategy. LEVI funds are designed to provide residential on-street charging and urban rapid charging hubs.

The plan has been welcomed by London

[FROM LEFT] BP Pulse’s Richard Bartlett and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps MP

BP Pulse to invest £1 billion in UK EV charging infrastructure BP has announced new plans to invest £1 billion in its BP Pulse electric vehicle charging arm in the UK over the next 10 years.

The investment will allow BP Pulse to deliver more rapid and ultrafast chargers in key locations, expand fleet products and services, and launch new home charge digital products and services to enhance the customer experience.

The investment will see BP Pulse triple the number of public charging points in its UK network, as well as accelerating the roll out of state-of-the-art 300kW and 150kW ultra-fast charging points, which can provide up to 100 miles of range in around 10 minutes of charging, depending on the EV model.

BP Pulse will also upgrade its current EV charging technology across its public charging network to improve reliability. The company expects the move to create hundreds of new jobs in the UK. The Government, which at the same time published its EV Infrastructure Strategy, has welcomed the investment. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “I am delighted that BP Pulse is supporting the transition to cleaner vehicles as we accelerate toward our net-zero ambitions and boost green jobs opportunities right across the UK.” Shapps unveiled the EVIS plans at BP Pulse’s UK headquarters in Milton Keynes.

Richard Bartlett, senior vice president, BP Pulse said: “This £1bn investment is vital to provide the charging infrastructure the UK needs. We’re investing to build a world-class network.

This investment allows us to deliver more high-speed charging in dedicated hubs and on existing fuel and convenience sites. More home charging services. And crucial enhancements to our digital technology that will make charging fast, easy and reliable.”

BP plans that for every £1 it makes in the UK this decade; it plans

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to spend £2 – including investments to help the UK towards net zero. Other plans include a scheme to develop up to 5.9GW gross of offshore wind capacity across the Irish Sea and North Sea and plans to produce 1.5GW of low carbon hydrogen in Teesside, 30% of the UK’s 2030 target, from its H2Teesside and HyGreen Teesside projects.

Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive said: “Investments such as this are essential to give motorists the confidence to switch to EVs, and we need to see the full variety of charging locations – the motorway, at work, destinations and, especially, on-street charging, if we are to decarbonise road transport at pace.”

BP Pulse also aims to play a significant role in helping to electrify the UK’s fleet vehicles and intends to help accelerate the roll-out of EV charging solutions to the UK’s businesses. It is already working with Royal Mail, Uber and emergency services in both London and Scotland.

—Mark Bursa

APRIL 2022

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APRIL 2022

comment

Think local, act national

T

he idea that the present government

is capable of producing something vaguely competent provokes thoughts of a corpulent, grunting, pink beast flying over The Palace of Westminster (and not the one currently in temporary occupation of Downing Street).

But hold the front page – the new consultation on the taxi and private hire industry appears to be thorough, well thought-out and pressing all the right buttons. Clearly the front bench has been kept well away from drafting the document.

You can read our analysis on page 18, as well as the thoughts of Dennot Nyack on page 38. Please take part in the consultation. The links to the relevant web pages are on page 18.

We need as many voices as possible, as this gives everyone in the industry – right down to the drivers – a chance to influence and change some of the more ludicrous policies that local authorities foist upon us.

The “local” nature of licensing is at the root of the problems. There are 280 licensing authorities, and outside London, there is virtually no consistency in their approach. And in the consultation document, transport minister Baroness Vere states that “consistency” is one of the clear objectives.

To some extent, we’re pushing an open door.

In Professional Driver’s view, the whole approach to licensing need to be changed. Instead of 280 councils making up the rules as they go along, we need a national system – just like licensing of buses (PSV) or trucks (HGV).

This would enforce proper national standards – not just minimum standards. Standardised vehicle requirements, standard rules on driver training, vehicle signage, and everything else right down to tinted windows. And standardised costs for licenses, so there’s no advantage in drivers getting plated in Wolverhampton rather than their home town.

Can’t tell if it’s a hackney or a PHV? Put a roof light on the hackney and not on the PHV. Not rocket science, is it.

Of course, for every sensible bit of Government policy, there’s always something else that comes out of Whitehall that brings with it a raft of new problems.

The government’s commitment of £1.6 billion on electric charging infrastructure has been broadly welcomed – but once again, there’s a critical flaw in the plan. Implementation of installing on-street

APRIL 2022

chargers is again being left to our friends in local government, and as we can see with the mish-mash of local taxi/PHV licensing rules, we’re likely to get the same fragmented approach with regard to charge point installations.

Indeed, it’s already happening. While some councils such as Portsmouth and Sutton are embracing the need to provide overnight on-street charging for those who don’t have a drive or a garage, others are ignoring the issue. One major city has told us it will not be doing any on-street installations, and instead will expect motorists to use the charging hubs it is planning to spend all its budget on.

That means poorer people in flats will simply end up paying more for their charge-up than richer folk with a house and a drive. How is this going to encourage the switch to EVs? People will simply stick with petrol or diesel –the 2030 deadline for the end of ICE sales (2035 for PHEVs) means car buyers don’t have to go electric for a good 20 years if they don’t want to.

Again, we’d urge the government to make infrastructure a national policy, not a local government decision. It needs a full-on regulator to ensure that safe, inexpensive charging is available to urban dwellers regardless of where they live.

On-street and workplace charging should be the priority – the commercial networks such as Gridserve, Ionity and Instavolt, along with petrol companies such as BP and Shell, will make sure the trunk road and motorway infrastructure is in place – because there is good money to be made.

It cost us £50 to add 200 miles of range to a Mercedes-Benz EQS on test – that’s a lot more expensive than the equivalent range in petrol or diesel. And pumping a few gallons takes three minutes, not 30.

Regulation of the taxi and private hire sector and the EV infrastructure market are vitally important issues that require a professional, joined-up approach.

Neither should be left to the whims and fancies of local councillors. We need proper national standards and national policies.

And again – please complete the consultation!

Mark Bursa Editor markbursa@prodrivermags.com

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news

Uber Local Cab rollout gathers pace with West Midlands quartet signing up Mark Bursa Uber’s nationwide platform push continues, with the launch of its Local Cab service in Manchester and Birmingham – where the service will run in parallel with Uber’s own service.

The move toward Local Cab fuels rumours that Uber could eventually close its own regional operations and put all non-London work through private hire operators that use the Autocab iGo system.

Four major Manchester operators – Street Cars, Scott’s Cars, Lynx Taxis and Tameside Taxis – will all be able to access Uber jobs in the city following the launch of Uber’s Local Cab service in Manchester.

An additional six operators in the Greater Manchester area have also signed up, increasing coverage in the region. The six operators are Metro Cars in Bolton, Kingsway Cars in Burnage, Elton Farebay in Bury, Cresta Cars in Manchester, Z Cars in Oldham and Passenger Cars in Timperley.

Meanwhile, four West Midlands operators have signed up to Local Cab: Ace Cars of Birmingham, XL Cars of West Bromwich, ABC Cars of Wolverhampton and 47 Cars of Willenhall.

All these operators’ cars will be

available via the Uber app alongside Uber’s own Birmingham drivers. The same system is now also in place in Edinburgh and Peterborough.

Uber first launched in Manchester in 2014 and Birmingham in 2015.

The ride-hailing giant said it had launched Local Cab in the cities to meet the high level of demand.

Uber has also suffered badly in the ongoing driver shortage caused by a variety of factors, including the Covid pandemic and Brexit. Passengers can choose Local Cab cars or regular-Uber operated options, including UberX, Exec, Comfort and Lux. Naveed Arshad, director at Street Cars and Scott’s Cars, said: “We look forward to making Local Cab available to the people of Manchester.

Uber granted 30-month London private hire operator’s licence Mark Bursa Uber has been granted a two-and-a-half year private hire licence to operate in London.

The ride-hailing firm had been refused a licence by Transport for London in November 2019, citing safety breaches. But in September 2020, a judge upheld Uber’s appeal against the decision and granted it an 18-month licence.

Jamie Heywood (pictured), Uber’s regional general manager, northern Europe, said: “Delighted that TfL has awarded us a licence

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We feel that now, more than ever, a product like Local Cab is needed – with demand for taxis continuing to rise and passengers in need of more options.”

Greg Jonathan Caley, director at ABC Cars of Wolverhampton, said: “The partnership with Uber is also enabling us to provide further job opportunities to our drivers and we hope it will attract new recruits to join our fleet.”

Mohammed Zaheer, director of Birmingham-based Ace Cars, said: “We feel that now, more than ever, a product like Local Cab is needed – with demand for taxis continuing to rise and passengers in need of more options.”

Jamie Heywood, Uber’s regional

to continue operating in London for the first time since our launch ten years ago.”

While the license issued is not for a full five-year term, the decision highlights improvements in passenger safety and data protection since the 2019 refusal.

In a statement, Uber said: “We’re delighted to announce TfL has granted Uber a new 30- month licence in London.

TfL rightly holds our industry Jamie Heywood to the highest regulatory and safety standards and we are pleased to have met their high bar.”

general manager for Northern and Eastern Europe, said: “Manchester and Birmingham are among the first cities in England where riders can access both UberX and Local Cab in the same app. This will help maximise earnings opportunities for drivers while giving passengers in Manchester more choice, meaning that everyone will benefit. We’re looking forward to launching Local Cab in more UK towns and cities soon.”

Meanwhile Uber has announced more Lancashire operators are joining the Local Cab network, boosting coverage around Preston and Blackpool. Four fleets have signed up: Blacktax Radio Taxis in Blackpool, Ashton Allied Cabs in Preston, New City Taxis in Preston and Brownhill Corporate Hire.

And in Peterborough, another city in which Local Cab operates alongside Uber’s own services, an additional firm has signed up, with King Carz now taking Uber bookings. The company joins Goldstar Diamond Cars and A2B Euro Cars, which signed up for Local Cab in Peterborough last month.

Local Cab works by integrating with Autocab’s iGo network, which has the potential to connect passengers with 80,000 private hire and taxi drivers in the UK. Local Cab has now launched in 24 towns and cities across the UK since its pilot in May 2021.

“As we continue to serve London, we remain focused on raising industry standards in all areas.

These include offering drivers the benefits and protections they deserve, ensuring all Londoners can get around safely and becoming a fully electric platform by 2025.”

In February 2021, the Supreme Court ruled Uber drivers must be treated as workers rather than selfemployed. The decision meant drivers could be entitled to minimum wage and holiday pay.

APRIL 2022

news

Sheffield increases Clean Air Zone grants to encourage cleaner taxis and PHVs Mark Bursa Sheffield is boosting the size of grants available for drivers who need to replace older vehicles in order to avoid fines in the new Clean Air Zone.

For private hire vehicles, the grant to upgrade to a compliant Euro 4 petrol or Euro 6 diesel car has been doubled from £1,500 to £3,000. For those wanting to upgrade to an electric vehicle, the grant has been increased from £3,000 to £4,000.

Hackney Carriage taxis have also had their grant increased from £5,000 to £6,000 for compliant petrol or diesel, but there is no change to

the £10,000 grant announced in 2021 for an upgrade to an electric taxi.

The grants and loans are being given out by Sheffield City Council to help local businesses to retrofit and replace their vehicles. Details on how to apply for the grants are set to be released in late spring 2022 with drivers being given until 2023 to upgrade their vehicles after being given the funding.

Anyone who has upgraded a vehicle since October 26, 2021 will also be allowed to apply retrospectively for the funding. Cllr Terry Fox, executive member for climate change, environment and

Bid to scrap Bradford Clean Air Zone fails as Government orders scheme to go ahead A bid to have Bradford’s proposed Clean Air Zone scrapped has been blocked by the Government.

The CAZ was originally due to have been implemented in January, and it will now be implemented in the next few weeks, despite attempts by both Labour and Conservative councillors to have the scheme paused or scrapped.

It means drivers of older taxis and private hire vehicles will face a daily charge to drive in the city – at a time when they face huge rises in fuel costs.

transport, said two consultations revealed people wanted action on emissions.

He said: “Over the next year, drivers of the most polluting vehicles will be faced with a choice: use the support we are offering to upgrade to a cleaner vehicle; or pay to pollute.”

He added: “I’m pleased that the funding we’re requesting from Government will directly support our small businesses, and I hope that this improved offer makes upgrading easier and will give more people the confidence to do so.”

The increased grants will only come into force once the government

approves Sheffield’s plans.

Sheffield’s Clean Air Zone is planned to be introduced by the council in early 2023 with a charge of £10 per day for hackney carriages and private hire vehicles that do not meet either Euro 4 petrol or Euro 6 diesel standards. Light commercial vehicles, buses, coaches and HGVs are also subject to the CAZ, but private cars and motorbikes are exempt. All electric vehicles will be exempt.

The Sheffield CAZ will cover the inner ring road, all roads in the city centre including Park Square, and the A61/Parkway junction.

Conservative councillors in Bradford this week called for the scheme to be paused, warning it could lead to rising prices and even job losses.

They also said the lack of a definite start date for the CAZ was leaving businesses “confused and worried”.

And ruling Labour councillors said they had asked government ministers to ditch the charges altogether. But Labour Councillor Sarah Ferriby said Bradford had been ordered to introduce the CAZ by the Government.

Cllr Ferriby said: “We asked the Government if we could revert to a non-charging zone. We were told no, because there would be zero chance of reaching the air quality levels we need to with it.”

She said “deliberate misinformation” was being spread about the CAZ, and stressed that no private vehicles would be charged.

Glasgow private hire association calls for 12-month Low Emission Zone delay Glasgow Private Hire drivers have called on the city’s council to follow Manchester’s example and delay plans to bring in a Low Emission Zone, as it would result in an extra cost burden for many drivers.

The Scottish Private Hire Association has added its weight behind mounting pressure on Glasgow City Council to delay the implementation of phase two of the city’s LEZ until summer 2024.

