Category Archives: Pollution

Motorists reconsider electric cars amid lockdown

April 17, 2020Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and Comment, PollutionRepost

Government-enforced lockdowns around the world, due to Covid-19, are without doubt making life difficult for many, but they are also having a dramatic positive impact on people’s awareness of the benefits to the environment, reports Venson Automotive Solutions.

45% of people surveyed by Venson confirmed that the radical improvement on air pollution across the globe as a result of the demobilisation of transport, has made them reconsider their electric vehicle (EV) ownership plans. A further 17% said it reaffirmed the decision they had already made to make the switch to an EV.

Of the 45% of motorists who are now reassessing their EV options, 19% said their next company car or private purchase would be an EV, with the remaining 26% confirming they intend to become an EV driver in the next 5 years. In an EV attitudes survey conducted by Venson in July 2019, 41% of people said they were considering moving to an EV, but 31% said that wouldn’t for another 10-15 years, confirming the intention by many to play their part in protecting the environment has since accelerated.

“Reducing emissions has been a hot topic and a clear government, business and personal target for several years now,” Alison Bell, Marketing Director at Venson Automotive Solutions commented, “but still the growth of electric vehicle (EV) ownership has been slow. This is despite evidence that transport is responsible for 23% of global emissions, and driving petrol and diesel fuelled vehicles contributes 72% of the transport sector’s greenhouse gas emissions*.”

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Petrol stations may close due to low demand, warns trade body

April 8, 2020Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and Comment, Oil, PollutionRepost

Petrol Retailers Association warns dramatic dive in sales during pandemic will make businesses “unviable”

Petrol stations could be the next victim of the coronavirus pandemic, after warnings that a dearth of business will force many to close in the coming weeks.

The Petrol Retailers Association (PRA), which represents the independent fuel retailers that make up the majority of UK forecourts, cites a government survey claiming sales of petrol have fallen by an average of 75% across the UK, with diesel down 71%.

“Many petrol stations will have to close in the coming weeks, as sales of fuel dry up and their businesses become unviable,”

the PRA said in a statement.

Stations in hardest-hit rural areas will be most at risk, it claims. Motorists are advised to check that their local station is actually open before leaving the house.

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Electric car emissions myth ‘busted’

March 30, 2020Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and Comment, PollutionRepost

Fears that electric cars could actually increase carbon emissions are a damaging myth, new research shows.

Media reports have questioned if electric cars are really “greener” once emissions from manufacture and electricity generation are counted.

The research concludes that in most places electric cars produce fewer emissions overall – even if generation still involves fossil fuels.

Other studies warn that driving overall must be reduced to hit climate targets.

The new research from the universities of Exeter, Nijmegen – in The Netherlands – and Cambridge shows that in 95% of the world, driving an electric car is better for the climate than a petrol car.

The only exceptions are places like Poland, where electricity generation is still mostly based on coal.

Lifetime emissions

The researchers say average “lifetime“ emissions from electric cars are up to 70% lower than petrol cars in countries like Sweden and France (where most electricity comes from renewables and nuclear), and around 30% lower in the UK.

They say the picture for electric cars will become steadily more favourable as nations shift to clean electricity.

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PM confirms 2035 ICE ban, but must be followed with ‘real action’ industry warns

February 24, 2020Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and Comment, Pollution, SalesRepost

The phase-out of petrol and diesel cars is to be brought forward from 2040 to 2035, Prime Minister Boris Johnson today confirmed.

The ban is also now set to include hybrids for the first time, with the potential for an earlier phase-out date than 2035 subject to a consultation.

The PM confirmed the new date in a speech at a launch event for COP26, which is to be held in Glasgow later this year.

Transport secretary Grant Shapps said the government is bringing forward the “already ambitious target” as it wants to go “further than ever before”.

Shapps first announced plans to consult on an earlier phase-out date in October 2019, suggesting 2035 as the date the government should aim for.

The commitment to a new date has been welcomed, with OVO Energy’s director of EVs Tom Pakenham saying it “indicates how the government is serious in” leading the world in transport electrification.

“The new 2035 deadline will accelerate the supply and uptake of electric vehicles, but also give enterprises and the grid enough time to create the solutions needed to effectively manage them.”

However, Helen Clarkson, CEO of The Climate Group, which runs the EV100 scheme, said the date “could still be sooner”, suggesting that 2030 is required to be a global leader or else the UK risks “being out of step with our international peers”.

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Nissan supplies discounted Leaf EVs to Uber in London

February 7, 2020Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and Comment, Pollution, SalesRepost

Mobility service plans for all 45,000 of its London drivers to use electric vehicles by 2025

Nissan will supply 2000 Leaf EVs to Uber in London, as part of the mobility service’s goal to make its fleet in the capital fully electric by 2025.

Supplied in entry-level 40kWh guise, the Sunderland-built Leaf offers Uber drivers 168 miles of range per charge. Nissan is supplying the electric hatch to the ride-hailing firm at a ‘dedicated transaction price’, offering drivers around £4500 off the car’s £26,345 list price, depending on the number of miles they have driven.

The company has added a 15p ‘Clean Air Fee’ to all journeys made in London, which will be used to help its employees pay for the new Nissan models.

Uber hopes that all 45,000 Uber cars operating in London will be fully electric by 2025, and has so far raised £80 million to “support drivers transitioning to electric vehicles”. After switching into an EV, the Clean Air Fee will go towards the driver’s ongoing operating costs.

