Daily Archives: September 5, 2017

Ford offers both diesel and petrol scrappage scheme in the UK

Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, Pollution

Ford has become the latest vehicle manufacturer to offer a scrappage scheme in the UK, following the likes of BMW and Volkswagen (VW) in offering drivers the opportunity to save on their new vehicle by trading in their old one for scrap. With the largest fleet in the UK, this could have a significant benefit for drivers and air quality levels in the country.

However, unlike its scrappage plan in Germany, which followed the country’s government led diesel forum, for the UK market the company will take both petrol and diesel vehicles. These have to be pre-Euro 5 vehicles registered by 31 December 2009, with customers being offered £2,000 (€2,181) against a new Ford vehicle.

However, the manufacturer does not yet offer a pure electric vehicle (EV) in the country, and the scrappage scheme does not include the company’s Mondeo model, the only vehicle the company offers with a hybrid option. Furthermore, the Focus EV is expected to launch in the UK during 2018, while the scrappage deals only run until 31 December 2017, meaning drivers will simply be trading in for a new petrol or diesel.

‘Ford shares society’s concerns over air quality’,

said Andy Barratt, Chairman and MD of Ford of Britain. ‘Removing generations of the most polluting vehicles will have the most immediate positive effect on air quality, and this Ford scrappage scheme aims to do just that.

‘We don’t believe incentivising sales of new cars goes far enough and we will ensure that all trade-in vehicles are scrapped. Acting together we can take hundreds of thousands of the dirtiest cars off our roads and out of our cities.’

According to data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) there are around 19.3 million pre-Euro 5 vehicles on the road in the UK. Therefore, Ford believes it will be aiding the reduction of that number, which, together with other scrappage schemes from other manufacturers, could have the effect of reducing CO2 by 15 million tons per year.

Read more: Autovista Group

EVs reach best ever market share in July

Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, Sales

July saw the UK’s electric car market have its best performing month ever, taking a little over a 2% market share for the first time.

Significant growth for both pure electric models and plug-in hybrids combined with an overall decline in sales for the 2% figure to be reached. Pure EVs had an exceptional month, up 105% on July 2016 with 860 models registered. PHEVs still fared well, with a growth of 43% vs last year.

The strong performance of plug-in vehicles contrasts strongly with diesel’s performance, which continues to fall significantly. With 20% fewer sales than last year, the UK’s drop in new car registrations across all fuel types is largely attributable to this. Petrol cars were down 3% too though, and it is only alternatively fuelled cars – including hybrids – that was positive performances.

To date, there have now been more than 107,000 plug-in car grant eligible vehicles registered, 3,277 of those in July 2017. Last month’s figures were 50% up on the year before, and almost 25,000 PiCG-eligible models have been registered so far this year, up around 4,000 units compared to the same period in 2016.

In terms of EV market share, PHEVs had a far stronger month than in recently, with three quarters of plug-in car sales. Total electric car registrations came in at 3,503 for June, which also shows that more than 6% of plug-in car sales were not eligible for the PiCG. Whether that’s because of price or emissions/electric range, we don’t know.

All in all, July was a very positive month for electric cars and further typifies the shift away from diesel in the public consciousness. With recent news pieces about a ban on non-electrified new car sales in the UK from 2040, plus other announcements from manufacturers, it seems as though drivers are looking at plug-in models more than ever before.

Although July’s registrations were the sixth highest figures ever for the UK plug-in car market, the far more important aspect is how many are sold in comparison to conventional internal combustion cars.

July is typically a fairly quiet month for the market, only a little ahead of February and August – the months before the new registration plates – in terms of overall sales. It is encouraging then to see that plug-in cars are actually increasing in popularity while petrol and diesel sales – the latter especially – drop.

Source: Next Green Car