Phase two of the LEZ is currently set to come into force in summer 2023, but the SPHA

APRIL 2022

said this would plunge drivers into further debt and force even more drivers out of the trade at a time when there is a major ongoing driver shortage.

In a letter to Glasgow councillors, the SPHA said delaying the LEZ start date would help drivers recover from the devastating financial effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

Eddie Grice, general secretary of the SPHA, said: “A great number of private hire drivers require a further extension to the LEZ implementation date

so that they can better afford the transition to LEZ-compliant vehicles or seek appropriate retrofit solutions.”

He continued: “By implementing phase two of the LEZ in 2023, these drivers will be forced to take on further debt to be able to purchase newer, compliant vehicles before they can afford to.

We fear this will lead to a further reduction in the number of private hire drivers as many more will be forced out of the trade in 2023.”

“We are urging the City Administration Committee at

Glasgow City Council to vote for a delay in the implementation of the enforcement of phase two of the LEZ until the summer of 2024.”

Under the proposed rules, only cars that meet Euro 4 (petrol) and Euro 6 (diesel) will avoid having to pay a charge to enter the LEZ. The Glasgow Cab Section of Unite the Union said around 1,000 of the 1,420 Glasgow-licensed black taxis would not comply with new rules. Unite is calling for black cabs to be exempt until 2027.

—Mark Bursa

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news

Take Me adds West Country operator A1 Ace Taxis to growing national portfolio Mark Bursa Ambitious private hire operator Take Me Group has made another takeover in the West Country. The deal, which brings 80-car fleet A1 Ace taxis of Bridgewater and Taunton into the group, is Take Me’s third of 2022.

The group has so far this year added two Yorkshire operators, Station Taxis of Malton and Star Cars of Catterick, to its portfolio, which also includes ADT Taxis, VGT Taxis, TC Cars, Steve’s Taxis, Tower Cabs, Taxifirst, Westside Taxis and Intercity Private Hire.

A1 Ace Taxis owner Mike Davis said he was delighted to be joining Take Me: “It has been a great experience meeting all the team from Take Me. I know that now being part of a national group but with a local focus will really help my drivers and offer our customers a better service.”

A1 Ace is the largest taxi firm between Bristol and Plymouth. The company also runs an MOT centre,

[from left] Mike Davis of A1 Ace Taxis, and Peter Bresland of Tower Cabs

as well as its own garage services. A1 Ace will work closely with Take Me’s existing Plymouth-based operations, Taxifirst and Tower Cabs, both of which were acquired in 2021.

Davis acquired A1 Taxis in May 2008, then added another local firm, Deane Taxis, in September 2008 The company then merged with Ace Taxis

in August 2009. The company runs on a Cordic despatch system and would be staying on that system “for the time being” according to Take Me Group CEO David Hunter.

He continued: “2022 is shaping up to be a great year. We have already added Station Taxis of Malton and Star Cars of Catterick, so to add

A1 Ace Taxis in the Taunton and Bridgewater areas helps us cement our expansion plans.”

He continued: “I know Mike will bring some new ideas which we can share around our other teams. The power of a network is the best way forward for our industry, and we are always open to new conversations with taxi owners who would like to find out more.”

“This is how as a group we get better with every new company that joins us. Each brings its own unique skills, and together we become stronger. Keep your eyes peeled for what may happen in April!”

Davis worked with Take Me director John Gardner to complete the deal. Davis added: “John and David both come from the taxi industry. They are all ‘taxi people’ and understood exactly what sort of problems and solutions we need.

It will be good for my business, my drivers, and staff to now be part of Take Me.”

Portsmouth private hire bus lane trial delayed until summer 2022 Mark Bursa A trial scheme to allow private hire vehicles to use bus lanes in Portsmouth has been delayed until the summer.

The three-month trial was originally scheduled for late March. But Portsmouth City Council has decided to reschedule it, citing a need to consider the safest approach following changes to the Highway Code.

During the trial, Portsmouth-licenced PHVs would be able to use selected bus lanes in the same way as emergency vehicles, taxis, bikes and rental e-scooters.

Cllr Lynne Stagg, cabinet member for traffic and transportation, said: “Since the trial was given the go ahead there have been changes to the Highway Code that need to be carefully considered. We are committed to making sure this trial is run as safely as possible, and with the most up to date research at our fingertips.

For that reason we are writing to other local authorities in the country so we are able to share our collective knowledge and learn from each other.”

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“We want to provide easier, greener travel options for everyone in the city, 24 hours a day, with safety at the top of the agenda. We are working closely with users of bus lanes in

the city to make sure they are informed and empowered to use the bus lanes in the correct manner. We will continue to meet with them regularly ahead of the new trial date.”

APRIL 2022

news

Street Cars moves south by taking official Stansted Airport contract Mark Bursa Street Cars has been appointed as the official private hire taxi partner of London Stansted Airport, marking the first move into the south of England for the Manchester-based company.

Street Cars managing director Aqeel Arshad (pictured) said operations at the airport will commence on April 1, replacing 24x7 Cars as the airport’s official provider of cab services.

“This may come as a shock to some people, but to anyone who has been paying attention, it’ll be obvious that this was the next stop for us,” Arshad said. “We have been the official private hire partner of Manchester Airport for the last four years and we have loved every minute of it.”

Stansted Airport, the third-busiest in the UK, is operated by Manchester Airport Group, and Street Cars has won the contract through

its links with the airport operator.

“Stansted will be complemented with our first-class service and innovative business ideas, and we are excited to deepen our collaboration with the Manchester Airport Group, who

Bedford Council will not increase licence fees in 2022 – but may impose larger rise in 2023

Lee Phanco, the council’s chief officer, assessment application and business support, said: “An inflation rate increase of 3.5% has been applied, or is proposed to be applied, to the fees.

“Some of the smaller fees are then Bedford Borough Council will not increase subject to a slight variation due to rounding, but in looking at the situation licensing fees for the town’s Covid-hit we did have particular regard to the taxi taxi and private hire trade this year – but and private hire trade which has been the council has warned that next year’s particularly badly affected by Covid.” increase might be higher than usual.

“Therefore, we are proposing that A report presented to the General the unavoidable fees linked to taxi and Licensing Committee said it was “not private hire trade shouldn’t be increased lawful to seek any more than to recover in the current financial year, but that the costs of administering the particular situation would then be reviewed next licensing function”, and that it was not allowed to use the fees and charges for the year where there may need to be a slightly higher increase to allow for purpose of income generation.

Euro 6 for new taxis and PHVs and mandatory CCTV as East Riding revamps the rules New emissions standards and CCTV rules are coming in to force in the next few months.

All new taxis and private hire vehicles in the East Riding of Yorkshire will have to meet Euro 6 emission standards from July 2022.

But the council has sensibly ruled that existing vehicles will be able to remain in service without penalty until they are due for replacement – at which point they will have to be replaced by a Euro 6 compliant vehicle.

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The Euro 6 standard was introduced in 2015.

Currently in the East Riding 125 of the 313 licensed vehicles are not Euro 6 compliant.

There are seven Euro 4 licensed vehicles and 118 that only meet Euro 5.

The council has also ruled that in-cab CCTV systems will have to be installed in all taxis and PHVs from September 2022 – and the council has agreed to foot the £160,000 bill.

East Riding health, safety and licencing manager Louise Wilson said the compulsory system would replace existing voluntary arrangements. The system would record both video and audio, and councillors believe the

operate Stansted Airport.” Arshad added.

The move is the latest shake-up in the UK’s airport cab services, with Leeds-based Arrow Cars exiting the market to concentrate on its fastgrowing food retail business, Batch’d.

DG Cars of Nottingham has taken over Arrow’s contracts at three UK airports: East Midlands, Leeds-Bradford and Bristol, while the former Arrow operations at Newcastle Airport have been sold to Dean Taxis of Newcastle.

Arshad added: “We are also focusing more than ever on our operations in Manchester and at Manchester Airport. We will never forget our grass roots in Manchester and will always represent the city that we have come from.”

“I’m personally very proud of our entire team and can honestly say that we are going to do our best to honour the reputation we have built so far, regardless of wherever we may be,” Arshad said.

the zero increase this year,” he said.

Cllr Sue Oliver said: “I think it’s really welcome that we are not making an increase in the private hire and hackney charges, because they have been hit hard. I think it’s a really good gesture on behalf of this council not to be putting that up.”

Cllr Louise Jackson added: “I wonder if I might ask that consideration is given next year to any increases that have to happen to whatever the situation is then.

It is welcome, obviously, that those fees and charges for private hire drivers have been suspended this year, but fuel prices are going up, we all know the cost of living is increasing, and it may well be an even more difficult situation next year.”

—Mark Bursa

systems would improve safety for drivers and passengers, help with criminal investigations and could save on insurance costs.

Council figures show CCTV footage from taxis has been used 53 times in investigations conducted by council officials and Humberside Police. This includes 18 uses of footage for vehicle accidents, 15 for allegations against drivers and six for assaults on drivers. Footage was used three times for incidents including soiling the inside of cars and 11 for incidents outside vehicles.

The new systems would allow both drivers and passengers to turn audio recording on, with a light to alert people they are being recorded.

APRIL 2022

news

Portsmouth installs 62 on-street EV chargers – and a rapid charger just for taxis and PHVs Mark Bursa Portsmouth is becoming one of the UK’s most EVfriendly cities following the installation of 62 more onstreet electric vehicle chargers.

The latest round of installations includes a rapid charger especially for taxis and private hire vehicles to use in Stubbington Avenue. This is part of an ongoing project to install nine rapid chargers in car parks across the city including the Park and Ride, D-Day museum in Southsea, Cosham and the city centre.

A total of 62 new on-street charge points have been installed as a result of more than £200,000 in funding received from the Office for Zero Emissions (OZEV). These have been installed by charge point infrastructure partner, JoJu Charging. They add to the network of 36 charge points already installed with Ubitricity.

Cllr Lynne Stagg, Portsmouth Council cabinet member for traffic & transportation, said: “We’ve seen plenty of interest in electric vehicles locally, from both

[from left] Portsmouth EV user Martin Hoy charges up on one of the JoJu chargers, watched by Cllr Lynne Stagg and JoJu’s Chas Warlow

residents and the taxi and private hire trade. We hope that the ability to charge outside your own home as a domestic user, or rapidly as part of your day as a trade user, will be a great incentive to join the revolution and reduce emissions further.”

“We are making it easier for you to consider an electric vehicle, even if you don’t have a driveway.

While we understand they are not the complete solution for removing harmful emissions, they do produce much lower levels of pollution and have a place in making our air cleaner.”

Chas Warlow from Joju Charging said: “It’s great to be working with Portsmouth City Council to help residents and local taxi drivers charge their electric vehicles, with this leading ‘pay-as you-go’ solution across the city.”

Many houses in Portsmouth do not have access to a driveway or garage to charge off street. The city is the first to install charge points on-street, using payas-you-go lamp column supplied charging, which is accessed via designated parking bays.

The new charging points can be found in a range of locations across the city and have been installed based on resident requests. Residents can contact the council and request a charge point in their street. Full details of where they are located is on the website: https://www.portsmouth.gov.uk/services/parkingroads-and-travel/travel/electric-charge-points/

Sutton adds more than 100 EV points to bolster charging Mark Bursa

Another London borough has announced a major investment in on-street electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

The borough of Sutton has introduced 113 new EV charging points across the town and its surrounding areas. Sutton Council has teamed up with Siemens and its partner, Shell-owned infrastructure supplier Ubitricity, to provide new charging points which use electricity from existing lamp posts.

They allow residents who do not have off-street parking or are unable to install their own home charging point to charge hybrid and electric vehicles on the street where they live.

The new charging points are ideal for residential overnight charging and complement Sutton’s existing network of fast and rapid chargers.

Cllr Ben Andrew, chair of the environment &

Suffolk drivers fear for their future as councils tighten rules on cars and training New taxi regulations in parts of Suffolk are leaving some drivers fearing they could be driven out of business. Changes to regulations in Babergh and Mid-Suffolk from the start of March include the introduction of a two-day college course and restrictions on the age of vehicles for

APRIL 2022

sustainable transport committee, said: “These new charging points offer Sutton’s residents a much greater choice and make electric vehicles accessible for residents for whom there might not otherwise be an option.”

He added: “The charge points are part of our commitment to provide sustainable transport options for current and future residents and visitors, and new licence holders. Any newly licensed driver must have a car less than eight years old, while existing drivers will have to have older vehicles checked more regularly.

The college course comes at a cost of £150, which adds to the current costs of knowledge tests, DBS and medical checks.

Stowmarket Cars director Julie Row said the new regulations would severely impact the business, and would make driver recruitment more difficult.

form just one part of our extensive sustainable transport strategy.”

Installation of the new points began in late 2021 and will be complete by the end of March 2022.

Locations were chosen following consultations which asked residents where they would like to see new charging points. Exact positions of these and all charging points within the borough can be found on the Zap-Map website.

The charge points are being installed with financial assistance from London’s Go Ultra Low Cities scheme, which is managed by London councils, Transport for London and the Greater London Authority on behalf of the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles.

The move follows the installation of more than 700 electric vehicle charge points in three other London boroughs, Newham, Brent and Redbridge, which have been funded by Uber.

She said: “It’s going to close down my business. I was working during the first wave of Covid, and I was lucky if I was taking £100 over seven days. This isn’t the right time to be hitting us with regulations that we can’t afford or sustain.

“Why would anyone want to set themselves up as a taxi driver? I’ve done my job for over 30 years and I’ve got to go to college and do a course which is £150 over two days.

—Mark Bursa

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news

Uber’s shift toward a mobility platform continues by adding NYC cabs to app Mark Bursa Uber is continuing its move toward becoming a platform rather than an operator by adding New York’s famous yellow taxi fleet to its app.

The taxis were traditionally viewed as Uber’s key rival in New York, but the ride-hailing giant now sees them as a growth opportunity, in a move that mirrors Uber’s Local Cab service in the UK, which offers Uber jobs to private hire operators that use Autocab’s iGo platform.

Adding the NYC yellow cabs to its app could also help Uber overcome driver shortages in its biggest US market. The deal could add 13,600 cabs to Uber’s app if all of the city’s registered drivers sign up.

During a recent investor day in February, Uber outlined the US taxi sector as a major growth opportunity, calling it a highly fragmented $120 billion industry with 20 million active vehicles - more than five times larger than Uber’s own pre-pandemic fleet.

Uber said it planned to include every taxi on its Uber app by 2025 and last year added 122,000 new taxis to its platform. That represented 3% of its total driver base at a time when it was struggling to retain its usual gig worker drivers amid the pandemic.

“When we look at the next five years, we just don’t see a world in which taxis and Uber exist separately.

There’s too much to gain for both sides,” said Andrew Macdonald, Uber’s senior vice president of mobility.

Uber also said 35% of users who use Uber for a taxi booking go on to use its other mobility products.

The deal will see Uber work with taxi software companies Creative Mobile Technologies and Curb, which said its goal was to expand

the collaboration across the whole of the US. Passengers will pay approximately the same fare for taxi journeys as they do for Uber X rides, but taxi drivers will be paid according to New York’s ride-hail wage standards, which on average are higher than the metered rates, Curb said.

New York has for years been a battleground between Uber and yellow cab drivers. They blame Uber for undercutting them and reducing standards, in a similar way that the London black cab trade has objected to Uber.

But with Uber increasing its presence in the taxi sector around the world – it integrates taxis to its app in cities in Spain, Germany, Austria, Turkey, South Korea, Hong Kong and Colombia –it could attempt to set up a similar arrangement with London cabbies. This could see London Uber users being offered a choice of Uber car or black cab on the Uber app.

Europe said he wanted Uber Green to be the “default option” for London: “Since we launched Uber Green last year, thousands of drivers have switched to an EV, benefiting from lower running costs and higher earnings.”

Transport Minister Trudy Harrison said: “This step comes just a few days after we published our landmark EV Infrastructure Strategy, which showcases what

can be achieved when the public and private sector work together on the nationwide switch to EVs.” Professional ride-hailing drivers are the early mass adopters of EVs with more than 90% of new vehicles joining the Uber app being fully electric, compared to 12% of new vehicles in the overall new car market in 2021.

Through Uber’s Clean Air Plan, drivers in London have raised more than £145 million which they can put towards the cost of switching to an EV. Using these funds drivers can purchase EVs at discounted rates through partnerships with Nissan, Hyundai and Kia. Last month, Uber announced a £5 million investment in EV charging points across London.

More than 700 on-street electric vehicle chargers are to be installed across Brent, Newham, and Redbridge – boosting London’s stock of EV chargers by over 7%.

Uber extends electric option across Greater London as EV fleet passes 5,000 cars Mark Bursa Uber’s London customers can now request an electric vehicle anywhere in Greater London, as the Uber Green EV service has been expanded from Zone 1 to the whole of the capital.

Uber Green allows passengers to request an EV for the same price as a regular UberX car, but drivers receive 15% more per trip. The expansion of the service is part of Uber’s plan to be completely zeroemissions in London by 2025.

Uber Green was launched 12 months ago, and since then Uber has more than tripled the number of EVs on the app. The company now claims that more than 5,000

10

EVs are now available via the Uber app in London, driving over 1 million miles per week.

Uber said it would have more than 10,000 EVs in London by the end of the year. London is the global leader for Uber’s electrification efforts with more EVs on Uber in London than any other city on the app.

Jamie Heywood, Uber general manager for Northern and Eastern

APRIL 2022

Insurance that makes sense

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*UK only. Must enable Sense app & achieve Driver Score by closing date of 31/05/2022. T&Cs apply.

news

London Mayor’s fund provides 100 Tesla Model 3s for private hire use Mark Bursa London private hire and ridehailing drivers will be able to rent one of 100 ULEZ- and C-Charge exempt Teslas that have been funded by the Mayor of London’s Energy Efficiency Fund.

MEEF is a £500 million investment fund designed to finance low-carbon, sustainable projects and infrastructure in London. It is providing capital to vehicle provider Breathe, which plans to deploy 100 Tesla Model 3 EVs to the private hire trade, including Uber, in London.

The scheme uses a pay-per-mile platform called Zero, developed by finance technology firm Zeti.

A similar scheme has previously been used to finance black taxis in London using MEEF funds.

Breathe works like a subscription service, including insurance, maintenance and replacement tyres. Drivers can choose between an ‘Everything Included Ownership’ model giving them the option to own the vehicle after four years, or an ‘Everything Included Rental’ model in which the driver subscribes for use on a weekly basis.

Through the Zeti Zero platform, MEEF will be able to monitor realtime data on vehicle telematics, allowing it to measure the overall carbon savings of the fleet based on the total mileage.

Jeff Davis, director of Breathe, said: “Our mission is to provide large scale electric-vehiclesas-a-service offerings and we are excited to be starting with

sustainable, flexible and affordable vehicle subscription options for London’s private hire market. We are seeing huge demand for electric private hire vehicles and MEEF’s funding allows us to expand our operations and help more drivers step into their first EV.” MEEF, launched in July 2018, is supported by sustainable bank Triodos, which has committed a

Plug-in Van Grant scheme extended for further two years – but no news on car grant Mark Bursa The government is extending the Plug-in Van and Truck Grants for a further two years, meaning fleets looking to buy courier or delivery vans can obtain electric vehicles at discounted prices until at least 2024-25.

But there is no news about extending the grant for cars, leading to speculation that the success of EV sales means the government might drop the scheme.

Announcing the move, the DfT said: “This aims to

12

give certainty to fleets and vanmakers, supporting the still early market for zero emission vans and trucks. Plug-in van grant orders in 2021 were over 250% higher than in 2020, and the extension of the grant will support the continuation of this increased uptake.”

The move follows last year’s cut to plug-in grants on both electric cars and vans, which saw funding for small vans fall further to a maximum of £2,500, from the £3,000 level implemented in the spring

significant part of MEEF’s capital for the project.

This is MEEF’s fourth investment in the low carbon mobility sector. Eligible projects for MEEF include e-mobility, EV charging, alternative fuel stations and hydrogen fuel cells. Since it started, MEEF has brought about energy savings of more than 39m GWh.

2021. For large vans it fell to £5,000 from £8,000.

The DfT also said it was changing the eligibility criteria for the Plug in Vehicle Grant from April 1, 2022. Larger vans between 3.5 and 4.25 tonnes would be recategorized as large vans (qualifying for a £5,000 grant) rather than small trucks (up to £16,000 grant, 250 limit per year).

The government will continue to allow drivers with standard car driving licences to drive electric goods vans at a higher weight limit, up to 4.25 tonnes, compared to a 3.5-tonne limit for diesel vans. The change allows for the extra weight of the battery pack.

The DfT said: “Today’s announcement is to reassure fleets that we have no plans to end this flexibility when it comes up for a five-year review next year. Rather, we are considering how to optimise the rules to support the emerging zero emissions van market. This will support our plans for all new vans to be fully zero emission by 2035.”

APRIL 2022

news

Sadiq Khan faces political backlash against ULEZ expansion plan, MPs warn Mark Bursa Sadiq Khan’s plans to extend the ULEZ zone across Greater London is facing a backlash from local MPs, who have branded the idea a moneymaking scheme.

Gareth Bacon (left), Conservative MP for Orpington described the proposal as “madness” and warned it would be fiercely opposed by MPs of all parties representing outer London constituencies, as these did not have the same pollution or congestion as inner London.

Bacon accused Khan of simply trying to generate funds for TfL, which lost millions in fares income through the Covid-19 pandemic.

This has been compounded by

APRIL 2022

the news that the expanded ULEZ netted less income for TfL in its first month than expected. In a report, TfL said income was “lower

than we had anticipated due to higher compliance”.

Around 92% of vehicles were compliant with the scheme in its

first month. Nevertheless, every day an average of 45,800 noncompliant vehicles paid the charge in the first four weeks after the zone expanded to the North and South Circular roads on October 25, according to City Hall. This netted around £16 million in revenue over the period.

Mayor Khan (right) last month outlined plans to extend the £12.50-a-day ULEZ zone to the Greater London boundary, including all 33 London boroughs, by the end of next year.

Gareth Bacon MP has launched a petition opposing the expansion, available here: https:// www.garethbacon.com/stop-ulezexpansion

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news

Ride-hailing EV supplier WeFlex looks for new £60m funding to take fleet to 10,000 Mark Bursa WeFlex, which supplies and finances electric vehicles for ride-hailing drivers, is looking to raise £60 million to support its goal of getting drivers to switch to EVs. WeFlex, founded by former Climatecars boss Nicko Williamson (pictured), is an approved Uber Clean Air Plan partner, providing EVs to private hire drivers through a flexible vehicle financing product, where the customer owns the vehicle at the end of the agreement. The Clean Air Fund is currently sitting at £145m.

As well as vehicle finance, WeFlex provides the option of short-term vehicle rental to allow ride hailing drivers to get to grips with switching to an EV, as well as insurance, vehicle servicing, PCO licensing and more.

The new round of fund-raising will support a strategic goal of reaching a 10,000-strong EV fleet by 2025.

WeFlex CEO Nicko Williamson said: “There is a huge and pressing opportunity for WeFlex to play a major part in helping the ride hailing market switch to EVs, helped by Uber’s commitment to be a 100% EV platform in London by 2025 plus clean air zones coming in across major UK cities. We are raising further funding to capitalise on this opportunity, giving WeFlex the ability to scale faster as more ride hailing drivers look to make the switch to EVs.” Currently 70% of WeFlex’s 1,000-strong fleet is battery-electric, Williamson said, with MG

proving to be one of the most popular brands.

“We’re big fans of MG, and drivers are finding the cars very reliable in service.” WeFlex has supplied both MG5 and ZS models, and with a range of 250-270 miles, they’re very capable PHVs. As well as MG, Tesla and Korean brands Hyundai and Kia are also proving popular, Williamson said.

In particular, the Kia e-Niro is the car that is becoming the ‘electric Prius’ for the private hire market. “The e-Niro is that car at the

moment. It’s at the right price - £30,000, and the specification of the 3 trim level is just right.”

Kia EV6 and Hyundai Ioniq5 are making less headway due to their higher price. “They’re not seen as premium brands, whereas Tesla is, so the Tesla 3 is our main premium offering,” Williamson said.

Volkswagen ID models, on the other hand, are very difficult to find. “You can’t get the cars, and the lead times are long, so they’re not on our list at the moment.”

motorway high power charging experience to the next level. The company has already installed three High Power Electric Hubs at Swansea, Exeter and Burton-in-Kendal, which consist of six or more high power chargers. A further nine of these are currently under construction.

The Electric Hubs have chargers capable of speeds up to 350kW. The sites are on major arterial routes in south Wales, south-west and north-west England. The 350kW chargers can deliver up to 100

miles of range in less than 10 minutes.

This month also sees the start of the roll out of the dual charging feature on the medium power chargers on the GRIDSERVE Electric Highway.

This improvement enables multiple connectors to be used at the same time, on a single charger, doubling the number of cars that can charge at once at those locations.

Gridserve CEO Toddington Harper said: “As an early adopter of electric vehicles myself, the Electric Highway network played an essential role in enabling me to make the switch. However those days are long gone and Gridserve’s focus is delivering an EV charging network fit for purpose to support the mass-market transition to electric vehicles.”

Harper said Gridserve Electric Highway had achieved the highest customer satisfaction rating in the network’s 10-year history in Zap-Map’s consumer survey.

—Mark Bursa

Gridserve upgrades all of its motorway charging network in just 10 months Gridserve has completed upgrading the old Ecotricity Electric Highway motorway charging network, just 10 months after buying the business.

Since June 2021, Gridserve has replaced more than 300 medium-power Electric Highway chargers, some dating back to 2007, at more than 130 motorway service areas run by Extra, Moto, Roadchef, Welcome Break and Westmorland. New rapid chargers – including some 350kW machines – now provide contactless card payment, 24-hour support, and real-time status updates.

Gridserve says work continues to drive the

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MARCH 2022

news

Addison Lee opens new Fleet Hub near Heathrow for servicing and training Mark Bursa Addison Lee has opened a new Fleet Hub at West Drayton, near Heathrow airport.

The purpose-built facility, which replaces a former Addison Lee centre in Hayes, will serve as Addison Lee’s main service centre for its growing fleet of electric vehicles, as well as being the venue for driver training and support.

Tony Smith, Addison Lee’s head of driver experience, said: “The new Fleet Hub is head and shoulders above anything we’ve had in place before. The space we have for driver training is second to none, and it’s great to have it in the same place where vehicle maintenance goes on.”

He added: “Our new Fleet Hub demonstrates our ongoing commitment to having the best

drivers in London. Everyone that drives with Addison Lee is interviewed in person and undergoes a full PCO check. We are also investing more time and effort into additional training including a programme developed in tandem with the UN Women UK Safe Spaces programme.” Find out more about this programme here: https://lnkd.in/dR_EaqN3 The Fleet Hub is located just a few miles from Heathrow, and will help provide a space where drivers can rest and recharge between drop-offs and pick-ups, in order to help ensure customers receive the best possible service.

Addison Lee has pledged to switch its entire fleet to electric vehicles by the end of 2023, and will have 450 Volkswagen ID.4 electric cars on its private hire fleet by the end of March 2022.

vision camera for passengers, real wood veneer door cappings, built-in umbrellas, mobile WiFi router, high quality audio system, rear seat heating and more. Between the rear passengers there is a new luxury armrest complete with cupholders, and the VIP taxi also features a drinks cooler.

The Sutton TX can be specified with distinctive two-tone exterior paint – typically, black for the lower portion, with metallic grey for the upper

section. Customers can also select from a wide range of colours and finishes.

LEVC CEO Joerg Hofmann said: “With proven experience in converting LEVC vehicles, we welcome Clive Sutton’s expert team to our Authorised Converter programme.”

Clive Sutton, founder and CEO of the St John’s Wood-based business, said: “The VIP Class taxi we have created elevates the iconic London taxi to a new level, bringing private-jet luxury to the TX. For more than 30 years we have focused on providing our customers with unique, high-quality, bespoke vehicles and our new partnership with LEVC allows this specialism to grow in a new, exciting direction.”

The TX Taxi, introduced in 2018, is a rangeextender hybrid, with a pure EV range of more than 64 miles, plus a total range-extended capacity of 318 miles when the petrol generator is used. The TX’s battery pack can be recharged via a 50kW charger to 80% capacity in approximately 30 minutes.

Addison Lee CEO Liam Griffin (left) welcomes driver Amdetsion, who has recently made the switch to an electric vehicle, to the new fleet hub

Luxury car specialist Clive Sutton to bring ‘private jet quality’ to LEVC TX taxi Black cab maker London Electric Vehicle Company has appointed London prestige car specialist Clive Sutton as an authorised converter for luxury versions of the TX taxi.

Clive Sutton will now offer the TX Sutton VIP Class Taxi, an up-market conversion of the iconic cab, which will include a range of high-specification seating configurations and luxury features.

The TX Sutton VIP Class comes in a range of configurations with between two and six rear passenger seats, offering extreme levels of customisation to meet any customer requirement.

Modifications include a 20in media screen, front

Hereford taxi drivers protest against tighter proposed licensing rules Taxi drivers in Hereford have staged a protest at council offices to raise concerns about proposed new, tighter licensing rules.

More than 50 Hereford taxi drivers attended a rally at a council meeting in late March to show their anger at the plans, which include a knowledge-style test of the county’s routes, to tight age limits on vehicles.

Drivers claim the plans will drive

APRIL 2022

up to 80% of them out of the trade, drastically limiting the availability cabs at a time when there are already national shortages.

The drivers claim Hereford Council’s consultation process did not take on board their concerns, and they are now demanding a new consultation on their terms.

Hereford Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Association chairman John Jones said: “We want a

meeting between the association and licensing officers, but we need councillors to sit in so they can hear the sense that’s being talked.”

The drivers also handed in a petition to Cllr Ange Tyler, cabinet member for regulatory services, before 50 taxi drivers sat in on the start of the council meeting.

Cllr Tyler told the meeting: “We are going through the results of the consultation, and I am listening to

all the concerns being made by the taxi trade. This is a serious matter – we already have less taxi drivers due to Covid.”

A final policy recommendation on the changes will be put to full council in May, she said. “I will do my utmost to ensure this policy is fit for purpose. The ultimate aim of this is to keep everyone safe when going from A to B.” —Mark Bursa

15

news

Fuel duty cut welcomed, but industry fears benefit will be lost amid spiralling fuel costs Mark Bursa The automotive industry has welcomed Rishi Sunak’s decision to cut fuel duty by 5p, but the Chancellor’s Spring Statement has received a lukewarm response, with any savings on offer greatly outweighed by spiralling fuel and energy costs.

A cut of 5p per litre in fuel duty means it is around £3.30 cheaper to fill up a typical petrol or diesel vehicle with a 55-litre tank. But with fuel costing around 40% more than it did last year, the saving does not outweigh the rise in costs.

The AA called on the fuel retailers to do more.

Welcoming the cut in duty, AA president Edmund King said: “We are concerned that the benefit will be lost unless retailers pass it on and reflect a fair price at the pumps. Average pump prices yesterday hit new records – despite the fall in wholesale costs.

“The Chancellor has ridden to the rescue of UK families and businesses who use their vehicles, not for pleasure, but to function in their daily lives.”

King said fuel prices had surged by more than 20p a litre this year from an average of 148p a litre last November to 167p now. “AA research showed

that even in November, 43% of drivers were cutting back on car use, other spending to compensate or both.”

He continued: “On top of the duty cut, there has been a substantial reduction in wholesale road fuel costs feeding through to the forecourts since March 9. That needs to drive lower pump prices also. The road fuel trade shouldn’t leave the Treasury to do the heavy lifting when cutting motoring costs.”

Howard Cox, founder of the FairFuelUK campaign, said the fuel duty cut was “way overdue”.

He added: “It will only benefit drivers and the economy if the new fuel taxation level becomes permanent and is accompanied by the introduction of an independent pump pricing watchdog.”

Other aspects of Sunak’s ‘mini-budget’ have been given a less generous welcome. Home delivery expert ParcelHero said many measures within the Spring Statement could be too little, too late.

Head of consumer research David Jinks said: “Cutting the basic rate of income tax from 20p to 19p in the pound at some point before the end of this parliament in 2024, seems a long way off right now.”

This would be cancelled out by rises in National Insurance Contributions, Jinks added. “Most employers and employees will still each have to pay an extra 1.25% in tax. Businesses fear the increased National Insurance Contribution could stifle future job opportunities and create more unemployment.”

A rise in National Insurance starting thresholds to £12,570 from July will benefit lower earners, “but will do little to help the overall situation”, Jinks added.

FairFuelUK calls for independent watchdog to ensure fuel duty savings are passed on Fuel price campaign group FairFuelUK is calling on the government to force petrol retailers to pass on the 5p per litre fuel duty cut announced in last month’s Spring Statement.

Howard Cox, founder of the FairFuelUK Campaign said: “The perennial pump pricing rip-off scandal that FairFuelUK has been campaigning against for the past decade, rears its ugly, greedy face yet again.”

“Nine days after the Spring Statement, the historic 5p (6p with VAT) cut in Fuel Duty had still to manifest in full at all garage forecourts

16

across the UK,” Cox added.

In March, FairFuelUK said the wholesale price of petrol increased by 4%, yet pump prices at March 30 rose a staggering 9%. Wholesale profit in pence per litre climbed 69%. Diesel fared worse though, with the gap against petrol in some places reaching 25p.

Even on the day of Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s “mini budget”, wholesale prices fell by around 4p per litre, but pump prices

increased by 3p on average.

Despite an unwelcome 8% rise in wholesale price due to the market scare that Russia supplies 20% of UK’s diesel, pump prices for diesel rose 16% and profitability doubled – with the extra profits going to fuel wholesalers and oil companies, not small independent garage owners.

FairFuelUK said it had received reports from 300 drivers that pump prices had been

hiked in the 48 hours leading up to the Spring Statement.

“The Fuel supply chain was given more than a week’s notice that the Chancellor was to cut Fuel Duty by 5p on Wednesday, March 23, so they had ample time to manipulate prices in their favour to absorb the significant Fuel Duty cut,” the campaign group said.

There is parliamentary support for a price watchdog for fuel. Craig Mackinlay MP, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for fair fuel for motorists and hauliers, has called for an independent pump pricing watchdog, and Robert Halfon MP proposed an Early Day Motion, which called on the Government to form a ‘PumpWatch’ body to ensure fair prices at the pumps.

Fairfuel UK’s Howard Cox said: “PumpWatch is now even more crucial to the Nation’s positive economic growth, jobs, business investment, logistics, consumer spending and social mobility.”

APRIL 2022

Enter now for 2022’s

!

S D R A W A I S Q

The 2022 Professional Driver QSi Awards are now open for entries from all operators and drivers in the industry.

Company in the UK. We invite them to submit entries – or nominate other companies.

And we’ll reveal the winners at our We’ve got 10 categories: there’s something famous Professional Driver QSi Awards night on Tuesday, November 29, 2022, at the for everyone – from thousand-car fleets to Celtic Manor Resort in South Wales. It’s the owner-drivers, including special awards for best party in the industry and a great way to environmental achievements, marketing celebrate your achievements. excellence, community service and business diversification.

ENTER THE 2022 QSI AWARDS AT: The Professional Driver QSi Awards are open to every private hire, chauffeur and taxi

https://www.prodrivermags.com/ qsi-awards-home/

news analysis

Mark Bursa

Government launches new consultation on best practice for taxi and private hire sector

T

HE GOVERNMENT HAS LAUNCHED A 12-WEEK CONSULTATION ON THE taxi and private hire sector, with a view to providing updated guidance to local authorities that takes into account advances in technology. The move promises the first in-depth look at taxi and private hire standards in more than a decade.

The consultation runs for 12 weeks from March 28, 2022 until 23.45hrs on June 20, 2022. It promises to be a far-reaching consultation, taking in issues including driver training, vehicle age limits for both EVs and ICE cars, vehicle signage and even detailed issues such as tinted windows and incab CCTV. Announcing the consultation, transport minister Baroness Vere of Norbiton (pictured, opposite, inset) said: “The adoption of new technology by the sector and, most significantly, by the public has resulted in a much-changed sector since the DfT last refreshed its taxi and private hire vehicle licensing best practice in 2010.”

“The biggest change is the ease with which passengers are able to engage services. Using an app on a mobile phone, for example, was something unimaginable in 2010.”

The way the industry works has “fundamentally changed”, the DfT argues, with an expansion of services, a growth in driver numbers and an increasing transition to zero emission vehicles.

“Licensing authority policies should reflect the lead and assistance that government is providing in these areas. It is important they provide the certainty the sector needs so that it is able to plan ahead and invest,” said Baroness Vere. In particular, she said she wanted to see “consistency in standards across licensing authorities”.

A key message is that the government needs to take a position on the important issues in the guidance. “The government’s commitment to introduce legislation, when parliamentary time allows, to enable the setting of national minimum licensing standards remains,” Baroness Vere added.

“The measures in the final version of the best practice guidance, and the statutory taxi and private hire vehicle standards

18

issued in 2020, are likely to be the starting point when setting any such future legislation.”

The DfT is seeking the views of all interested parties, including the public, licencing authorities, operators, drivers and representative bodies such as the Disabled Persons’ Transport Advisory Committee.

“This is a public consultation and we are keen to hear from any other groups or individuals with an interest. This is your opportunity to help shape the final text on the important issues for the sector,” said Baroness Vere. “ “This is a crucial consultation on a range of significant issues and I urge you to share

How to respond It’s important that the industry makes is case for better policies. You can take part in the consultation in a number of ways. The easiest way is to complete the online survey: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/3ABP5T/ Alternatively, you can download the response form and email it once completed to taxis@dft. gov.uk – the form can be downloaded here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/ government/uploads/system/uploads/ consultation_response_form_data/file/952/ taxi-and-private-hire-vehicle-best-practiceguidance.odt Alternatively, you can email your comments directly to taxis@dft.gov.uk or mail them to: Department for Transport, Local Passenger Transport Division, Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Best Practice Guidance Consultation 2022 Great Minster House, 33 Horseferry Road, London SW1P 4DR

your views to help shape the final version of the best practice guidance, we are keen to hear what you have to say.”

The Government says the consultation document has been drafted to set out DfT’s proposed position. For the most contentious issues, the paper also sets out the rationale for the proposed position.

This is designed to help the ongoing debates and enable respondents to provide alternatives if they do not support the rationale for the proposed approach. A number of contentious issues under scrutiny are worthy of discussion.

DRIVER LICENSING AND PROFICIENCY The consultation notes that unlike bus and coach drivers, where an additional assessment is required to drive a public service vehicle, vehicles used for taxi and PHV services are covered by standard driving licence categories. It questions whether this is sufficient, noting that in the DfT’s best practice guidance, it is proposed that the granting of a taxi or PHV driver licence should be subject to a higher standard, for example, in the medical and vision assessment.

It notes that the majority of licensing authorities require additional driver assessment. As of March 31, 2021, 155 of 281 licensing authorities required taxi drivers to complete advanced driver training and 154 for PHV drivers.

The document asks whether a PHV driver should be required to pass some form of topographical knowledge test, and if so, “should this be the same test as a taxi driver? Or, should it evaluate the candidate’s ability to plan a route or safely use a navigation system?”

TINTED WINDOWS One of the most contentious issues of licensing is highlighted. We have reported countless instances of council jobsworths refusing to licence a car because the factory-fitted tints were “too dark” for them to peer into the back, or other spurious reasons.

APRIL 2022

news analysis

The report notes that 87 of 281 licensing authorities had a minimum light transmission policy for rear windows (aft of the B pillar) in taxis and 86 for private hire vehicles, citing two reasons for such demands: “Passengers should be able to see the vehicle is unoccupied before entering and enforcement officers can see that vehicles are not carrying more passengers than for which the vehicle is licensed.”

However, it acknowledges that both these issues can be easily resolved simply by asking the driver to open the windows. The document notes that the replacement of rear windows can cost many hundreds if not thousands of pounds, and adds: “Given that all PHV drivers are vetted to the same level, regardless of the nature of their work, there seems no rationale for one vehicle being permitted to have tinted windows and another not.”

This would indicate that the DfT is opposed to random tint rules, and we have a good chance to get these knocked out of regulations, for factory-fit tints at least.

The quid pro quo could be CCTV, however. The document states: “If licensing authorities are concerned about the safety of passengers, a better option could be for them to consider, after taking into account potential privacy issues, whether the installation of CCTV in vehicles would have either a positive or an adverse net effect on the safety of taxi and PHV users as recommended in the statutory taxi and private hire vehicle standards.”

IDENTIFICATION AND SIGNAGE This is a contentious issue, and often results in local authorities forcing unwelcome strictures on operators (such as insisting on vehicles being painted a specific colour). The government’s view is that safety should be the prime consideration regarding signage and identification, and the recommendations

APRIL 2022

in the best practice guidance reflect this.

The consultation document states: “The intention is to try and make taxis the most noticeable and distinctive vehicle to members of the public who want to engage a taxi or PHV and to make it clear that only taxis can be hired without being prebooked.”

“Increasing the differentiation between taxis and PHVs, so that taxis are easy to identify and PHVs are less visible would simplify safety messaging to the public that they should only get into a vehicle that looks like a taxi unless prebooked.”

The report seems to favour an approach of “signs for hackneys, no signs for PHVs”. The document states: “An approach that says PHVs should not display signage other than the licence plate or disc and a prebooked only door sign means it’s easier for drivers to work with more than one operator.”

It is disparaging about magnetic door signs. “A requirement to display operator details means, at best, that drivers would need to carry multiple sets of magnetic signs and, at worst, replace adhesive stickers multiple times per shift.”

It also highlights the risk that magnetic signs could be stolen, thus increasing the risk of passengers unknowingly using unlicensed drivers and vehicles. It also notes that there may be instances where driver and operator agree that they want to display the operator details.

The guidance appears to be confused and overlooks the simplest way to distinguish a Hackney from a PHV – the traditional illuminated roof-mounted ‘taxi’ light. Making these mandatory for hailable vehicles but illegal for pre-booked-only PHVs would appear to be the simplest solution.

The document acknowledges the specific needs of executive hire services, which are licensed as PHVs. “Licensing authorities should assure themselves that, given the signage on private hire vehicles may

be negligible, there is sufficient justification to exempt these vehicles from a requirement to display a small plate or disc in the absence of an effective means to prevent the vehicle from being used for normal private hire work.”

So there is a good chance that the new rules could be drafted in such a way as to prevent licensing authorities from forcing chauffeurs to affix unsightly plates to their vehicles.

VEHICLE AGE LIMITS The document acknowledges that many councils’ policies on vehicle age are outmoded. “Most licencing authorities have a policy that is focused on the age of a vehicle rather than the outcomes that the policy is intended to deliver, such as clean air.”

The document notes, succinctly: “A requirement for a vehicle to be 3 years old or less at first licensing, say, would mean a 5-year-old used electric vehicle could not be licenced.”

A better approach could be the introduction of an emissions policy, giving the trade a timeline for moving to zero emission, for example.

Age limits are less important than vehicle maintenance and inspection, to ensure safety. “The best practice guidance recommends annual vehicle test for all taxis and PHVs and proposes that a daily vehicle inspection is conducted by all drivers and that records are kept of vehicle inspection failures,” the document notes.

The documentation is extensive and poses questions about a number of other issues. We recommend that you read it thoroughly - full information about the consultation is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/ taxi-and-private-hire-vehicle-best-practice-guidance/taxi-and-private-hire-vehicle-best-practiceguidance-to-assist-local-authorities

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analysis: ev infrastructure

The flaws at the heart of the Government’s £1.6bn EV Infrastructure Strategy Mark Bursa

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N MARCH 25, THE DEPARTMENT FOR TRANSPORT unveiled the Government’s £1.6 billion Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy (EVIS).

It looks good at first sight – the objective is to provide funds for 300,000 EV charge points across the UK. Crucially, this is intended to be a mix of ultra-rapid DC chargers on motorways and trunk roads, workplace chargers and AC on-street chargers in residential areas.

Of that total, £950 million is already committed to the Rapid Chargepoint Investment Scheme (RCIS), which is supporting the roll-out of 6,000 ultra-

rapid charge points across UK motorways.

These are being installed and operated by large chains such as Gridserve, Ionity and Instavolt.

The additional element is the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) fund, which it is pivotal to the overall strategy. LEVI funds are designed to provide residential on-street charging and urban rapid charging hubs.

The plan has been welcomed by London

[FROM LEFT] BP Pulse’s Richard Bartlett and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps MP

BP Pulse to invest £1 billion in UK EV charging infrastructure BP has announced new plans to invest £1 billion in its BP Pulse electric vehicle charging arm in the UK over the next 10 years.

The investment will allow BP Pulse to deliver more rapid and ultrafast chargers in key locations, expand fleet products and services, and launch new home charge digital products and services to enhance the customer experience.

The investment will see BP Pulse triple the number of public charging points in its UK network, as well as accelerating the roll out of state-of-the-art 300kW and 150kW ultra-fast charging points, which can provide up to 100 miles of range in around 10 minutes of charging, depending on the EV model.

BP Pulse will also upgrade its current EV charging technology across its public charging network to improve reliability. The company expects the move to create hundreds of new jobs in the UK. The Government, which at the same time published its EV Infrastructure Strategy, has welcomed the investment. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “I am delighted that BP Pulse is supporting the transition to cleaner vehicles as we accelerate toward our net-zero ambitions and boost green jobs opportunities right across the UK.” Shapps unveiled the EVIS plans at BP Pulse’s UK headquarters in Milton Keynes.

Richard Bartlett, senior vice president, BP Pulse said: “This £1bn investment is vital to provide the charging infrastructure the UK needs. We’re investing to build a world-class network.

This investment allows us to deliver more high-speed charging in dedicated hubs and on existing fuel and convenience sites. More home charging services. And crucial enhancements to our digital technology that will make charging fast, easy and reliable.”

BP plans that for every £1 it makes in the UK this decade; it plans

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to spend £2 – including investments to help the UK towards net zero. Other plans include a scheme to develop up to 5.9GW gross of offshore wind capacity across the Irish Sea and North Sea and plans to produce 1.5GW of low carbon hydrogen in Teesside, 30% of the UK’s 2030 target, from its H2Teesside and HyGreen Teesside projects.

Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive said: “Investments such as this are essential to give motorists the confidence to switch to EVs, and we need to see the full variety of charging locations – the motorway, at work, destinations and, especially, on-street charging, if we are to decarbonise road transport at pace.”

BP Pulse also aims to play a significant role in helping to electrify the UK’s fleet vehicles and intends to help accelerate the roll-out of EV charging solutions to the UK’s businesses. It is already working with Royal Mail, Uber and emergency services in both London and Scotland.

—Mark Bursa

APRIL 2022

analysis: ev infrastructure there is a real chance that much of country will be left behind in terms of public charging infrastructure.”

Willson added: “The Government should waste no time in placing a statutory duty on local authorities to produce EV transition strategies.”

Tim Scrafton, head of EV infrastructure consultancy The Connect Consultancy – and Professional Driver correspondent – said he had “reserved my optimism” for the LEVI scheme to be used correctly.

While some more progressive councils – such as Sutton, Surrey and Portsmouth (see page 9) – have announced major investments in on-street charging, others are reluctant to go down this road, instead preferring large, commercial rapid charging hubs.

Scrafton said: “I recently had a meeting with a major city council’s ‘Head of Clean Air Zone’ to discuss the opportunities provided by the LEVI fund, to help taxi and private hire fleets transition to EVs.” LOCAL, NOT NATIONAL “It was immediately made clear he wasn’t IMPLEMENTATION interested in any on-street charging, and instead was concentrating on an existing But the scheme is flawed – not least in strategy of deploying 50kW rapid DC the way that the prime responsibility for chargers.” installing the chargers has been delegated Scrafton believes this is a very flawed to local authorities – which means there approach. “It casts doubt as to whether is very little likelihood of a joined-up policy-makers in local authorities should approach. be allowed to run clean air zones, but then A recent survey has revealed that make EV ownership for their constituents more than seven out of 10 UK councils without private parking either unviable or have not published EV transition plans too inconvenient and costly to consider.” despite being encouraged to do so by the Scrafton added: “To compound this Government. Responses to freedom of misguided approach, this council runs information requests by the FairCharge a ‘Band D’ CAZ. This means all noncampaign shared found that only 28% of local authorities have released a strategy for compliant, motorised road transport including private cars are affected.” supporting the switch to electric motoring.

Ian Plummer, commercial director of A further 23% said they are in the process online sales website Auto Trader, said a of devising a plan. The problem is worse outside the Capital, as London is the region more centrally-run strategy would be more with the highest proportion of councils with effective.

He said: “The plan puts the onus a published strategy, at 57%. on councils to develop their own In a recent response to a parliamentary infrastructure, but we would have liked question on EVs, minister for energy, clean growth and climate change Greg Hands said to see central government taking more of a strategic lead. The roll-out has been the Government will “monitor and engage with local authorities as they progress with uneven so far as London and the SouthEast account for nearly half of all charging their strategies”. But Government policy points, and the UK lags behind many other is that local authorities are best placed to European countries.” understand local needs.

Plummer said the plan would not keep This is not good enough, the FairCharge up with expected growth in EV sales, and it campaign says. Spokesman Quentin was needed sooner rather than later. “This Willson, a former Top Gear presenter, said: strategy is a move in the right direction, but “The figures revealed from councils in more immediate action is required,” he said. our freedom of information requests are “The government has chosen not to extremely worrying. Without a big role for central government in supporting councils, follow the successful financial incentive private hire giant Addison Lee, which has added 450 EVs to its fleet since last November and plans to go fully electric within the next two years.

Addison Lee CEO Liam Griffin said: “With the majority of London drivers not having access to off-street parking, an affordable and accessible EV charging network is essential to give drivers the confidence to switch to electric ahead of the 2030 deadline.”

And charge point operators have welcomed the move. Phil Shadbolt, founder of Oxfordshire-based EZ-Charge, said the new strategy could prove to be a pivotal moment in the mass adoption of electric vehicles in the UK. He said: “Those of us in EV circles have always been very quick to criticise the government when they’ve got things wrong in the past or when they’ve been too slow to act or too lacking in ambition. So, it’s only fair that we give praise when it’s due.”

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Uber to fund 700 London EV charge points in £5m deal Uber is funding the £5 million installation of more than 700 electric vehicle charge points in three London boroughs.

The charge points in Newham, Brent and Redbridge are aimed at drivers who live in houses or flats without offstreet parking or easy access to chargers. Large numbers of Uber drivers live in the three boroughs, and Uber claims 90% of new Uber drivers use fully electric cars.

The bulk of the investment is in Newham, where 400 charge points are being installed. The move will treble the number of public charge points from just 210 to more than 600. Overall, the 700 points will bring about a 7% increase in London’s total charge point number.

The charging points will not be exclusively for Uber drivers – instead they will be available for anyone to use.

Uber general manager for northern and eastern Europe Jamie Heywood said: “Drivers often tell me that being able to access reliable charging near their homes is critical to their decision to switch to an electric vehicle.

By targeting investment where it is most needed, we are confident that thousands more drivers will make the switch to electric.”

The Uber-branded points are not rapid chargers – instead they are 7-22 kW AC chargers which are designed for overnight recharges, providing a full charge for a typical EV in around six hours.

Newham mayor Rokhsana Fiaz said: “We know that residents want to do their part and many are changing over to electric vehicles, and the infrastructure is needed to ensure they can make that change and contribute to lower emissions.”

In a statement, Newham council said: “A procurement process led wholly by the council will now start to select a preferred charge point operator to provide, install, operate and maintain a network of public electric vehicle chargers in the borough.”

Uber claims 5,000 EVs are currently on the app in London, driving over 1 million electric miles per week.

Uber said it was on track to double this number by the end of the year and to become an all-electric platform in the capital by 2025.

—Mark Bursa

models adopted by the likes of Norway; it must at least then remove the complexity of buying an EV and critically, make them easier to live with.

“If people are going to buy EVs, they need to see available charging stations, not queues. The problem is compounded by the Government’s short-sighted approach to incentives for EV buyers.”

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analysis: ev infrastructure

How LEVI works in tandem with existing schemes Tim Scrafton

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socket (maximum of 40), up to a value of £14,000.

The scheme is available via a simple online voucher system.

From April 1, 2022, it has been extended to include SMEs, owners of commercially let properties, small accommodation businesses and charities. In total, 32,625 WCS sockets have been installed by businesses since 2017.

O TEST THE DESIGN OF the new LEVI scheme, a £10 million pilot competition is now available, anticipated to fund between three and eight projects.

Funding applications by local authorities ON-STREET RESIDENTIAL CHARGEPOINT SCHEME (ORCS) and consortiums led by them need The ORCS continues into the 2021-22 financial year to be submitted before June 18, 2022.

According to the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV), the LEVI fund is intended to encourage large scale, ambitious and commercially sustainable projects that leverage significant private sector investment.

The LEVI fund is to allocate £450m for innovative urban public charging solutions. Funding a mix of slow, fast, and ultra-rapid charge points, including solar canopies and battery storage.

A further £50m has been allocated to employ and train staff to work on the planning and implementation of the charging infrastructure.

The aims of the LEVI are to: u Help enable strategic local provision of public EV infrastructure ahead of need and promote an equitable EV charging experience for those without off-street parking u Leverage additional private sector investment and promote sustainable and innovative business models to enable the delivery of local charge point projects that would not occur in the near-term without public support u Increase consumer confidence in transitioning to EVs across England, ensuring increased uptake across regions.

This should be welcome news for all local authorities, fleets and drivers in logistics, taxis, and private hire. Most commercial drivers do not have access to off-street parking. Many fleet operators also have limited depot space and energy supply.

An affordable and accessible urban EV charging network is vital to give commercial drivers the confidence to switch to EVs. In addition to the LEVI grant, there are a number of existing incentives for fleets and drivers. These include:

THE WORKPLACE CHARGE SCHEME (WCS) To be eligible private parking is required. The WCS allows companies to claim up to £350 per charging

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with a £20m budget. Like the new LEVI fund, it is designed to help those who were not eligible for the now-finished Electric Vehicle Home charge Scheme (EVHS) grant, which required private parking.

This ruled out more than 30% of homeowners who do not have private parking to apply for EVHS grants funding chargers and installation.

HOW MUCH OF THE LEVI £450M WILL BE USED? The ORCS and LEVI are fundamental to stimulate demand for EVs by fleets and drivers in the commercial van, taxi and PH sectors.

But according to OZEV, since the ORCS scheme was established in 2017, up to April 21, 2021, it accounted for a paltry total of 681 public chargers.

This represents £2,170,133 of grant funding across just 31 councils.

So, over four years, about a tenth of the available funds were applied for by less than 10% of councils.

The numbers are rising, though. The total rose to 2,038 chargers, for 75 councils using £6.8m of funds

by January 1, 2022.

Nevertheless, local authorities haven’t touched the sides of an available £20m for urban, on-street charging, over a period of nearly five years. The question must be asked – if they can’t spend £20m, what are the chances for the next £450m?

It is now crucial that fleets, private stakeholders, suppliers of vehicles, charging consultants and

“What is the point in still rolling out ‘rapid’ 50kW chargers with an avalanche of new EVs capable of ultra-rapid charging? …”

installers work with local authorities and licensing authorities to put the LEVI fund to good use.

WHAT’S NEEDED? We need to urgently speed up the deployment of residential on-street charging, supported by urban ultra-rapid (100kW+) charging hubs.

Around 80% of EV charging globally is done at home. Yet it is estimated around 70% of commercial drivers do not have private parking. So, ramping up on-street residential charging infrastructure is vital for these drivers, and it will help level up the inequality of EV access for more people and businesses.

This in essence is what the ORCS and LEVI funding is there to achieve. But its success depends on how, or indeed if, it is put into practice. There is clearly a lack of motivation by many local authorities in applying for charging infrastructure grants. This is at odds with many introducing and expanding clean air zones (CAZs).

It ought to be mandatory for local authorities that implement CAZs to apply for public ORCS and LEVI funds, to improve their on-street, and ultra-rapid hub infrastructure for zero emission vehicles.

This is a policy where the welcome introduction of extra funding will only succeed if public and private sectors work together to make it happen.

RAPID ISN’T FAST ENOUGH An urgent review of existing local authority public contracts being deployed is needed. We are still seeing too many 50kW ‘rapid’ chargers being installed by councils in ones and twos. These are already stranded assets.

In effect, councils that are installing 50kW chargers are applying a backwards-compatibility strategy.

Technically, they represent where we were nine years ago. Most new EVs can charge far faster than 50kW, and the ability to charge at 100kW, 200kW or right up to 350kW is becoming the new normal, as batteries become denser, larger, and capable of faster charging.

All rapid charger deployment is costly whether fit for purpose or not. So, it must be done right, particularly when using taxpayers’ money.

What is the point in still rolling out ‘rapid’ 50kW chargers with an avalanche of new EVs capable of ultra-rapid charging? This is the equivalent of lowering broadband speeds when faced with more online demand.

While ultra-rapid urban hubs are a necessity for commercial EVs covering high mileages, they are secondary to charging overnight at home.

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analysis: ev infrastructure West Midlands plans £24m investment in 10 EV charging super-hubs The West Midlands Combined Authority is looking for 10 large sites on which to build electric vehicle charging super-stations, each with up to 100 rapid charge points.

WMCA sees these as the electric equivalent of petrol and diesel filling stations, and the sites will be able to charge electric trucks and vans as well as cars.

The 10 stations are each likely to include 80 to 100 ultra-rapid chargers. They will be located at strategic points along the region’s major road network with a view to putting 90% of the region within easy reach of a fast charge. The first site could be open in 2023.

The sites are likely to be operated by major charge point networks, subject to competitive tenders.

The £24 million EV transit station project is one of four major transport projects within the region’s five-year, £1.3 billion City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS) plan, which also includes major investment in trans, railways and buses.

Andy Street, the Mayor of the West Midlands and chair of the WMCA Board, said: “We know that many people and businesses would like to switch to electric vehicles but are worried about the availability of chargers – so these 10 electric vehicle transit stations show we are serious about supporting that transition.”

—Mark Bursa

Ultra-rapid hubs need to be easily accessible, reservable and provide as fast a charge as possible, to minimise dwell-time and free up the infrastructure for the next user.

Considering the convenience and huge cost benefit to charge at home using low-peak energy, on-street charging must be a priority.

This also reduces the demand for high-cost DC hubs as well as the demand on the grid for rapid power at peak times.

The supporting infrastructure must be scalable to keep up with both the demand and the technical capabilities of the EVs. We must take a forward-thinking approach. With the transition to EVs surpassing even the most optimistic predictions, and only showing signs of increasing, public charging has to match this new demand.

DEPLOYING A TWO-SPEED ARCHITECTURE As road transport is one of the biggest sources of CO2 emissions, EVs have a vital role to play for the environment. Public transport can further ease congestion and lower pollution in our cities. Electric taxis and PHVs need to be part of a coordinated plan to decarbonise transport and help our cities reduce emissions.

APRIL 2022

Renewable EV Charging as a Solution Companies with depots that have private parking have a distinct advantage. Deploying either a mix of both AC and DC is then possible. WCS grants are available, as is super-deduction tax relief of 130% on investment towards plant and machinery – this includes EV charging infrastructure and installation costs.

LEVI funding should be available toward innovative, renewable charging infrastructure. There are exciting new opportunities to embrace if you install your own infrastructure.

On-site renewable energy generation can end vulnerability and volatility in grid energy supplies or grid upgrade costs. It can also allow you to become a charge point operator and set lower kW prices than public networks for your own fleet and sell energy to other drivers.

This is a win-win. For you as a fleet owner and for drivers with access to cheaper energy.

Organisations such as the Connect Consultancy can provide you with a Renewable EV Charging as a Solution (REVCaaS) approach, which provides off-grid renewable power for fast- to ultra-rapid charging hubs.

This is a non-fixed asset (mobile and re-deployable), and the power and number of chargers you implement is only constrained by the amount of space you have at your head office or depot. This can be scaled up as charging demand increases, allowing you to increase the number and power of your chargers.

You never have to worry about: u The amount of power available u Power outages or diluted power in the future u Whether you own your premises u Energy prices

u u u u

Costly grid upgrades and lengthy timelines Your carbon footprint Stranded assets Your competition

The REVCaaS model also provides an innovative and speedy ‘plug and play’ solution for public charging locations. Often the site is right, but the available power isn’t. Many times, this means exorbitant grid connection costs and very long timelines before energy companies can begin work.

REVCaaS means hubs can be quickly set up to meet EV charging demand and scale up as it grows.

If a grid connection becomes viable, it can then be redeployed elsewhere.

We are approaching all local authorities with innovative charging solutions such as this and onstreet charging devices. Both come with state-of-the-art charging management platforms to put commercial, taxi, and PH fleets in the driving seat of change.

—Tim Scrafton

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road test

Mark Bursa

Luxuria Germanica

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APRIL 2022

Mercedes-Benz EQS 450+ Luxury

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AS THERE BEEN A MORE EAGERLYanticipated car than the Mercedes-Benz EQS? At last, here is a fully electric chauffeur car, giving us something that does the job of an S-Class, while avoiding TfL’s punitive ULEZ and Congestion Charges.

But. And there are several buts. The EQS has received a lukewarm reaction from the chauffeur market – and it’s easy to see the problem.

The EQS is a beautiful, elegant design, for sure. But it is very clearly not a direct equivalent of an S-Class. It has a lower, parabolic roof profile, and

APRIL 2022

road test

much shorter overhangs. So there’s no “statement” grille, and nothing like the stately presence of the full-fat S. In a nutshell, EQS is an electric luxury car, but it’s not an electric S-Class.

Instead, it demonstrates the family look of Mercedes’ electric saloons. The smaller EQE, due later in the year, has a strong family resemblance. Perhaps the Tesla template has taken hold – EVs have immense performance, so they should look like low-slung performance grand tourers, not limousines.

But does it do the job? And if you turned up at a client’s home or office in an EQS rather than an S-Class, would the reaction be the same? It certainly has a wow factor, but much would depend on the client – especially, the physical size of the client. continued on next page

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road test continued from previous page The EQS doesn’t just have a lower roof line than an S-Class. It also has a wheelbase closer to the standard-wheelbase S, not the LWB version. So there’s not as much legroom or headroom in the back. And the door aperture is substantially smaller.

For taller or bigger clients, this may be a problem. Once you’re in, the back seats are comfortable and well shaped, if a little upright.

It does appear that chauffeuring has not been factored in as the prime task for the EQS. This is probably because, away from the constraints of TfL’s zero-emissions only stipulation, there is less pressure on chauffeurs in, say, Munich, Dubai, Shanghai or New York to opt for a full EV, so they’re likely to stick with the S-Class.

London drivers will just have to choose between paying C-Charge on an S590e or saving £15 a day on an EQS. That’s what happens when a licensing authority is out of step with everywhere else.

So the ICE-based S-Class range will run for at least 8 years, taking us to 2030 – at which point the next S-Class (and Mercedes is adamant there will be another S-Class) will be here – and that will almost certainly be an EV. It’s a risky plan, as BMW will have a fullelectric 7-series this year in the form of the i7, which looks a lot more conventional and limousine-shaped than the EQS. So the EQS is more focused on the likes of Porsche Taycan, Audi E-tron GT and of course the next-generation Tesla S – lowslung four-door grand tourers focused on the driver rather than the back seat passenger.

It’s even a hatchback, surprisingly.

That’s not to say a car that isn’t directly focused on private hire or chauffeuring can’t be a hit in the market. Toyota never designed the Prius as a taxi, after all. But the industry got used to it, and it became the default private hire car.

So, having addressed the elephant in the room, let’s examine the EQS in depth.

Firstly, it’s rather beautiful. A spiritual successor to the original CLS of 2005, with the same purposeful arc of a roof line. Like the CLS, it looks like it’s moving even when parked.

EQS is also beautifully made. Fit and finish is well up to S-class standard. From the driver’s seat, the view on our test car was very similar to the S-Class we tested last month. Same technology, with the vast, 12.8in OLED display, positioned centrally in portrait format, Tesla-style. A stand-alone digital dashboard, plus head-up display.

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There’s slightly less dashboard in the EQS – instead of the S-Class’s small, oblong air vents, the air floes through narrow slits above the central screen. This has the effect of moving the satnav further up the dash, which means it’s closer to the driver’s eyeline.

What’s lacking is the 3-D dash panel, and the “flying” directional graphics on the HUD. Instead, a front view pops up on the satnav screen when you approach a junction, on to which the directional instructions are overlaid.

This proves to be a little annoying in practice. Yes, there’s the option of a map display on the dash panel, one of a number of “themes” from which you can choose.

And the satnav directions appear on the HUD. But if you’re driving without satnav guidance, it’s often helpful to look at the bigger, more detailed map on the main satnav screen at complicated junctions.

So it’s rather annoying to have to reach across and click off the pop-up in order to look at the map.

Of course, you can turn the feature off by delving deep into the settings. Same applies to the rather loud and intrusive beeps and warnings for lane departure, blind spot and so on. Once they’re turned

off, the drive becomes more relaxing.

We found the collision warning was a little too eager to engage, sometimes applying the brakes on overtaking when we were clearly not going to hit the car in front.

And this may have been an early production bug, but the automatic speed limit recognition system didn’t always find the right speed. There were times, for example on a dual carriageway, when the system appeared to read the slower slip road speed, even though we were not leaving the main road. Suddenly, we found ourselves slowing down for a few hundred metres, before the junction was passed and the regular limit resumed.

Despite these glitches, the system is impressive, especially the clarity of the main map screen. But it’s worth noting that this is only the basic EQS set-up – more up-market models have Mercedes’ impressive fulldash panel, which it calls Hyperscreen. This extends across the entire dashboard and centre console – it even incorporates the air vents at the extremities of the dashboard.

We’ll be testing that on a future test. The air vents are worthy of note – they’re beautifully detailed and look like jet engine intakes.

Without the full-width screen, our test car has a dark brown wooden dash panel,

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Mercedes-Benz EQS 450+ Luxury

with white pinstriping, and matching brown leather cappings on doors, dash and centre storage bin. Seats, headliner and lower panels are charcoal grey. It’s simple and elegant, and with all up-market Mercedes models, infinitely customisable.

As there’s no transmission tunnel, and the gearshift is column-mounted, the central area between driver and front passenger is very clear. There is a discreet inductive phone charge pad, and at least four USB sockets (two each of the traditional ones and the new USB-C ports). Cup holders can be covered, and the centre storage box is very large and deep – you could store substantial amounts of stuff in there.

There’s a further storage shelf below the centre console too.

Seats are comfortable, though perhaps not to quite the same level of comfort as an S-Class. But the driving position is very good, and the EQS is undoubtedly a great driver’s car.

Four-wheel steering is a feature, and that makes for precise handling on country roads. The battery pack adds weight, but also a low centre of gravity, and this brings stability at cruising speed. Acceleration, of course, is instant and comes with a kick.

And rather neatly, Mercedes has equipped

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the EQS with an internal digital sound, so that when you boot the throttle, it sounds like a throaty V8 (albeit a well-suppressed V8), so there’s no “EV whine” – just a rather nice, 100% fake, engine note.

That controversial hatchback gives access to a very large boot – it swallows our test cases with ease. Unlike a Tesla, there’s no “front boot” (what Americans call a “frunk”!). In fact, you’re not supposed to lift the bonnet at all – it contains the electrical drive system, and that requires specialist maintenance.

There is an underfloor area, where the charge cables are stashed, so unlike the S-Class, boot space is not further compromised by bulky bags of cables.

With 610 litres in the boot, the EQS has almost double the loadspace of the S580eL’s 325 litres.

So let’s talk money. EQS prices start at a fiver under £100,000. Our test car has a few add-ons, taking it up to £106,995. That’s actually cheaper than the £113,880 S580eL we tested last month, but still pricey in a market where diesel S-Classes still cost less than £80,000.

Add in the Hyperscreen, as well as other features such as heated and ventilated massage seats, an air balance package

road test

and Nappa leather upholstery, and the fully loaded EQS 450 + Exclusive Luxury model costs £120,995 – more than the most expensive S-Class.

Of course, C-Charge savings will net you up to £5,000 a year (for the next three years, after which even EVs have to pay). And depending on how you charge, the running costs will be a lot lower than an S-Class.

We took the EQS on an extensive day out to see how the quoted range compared to real-world use. In particular, we wanted to see if the range in practice matched the data on the screen.

We started with a range of 333 miles, with an optional “max” of 366, which required eco-mode, no aircon and other deprivations.

As it was a warm day, and we imagined we had a client who wanted to cool down, we left the car in standard mode, and used the features as required.

Our initial journey took us round the bottom of a relatively uncongested M25, with a fair bit of urban running at each end.

The 49-mile journey was achieved at an average speed of 42mph, and on arrival at our first stop, the range was down from 333 miles to 269 miles – a drop of 64 miles. continued on next page

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road test

continued from previous page Some way off the money.

Further driving into Kent saw the quoted range slip further way from the mileage covered. A second stop at 71 miles (after a lot more urban mileage brought the average speed down to 30mph) took the range down to 247 miles – 86 down on the starting figure.

Our return journey was through central London and back to base in Weybridge. By the end, we’d completed 194 miles at 30mph – but our range was down to 81 miles.

So compared to the starting range, our 194-mile trip (the sort of journeys a chauffeur might undertake in a day’s work, with a mix of urban and motorway motoring) had used 252 miles of quoted range.

That’s only 77% of the quoted range.

Not quite in the realm of range anxiety but another 50 miles would have put us in squeaky bum territory.

We weren’t able to charge overnight, so we had to use the charging networks.

We’re assured a standard home wallbox can charge the EQS from 0-100% in 10 hours.

Not quick, but that gives, on paper, 407

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miles, expandable using ‘minimal power drain’ mode to 453 miles, according to the official WLTP figures. Using our 77% return, we’d put a range of 313-348 miles as a realistic figure.

We opted for Ionity, as we knew there was local capacity at Cobham M25 services, and the Ionity network is easy to use, requiring no pre-registration – just pay via the app.

The EQS can fast-charge at up to 200kW. Not as fast as some – even the Hyundai Ioniq5 and Kia EV6 can cope with 350kW, the maximum available at Ionity’s rapid chargers.

We plugged in, using the cable built in to the charge point – no need to wrestle with cables in the boot – and set about charging.

Disappointingly, the charger only started charging at 104kW – only around half the maximum the car can handle, and a long way short of the 350kW charger’s capability.

With five of the six Ionity Cobham chargers in use, the power is rationed, it seems.

After a while some of the other cars departed – and with just three cars on charge, our rate went up to 124kW. Better, though still some way off capability. Initially, the charger told us a full charge would take 55 minutes. Again, disappointingly shy of

the quoted recharge time (10-80% in 31 minutes). So we headed off to browse the magazines in WH Smiths.

With the increase in speed, on returning, we found the car had charged from 18% (when we plugged in) to 83% in 38 minutes.

Acceptable, though not the sort of wait you’d want to subject a client to.

On the plus side, you get an Ionity Unlimited subscription with the EQS – Mercedes-Benz is part-owner of the Ionity network. This means free rapid charging for one year at all Ionity stations.

Just as well, as Ionity is not cheap – 69p/kWh. So our refill cost £50.53, adding precisely 200 miles of range (from 66 miles on arrival at Cobham to 266 on completion of the charge). Using our 77% rule-ofthumb, that would equate to 154 miles, or about 30p a mile.

Given that the S-Class we tested last month returned 32.8mpg, and current petrol prices are around £6.20 per gallon, 154 miles of petrol range would cost about £28 at the pumps – a lot cheaper than Ionity’s electricity. It’s clear that home or depot charging is a must for at least the majority of your mileage, certainly after the first 12 months.

APRIL 2022

road test

Mercedes-Benz EQS 450+ Luxury

verdict

T

HIS IS A SIGNIFICANT VEHICLE – IT GETS MERCEDES FIRST TO MARKET WITH AN electric chauffeur car, ahead of BMW. But while it’s a spectacularly beautiful and very nice to drive vehicle, is it a chauffeur car?

It has the low profile roof line of a Tesla rather than the stately stance of an S-Class, and that is going to be, in the short term at least, an obstacle in the chauffeur market. EQS doesn’t have the grandeur and road presence of an S-Class. Have Mercedes’ designers got too hung up on Tesla?

The acid test will be later in the year when BMW launches its i7. By all accounts, this will be an electric 7-series, with the same profile and body style as the next-generation 7-series. And that could give Munich quite an advantage over Stuttgart.

The EQS is a delightful car to drive. It might be a little compromised on rear headroom and door size, but once you’re in it’s comfortable. The hatchback won’t win friends among chauffeurs, but there is plentiful luggage capacity – much more than a PHEV S-Class.

Perhaps the most disappointing aspect was the real-world range. The available mileage diminished much quicker than the miles covered – and we weren’t driving hard, sticking to 70mph on motorways and using the regen paddles to improve urban energy recuperation.

The recharge was a little slower than we might expect too. The EQS can fast-charge at 200kW – nowhere near the optimum cars in the sector, which can handle 350kW, the maximum available on the best networks. And in practice, the EQS recharged a lot slower than 200kW – around half as fat initially, though it did speed up as capacity drain on the charge hub reduced.

But £50 for an optimistic 200 mile recharge isn’t great. So home charging is essential if you are to maximise the low cost of electricity relative to rising petrol prices.

On the plus side, you get Ionity for 12 months free of charge with the EQS, and the Mercedes Me subscription offers discounts on other networks including BP Pulse.

For all its virtues, the EQS is far from perfect. The good news is that there’s a taller, SUV-style EQS derivative on the way – perhaps conceptually more like the old R-Class – which would at least address the low roofline issue, and turn the hatchback into a tailgate.

APRIL 2022

data price as tested

£116,880 36 months / unlimited miles battery warranty 120 months / 155,000 miles insurance group TBA ved A warranty

performance engine transmission battery capacity power torque

0-62mph top speed

CO2 emissions electric range ac charging time dc charging time on-board charger

Battery-electric Single-speed auto, RWD 107.8kWh 333hp 568Nm 6.2sec 130mph 0g/km (wltp) 407-453 miles (wltp) 10hr (10-100%, 7kW) 31min (10-80%, 110kW) 200kW DC

dimensions length width height wheelbase turning circle loadspace

5,216mm 2,125mm 1,512mm 3,210mm 10.9m 610 litres

31

road test

Mazda CX-5 Newground 2.0 Skyactiv-G 2WD manual

Last of the gunslingers Mark Bursa

I

n the headlong scramble for position in the electric car

market, one brand is notable not quite by its absence, but certainly with its apparent reluctance to commit to an electrified future.

Mazda is still a firm believer in the power of the internal combustion engine – and while it has produced an EV in the quirky MX-30, the main focus remains on petrol and diesel.

The CX-5 SUV is established as Mazda’s leading seller in the UK, accounting for around 25% of sales. Now in its third generation, the 2022 model represents a substantial facelift, with some new powertrains and variants joining the range.

The shift toward SUVs seems unstoppable – Mazda still offers a very competent upper-medium sector saloon and estate range in the Mazda6, but the CX-5 has long overtaken the 6 in terms of sales. Indeed, since the launch of the first Mazda CX-5 in 2012, more than 70,000 have been sold in the UK. Whether SUVs represent acceptable private hire vehicles is still open for debate – they don’t look like taxis, but in terms of practicality, the CX5 ticks plenty of boxes. There’s plenty of rear seat

30

legroom and headroom, a good-sized 522-litre boot, a high standard of finish, decent fuel economy and, importantly, keen pricing.

The 2022 facelift includes revised front and rear bumper designs, new headlight and taillight clusters and a more three-dimensional grille design. The wing trim no longer heads into the lamp cluster.

The range now spans 20 models in five trim levels: SE-L, Newground, Sport, Sport Black and GT Sport, each of which has subtle styling differentiation – especially so on the Newground, Sport Black and GT Sport levels, including colour co-ordinated interior and exterior trim.

The CX-5 range starts at £28,145 for the 2.0-litre Skyactiv-G petrol 165PS SE-L. As an alternative, a 150PS Skyactiv-D diesel is available.

The 165PS Skyactiv-G engine is new, and is the only option on the Newground trim level, which is perhaps the most disinctive, and the car featured

in our photographs. All SE-L and Newground models are front-wheel drive models.

Newground features front and rear silver underguard trims matched to silver lower body side skirts, black door mirrors and 19in black diamond cut alloy wheels. It has subtle lime green accents on the grille and inside on the air vent trims and seat piping. Newground also has an exclusive paint colour, called Zircon Sand Metallic.

With manual transmission, as featured here, the CX-5 Newground costs £29,175. Automatic transmission takes that up to £30,775.

The biggest seller is expected to be the Sport model, which also has the 165ps Skyactiv-G petrol or a choice of diesels with 150PS and 184PS output. The higher-powered diesel has a choice of front or all-wheel drive, and only comes with an automatic gearbox.

The other new trim level is Sport Black – again, a 2WD/165PS petrol combination, but with a sportier look including gloss black detailing and subtle red accents within the grille and stitching. Above that sits GT Sport, with the addition of more powerful petrol engines and all-wheel drive – topping the price list at £39,435.

The interior is particularly well-finished,

APRIL 2021

road test

ProDriver TESTED 38.9mpg / 29mph MAR 2022

and reassuringly old-school, with analogue speedometer and rev counter, plus a digital information panel in the third of three circular, overlapping gauges.

The satnav screen is a centrally-mounted widescreen unit positioned on top of the dash, so it’s right in the driver’s sight line. Happily, it’s not just a touch-screen – there’s a rotary controller behind the gear shift allowing data input and manual zooming with comfort. Heater controls are separate too, another positive – no need to delve into deep menus just to turn the fan down a notch.

With prices starting under £30,000, the CX-5 feels like a lot of car for the money. It feels bigger and more luxurious than many obvious market rivals – more Audi than Seat.

On top of that, it’s one of the best handling cars in its class. We tested the car in Scotland, over some challenging roads in not the best weather conditions. The CX-5 is impressively sure-footed, with plenty of feel through the steering wheel when turning in to sharp bends.

It’s a big car, but there’s very little body roll and the suspension handles bumps and potholes very well. The CX-5 is strictly a 5-seater, though

APRIL 2021

it’s not easy to get seven-seater SUVs of this type licensed, as the third row of seats on rivals such as Skoda Kodiaq or VW Tiguan are really only suitable for children.

Fuel economy is very acceptable for a big car with a 2-litre petrol engine. We averaged 38.9mpg on a 90-mile test route, averaging just below 30mph – for once, very close to the quoted WLTP combined figure of 41.5mpg.

verdict

S

uvs are still not the natural go-to body style for private hire, but as conventional Mondeo-sized saloons fade into history, along with car-derived MPVs, you may have little choice. At less than £30,000, the CX-5 should be on the agenda. OK, there’s no London-licensable PHEV version, but elsewhere there’s no reason why it can’t do a job, as its cabin is roomy and its boot voluminous. It’s a very relaxing drive too, and fuel economy is very decent for a petrol-engined car of that size. Diesel is even better at a quoted 47.9mpg combined, though the diesel automatic offers a whole 10mpg less, according to the WLTP test.

data price as tested warranty insurance group ved

£29,175 3 years/60,000 miles 17E I

performance engine transmission

1,998cc, 4-cyl 16v 6-speed, manual, FWD

power

165PS @ 6,000rpm

torque

213Nm @ 4,000rpm

0-62mph

10.5sec

top speed

125mph

combined economy

CO2 emissions

41.5mpg [wltp] 153g/km

dimensions length

4,575mm

width

1,845mm

height

1,675mm

wheelbase

2,700mm

turning circle

11.9mm

fuel tank

56 litres

loadspace

464 litres

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the last mile

B

Finding our place in the business travel world

USINESS TRAVEL IS COMING BACK. IT’S complexities of a multi-operator network different – and it might just be better. u T he usual high standard of service offered by While lockdowns, travel restrictions and private hire operators. work from home guidance have passed, and The last decade has seen huge advances in ground consumer travel demand has returned, business travel transport technology, facilitating smoother booking still lags behind. processes and enabling multiple fleets to be bookable Business trips are often booked through Travel on a single platform. This sets the industry up Management Companies, appointed by businesses perfectly to partner with travel companies to deliver an with large numbers of travellers, to book and manage Daniel Price integrated and connected service to their travellers. their travel. The industry has seen huge reductions in With traveller confidence still recovering in air and CEO and the number of travellers booking both domestic and rail, and work patterns perhaps changed forever, I founder international travel, and with rail still hovering at around expect shorter, regional trips to replace some longer air of Jyrney 70% of pre-pandemic numbers it appears that domestic or rail business travel journeys. travel is going to take some time to recover.

Employees making trips to the office less often leaves a gap to offer Since the beginning of the year we have seen light at the end of different transport options to the work from home travellers, which the tunnel as business travellers return. In recent weeks, many could be an entirely new business travel market. travel companies have reported experiencing their highest number of Working with aggregators will give operators the ability to take bookings since the start of the pandemic. work from these travel companies, as the aggregator integrates their In the UK alone, business travel management is a multi-billion technology with the travel industry clients. These jobs are often pound market. However, historically, ground transport sits outside higher mileage, outside of peak hours and sent directly via dispatch the Travel Management Company relationship. Transfers are either integration. booked independently by the traveller, or require the TMC to use The changing dynamics in business travel industry and the desire several different booking tools to navigate the fragmented market. for the TMC to offer first- and last-mile trips as part of the booking This process results in less than 3% of their transactions coming process, presents an opportunity for the private hire industry. An from taxi, private hire or chauffeur trips. opportunity to access a business travel market that now seeks With business travel at 50% of pre pandemic volumes, TMCs are out new services. An opportunity to partner with new aggregator looking to other elements of travel to increase the products they can technologies that allow deeper integrations into the passengers sell to their customers. booking flow.

After 20 years of selling ground transport into TMCs I have And above all, an opportunity for taxi and private hire to take its identified that there are three elements needed for a TMC to run an rightful place alongside air, rail and car hire within business travel. effective ground transport programme: u A single point of integration to access multiple fleets and n D aniel Price is CEO and founder of Jyrney. vehicle options u w ork with a business that has deep experience in managing the Daniel.price@jyrney.com — www.jyrney.com

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APRIL 2022

Car of the Year Awards Judging days 2022 Tuesday & Wednesday, August 23-24, 2022 Epsom Racecourse, Epsom Downs, Surrey Join us this Summer for two great days where you can test and evaluate the latest cars for the taxi, private hire and chauffeur industry As a Professional Driver Car of the Year judge, you’ll be able to drive around 50 cars – and score them on 17 points that encompass everything from looks to comfort, driveability, passenger space and even the boot.

Your scores are used to help us choose our six category winners – and we present the awards on November 29, at our legendary Professional Driver QSi Awards event, at Celtic Manor Resort in South Wales.

To register as a judge, please visit the website below.

Why not reward your best drivers with a day out too? Their expertise and knowledge will be very valuable! https://www.prodrivermags.com/ car-of-the-year-home/

the knowledge

May you live in less interesting times

A

the implications of that? The Deregulation Act has its end and the Editor chases me for my critics but it did resolve an anachronism. latest contribution I am uncharacteristically If the critics get their wish and ABBA is shoehorned spoilt for choice as to what to write about. into its place, will that resolve the critics concerns We certainly live in interesting times. At the moment or simply add to them? Does it work commercially? we are seeing what would have been years of change Squeezing genies back into bottles is a tough call. squeezed into months. Consolidation, acquisition and Would a change to enable any enforcement officer to geographical expansion move on apace. Established have authority over any licensed vehicle in their area Dr Michael Galvin players sell up and do something else. not be an easier solution? https://mobility Accepted norms such as operators acting as agents What happened to national standards/minimum serviceslimited are turned on their heads and VAT on fares looms. Ridenational standards? Are we likely to see more .com hailers become aggregators. Costs rise apace, regulations statutory guidance? Has statutory guidance strengthen and new forums are established to influence simply replaced legislation? legislation and regulators’ actions.

The laundry list of issues, obstacles, threats and challenges Worker status, while somewhat nullified due to supply shortages appears to grow weekly, at a pace that is almost dizzying. and higher fares, remains a gently ticking bomb. Electric cars, Can any industry survive in such a frenetic environment? access restrictions and various congestion and set-down charges How do individual businesses thrive in a constantly shifting move from a novelty to a normal business cost. And of course, and changing world? drivers have yet to be tempted back to the industry in anything I guess the answer is “with difficulty”. Some things won’t change. like the numbers required.

You will always need good staff, good drivers and customers. You will So, what does it all mean and where does it all take us as an need to provide a good service, a good income for drivers and fair pay industry? The future is panning out before our eyes. Subject to the for staff. You will need to keep costs low. normal economist’s caveat of all things being equal, we are seeing Ideally you should be known in your town or city. You need good, ourselves rapidly moving to a smaller industry – an industry with reliable technology and you need a mixture of work. If you screw up higher prices, a small number of large operators, work coming from you need to have excellent service recovery processes in place. many sources, much of it aggregated and regulation becoming an If you have those things, if you are agile and react sensibly to what increasing and serious consideration for any PH business. is happening, you have a great deal within your control. So, what On top of this are various initiatives to reduce vehicle numbers, of those looming changes listed above together with those that I’ve reduce emissions and reduce access. Trade associations have missed? Of the unknown unknowns and the not-yet-thought-abouts? moved from campaigners to commentators and observers maybe Any owner, business leader, MD or CEO needs to understand valiantly, perhaps vainly attempting to reverse the more controversial that the external environment is a huge part of their job – arguably decisions. it is their job! If the day-to-day business is taking up all or most The venture capital money still seems to pour in, albeit at a slower of your time, then you need to work out how you can free your time rate. Local businesses are happy to sell up while they still have some up to deal with what is threatened, likely to happen, happening and value. This is a sea change; a generational readjustment that we deal with it. can be relatively certain is a journey on which the duration and the Leading companies is not a passenger journey. The day to day destination are somewhat unclear. is not your job. Your job is the extraordinary, the unexpected, the We are seeing super-regulators such as Wolverhampton and difficult to understand, the difficult to fix, the challenges and the regulators that wish to tighten regulations simply losing vehicles and changes that are happening and will continue to happen in this drivers to neighbouring or super-regulators. industry.

So, what is the outcome? No council can really push too hard for Hiding behind spreadsheets and day to day dross and fear of having no control over the drivers in their town, not to mention administration is not running a business and won’t help a business survive, let alone thrive. reduced income. We are beginning to see in Greater Manchester the My sincere wish is that we may start to live in less interesting amalgamation of regulations into a regional standard – is this the times… but I know as do you that wish is unlikely to come true beginning of a trend? Where next? Birmingham, Liverpool? anytime soon!

What of the new movement seeking to grab control of the regulatory agenda, trying to champion a small number of regional n www.mobilityserviceslimited.com licensing areas instead of the current 330 smaller areas? What are

36

s each month comes towards an

APRIL 2022

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the advisor

Taxing times ahead in April

O

STEP 2: VISIT THE TAX CHECK SCREEN

k, pay attention at the back!

Here’s the definitive guide to tax checks.

April 4 was an extremely important date for taxi and private hire drivers and operators. Until now, drivers didn’t need to be registered for tax to be licensed. But as from the April 4, it became mandatory.

Anyone needing a license for public or private hire, whether they are companies, self-employed people, employees, taxpayers and non-taxpayers will have to make a declaration which will give them a tax check code. And that will be the ONLY way to complete their relicensing procedure.

Enough about the concept and arguments for and against. In this column I will share the simple methodology of how to get it done.

COMPLETING YOUR CONDITIONALITY TAX CHECK

Gary Jacobs Gary Jacobs runs Eazitax, an accountancy firm specialising in the taxi and private hire business

Follow the link on screen now to retrieve your tax check reference number. Select the type of license you are applying for, and follow these steps: u Select how many years ago you first got a license, u Select how long your most recent license is valid for u Select what your tax status was for licensed work done between April 2019 and April 5 2020 u Select if you included income earned in the previous question in your tax return for tax year 2019-20 u One last opportunity to check your answers u Then your tax check number magically appears on the screen u Copy or write down your tax check code as you will need it for your local authority license check.

STEP 3: VISIT YOUR LICENSING AUTHORITY RENEWAL PAGE

eazitax.co.uk Here is a step-by-step guide of how to complete your Next, visit your licensing authority’s license application HMRC online tax check. page.Depending on your council this may be an online What you need to know: form or a document to download. On the section for tax check number, u Your Government Gateway User ID and Password insert the number you copied in step 2. u The date of when you first got your license Submit this form or send to your licensing authority to complete u The length of your most recent license your application. u How you pay tax on the income you earn from your licensed trade.

Your tax check should now be complete! If your tax code is incorrect or void your licensing authority will notify you.

STEP 1: SIGNING INTO GOVERNMENT GATEWAY To retrieve your tax check reference number, you’ll need to login to Government Gateway on the Gov.uk website. If you’ve forgotten your user ID or password, you can retrieve these at the ‘Problems signing in’ section.

Making Tax Digital Update VAT MTD VAT is being offered to all businesses voluntarily registered for VAT for their first VAT return period starting on or after this April 2022.

HMRC has reported that around 100,000 businesses that should already be complying with MTD VAT have still to sign up. HMRC recently sent out a chase letter. It has the data on who isn’t filling out their VAT using the correct method and wants as many businesses as possible to be ready to go fully digital.

Alongside HMRC’s new record-keeping and MTD filing requirements for VAT, there is also a new set of late filing and late payment

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STEP 4: SORTED, GO EARN A LIVING. We have produced a video on our Eazitax Youtube channel that you can also follow.

penalty rules. The penalties now work around filing obligation dates, imposing penalty points for when a business misses a filing obligation date.

Points don’t mean prizes, they mean fines.

But good behaviour can go some way to getting rid of points over time.

SELF-ASSESSMENT TAX RETURNS Unlike MTD VAT, the start date for MTD for self-assessment is in secondary legislation.

Following a consultation published late last year, the start date is almost certainly April 6, 2023. It will apply to unincorporated businesses with total business income above £10,000 per year.

Quarterly reports are going to mean much better bookkeeping systems even for sole traders such as drivers.

The first accounting periods affected

by MTD for self-assessment will be those

beginning on or after April 6, 2023. Many in our trade are just not prepared. Anyone who isn’t doing their book-keeping digitally will have a struggle. In many ways, the message about MTD has been lost during the pandemic, but it will be on us soon enough.

In conclusion, as a trade we are as ready as our accountants are. We are making sure that even the most techno-terrified of our clients can use our software, so make sure your accountants are investing in your training now. n Gary Jacobs is a director of Eazitax,

an industry specialist accountancy practice. He sat on the original HMRC Conditionality panel and is currently involved with the major trade bodies in The Conditionality Campaign.

Eazitax.co.uk/conditionality #conditionalitycuppa

APRIL 2022

the negotiator

Pros and cons of the consultation

T

authorities to provide a fair hearing to accused drivers. For he government has issued its consultation this requirement to be introduced it must be done through a document on Taxi and private hire vehicles, The system providing a clear examination of the allegations and a consultation is open up to June 20, 2022. You can fair opportunity for the driver to answer them. read a detailed summary of them on page 18 of this magazine, or via following the links in the panel.

VEHICLE CONDITION CHECKS In the foreword to the summary, Baroness Vere of Norbiton, It is proposed that daily vehicle condition checks should be the responsible minister at the Department for Transport calls carried out by drivers against a checklist provided. for certainty and consistency – something everyone in the I recall being stopped at a police checkpoint to discover industry supports. that one of my tyres had worn through to an almost dangerous The government is setting out guidance reflecting the new level. I had not checked my vehicle on that day or for several Dennot Nyack ways of working, as well as new and upcoming technology. days. So, I believe this proposal would be an enhancement to So, the consultation has a set of recommendations on what the safety, while not too burdensome on the driver.

The union view licensing bodies should do and calls for feedback from a range from our GMB VEHICLE CAPACITY LIMITS of bodies within and outside of the industry. representative One of the proposals was for “taxis and private hire vehicles to Although the published guidance will not be legally binding, carry no more people than the number of seatbelts available, it will have a strong effect on the operation of the licensing regardless of passenger age”. bodies.

This will be of benefits to drivers as it will clearly set out the maximum Having studied the consultation I find it comprehensively covers the major number of passengers that can be carried in the PHV. I know of drivers who issues related to the taxi and private hire sector. have had issues with parents who insisted that their babes-in-arms were not The consultation seeks to ensure that regulatory activities are carried out covered by the regulations on passenger numbers. However, I am concerned in a way that supports the people and businesses that are regulated, and the that this part does not cover young children requiring booster seats. It’s best practice guidance aligns with overarching principle that unnecessary a legal requirement for children to use a child seat until they’re 12. So, burdens should be avoided and that regulations should be proportionate. Here even if this provision is introduced it will have to be the subject of further is my response to what I consider the stand-out proposals to be. requirements.

ADVANCED DRIVER TRAINING EMPLOYMENT LAW A requirement for drivers to complete advanced driver training (ADT), a Where I have some queries with the draft guidance is the section relating to condition currently imposed by a majority of licensing authorities. It goes compliance with employment law. The document says the guidance does not on to state that authorities should not require drivers to obtain a vocational offer an opinion on the employment status of PH drivers. This section goes qualification. From my experience I believe that it would be a good step for taxi on to state that the licensing bodies should not decide on these matters as it and PH drivers to undertake ADT and, over time, complete relevant vocational should be left to the courts. courses, including customer service, disability awareness, and so on.

Further, where a court has ruled on the employment status of drivers, the TOPOGRAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE TESTS draft guidance proposes that such rulings should reasonably be considered The guidance suggests that some form of topographical knowledge test, by a licensing authority as part of the ‘fit and proper’ test for a private hire relevant to the area, be introduced. I am evenly divided on this. I believe that vehicle operator. ‘the knowledge’, as required for London cabbies, has been rendered almost I find this section rather disappointing in the view that it takes of the redundant by new technology. working status of PH drivers. In 2020 there were 233,536 PH drivers in the UK. However, having used Waze, Google maps and so on, a knowledge of the They comprise a significant part of the UK’s workforce. The work situation local area makes these aids even more effective. facing a number of these drivers is precarious, even after the Supreme Court decision in Uber BV vs Aslam.

VEHICLE AGE LIMITS The suggestions proposed by the Department of Transport in this matter The consultation states that age limits on vehicles does not necessarily are woefully inadequate. Their proposal might be relevant where a driver achieve the objective of reduced emissions. It proposes a better approach, takes their operator to a county court or employment tribunal. But, there is a namely the introduction of a local emissions policy with the extension of crying need for driver remuneration to be set within a framework that ensures the regular examinations required for taxis and PHV. Again, I sort of agree fairness. with this proposal but would add that the general condition of the vehicle, This approach is urgently required because of the unequal situation faced as assessed at its regular examination, would be a better mechanism for by drivers with the arrival of the app companies in the UK. assessing its quality. As the document states, an older electric vehicle will have In conclusion, this consultation is important and, despite my misgivings, I lower emissions than the best and newest IC-engined car. would urge all readers whether drivers, operators or any interested person to POINTS-BASED ENFORCEMENT comment on it.

The document proposes a points-based enforcement system be introduced for n Full version: https://bit.ly/3ufnuX drivers who have committed minor breaches of the taxi and private hire rules. n Summary version: https://bit.ly/3JcfrPm Of course, serious allegations or subsequent convictions of certain offences —Dennot Nyack will see drivers immediately suspended and disqualified. I believe most PH n Dennot is a AGM trade union member and was a former representative drivers would agree that a points-based system for minor infractions, lasting 3 of the GMB’s professional drivers. He is also an author and broadcaster years, would be fair. with a strong knowledge of the private hire industry and an equality However, having represented drivers facing, what turned out to be spurious and diversity specialist. email: dennotnyack@yahoo.com mobile: +44 0740 625 276 complaints by passengers, I am concerned at the capacity of the licensing

APRIL 2022

39

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