Uber’s ‘Clean Air Plan’ to reduce emissions came into effect in January 2019. The company claims 900,000 trips across the capital have been made in electric vehicles since then – a 350% increase over 2018 – and that more than 500 drivers per week are using fully electric cars.

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Electric car sales are rising, but so are emissions. What’s going on?

February 5, 2020Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and Comment, Pollution, SalesRepost

More of us are buying electric cars than ever before, but our emissions are still going up. Falling diesel and rising SUV sales are to blame

Here’s a misleading statistic: UK electric car sales doubled in 2019. According to market insights firm LMC Automotive, battery electric vehicles made up 1.6 per cent of UK sales in 2019, about double the year before. But this doesn’t mean the UK’s automotive emissions are heading in the right direction. The reality is far more murky.

Last year, the average carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of cars sold in the UK rose for the third year in a row. And for every electric car purchased in 2019, we bought 37 SUVs. Our growing interest in bigger, heavier vehicles, plus the sudden decline in diesel car sales, has pulled the UK further away from its looming transport emissions targets.

It’s a big step backwards, at exactly the wrong moment. The average CO2 emissions per kilometre for UK cars now stands at 127.9 grams – well past the EU’s new target of 95g of CO2 per kilometre for new cars. If auto manufacturers don’t hit the target, they’ll be hit with big fines.

“It’s going to be a tough couple of years,” says Al Bedwell, head of powertrain forecast at LMC. “At the moment the gap between where CO2 is now and where it needs to be at the end of next year, for some car makers, is pretty big. So there’s a real dilemma.” Car brands may need to start selling electric vehicles at a loss in order to meet the goals, he says. “There is definitely a risk that some of them will miss the target and will end up paying quite big fines to the commission.”

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Driving into a city should become as antisocial as smoking

January 30, 2020Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and Comment, Opinion, PollutionRepost

Imagine a capital city where nobody has to die on the roads.

It may sound almost impossible, but last year not a single pedestrian, cyclist or child lost their life on the streets of Norway’s capital, Oslo; the only fatality recorded was a motorist crashing into a fence. (By comparison 12 people were killed in Bristol, a city slightly smaller than Oslo, in 2017 – and over half of them were pedestrians or cyclists.)

The catch? The lives saved in Norway seem to have been a byproduct of a bigger plan to become a carbon-neutral city that would probably spark a mutiny if you tried it here. Oslo has closed some streets to traffic entirely, removed parking spaces across the city to deter drivers, introduced measures to stop parents doing the school run by car and reduced speed limits. There’s plentiful public transport and lots of bike lanes but the bottom line is, as Oslo’s mayor says, that while cities will always have traffic, “the drivers should act as guests”. And not very welcome guests, by the sound of it.

Something like this would probably be the future for British cities, if we were serious about dealing with the air pollution filling urban children’s lungs, as well as tackling the climate crisis. This week, Birmingham announced proposals to stop people driving across the city centre, amid research suggesting that illegal levels of air pollution may be shortening the lives of children growing up in the city by up to half a year. Cars will be allowed into a new clean-air zone, but not through it to reach other parts of the city, forcing them out around the ring road, or otherwise encouraging drivers on to the bus.

It’s following in the footsteps of other cities, including Bristol, which unveiled proposals last autumn to ban diesel cars from parts of the city in daytime, and Oxford, which this week published plans for a zero-emission zone in the centre with a £10 charge for non-compliant vehicles. Suddenly you can imagine a time when driving into a smog-laden city, in all but the greenest cars and for all but the most essential journeys, will feel as antisocial as smoking on the bus.

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Sales of electric vehicles rise by 144 per cent as diesel cars decline in popularity

January 26, 2020Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and Comment, Pollution, SalesRepost

In a depressed new car market, sales of electric vehicles rose by 144 per cent in 2019, while diesel models continued the sharp slide in popularity witnessed in recent years.

Overall, Brexit uncertainties, weak consumer and business confidence and slow overall economic growth helped push new car sales down.

Preliminary figures suggest a fall of around 2.3 per cent in 2019, to 2.3 million units.

According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, the main industry body, new cars sales will fall again in 2020, albeit by less than previously forecast and with the rate of decline slowing – down another 1.6 per cent by 2021.

Diesel is a major factor in the current market – a fall of 21.8 per cent last year as many potential customers simply postpone buying new until they have more clarity about future taxation and regulation of diesels.

Mike Hawes, chief executive of the SMMT described it as a another “turbulent 12 months” with the trade facing the same tough challenges.

As one of the few bright features in a gloomy scene, the growing acceptance and popularity of pure electric cars and stands out as a trend that should help, albeit in a modest way, the government to achieve its targets on CO2 emissions.

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Average CO2 emissions of cars sold in UK up for third year in row

January 24, 2020Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and Comment, Pollution, SalesRepost

Popularity of SUVs and falling diesel sales hit Britain’s hopes of reaching climate targets

The average carbon dioxide emissions of cars sold in the UK rose for the third year in a row during 2019 as falling diesel sales and the rising popularity of SUVs dealt a blow to Britain’s hopes of reaching climate targets.

Average CO2 emissions rose for the third year in a row, up 2.7% year on year to 127.9g of CO2 per kilometre, according to data from the car industry body. This is far above the newly introduced EU target of 95g per kilometre carmakers need to achieve over this year and next for all new cars. Cars account for just over 18% of UK emissions, according to government figures. Transport emissions as a whole account for a third of the UK total, with the sector viewed as vital contributor if the country is to achieve goals of cutting emissions to 51% of 1990 levels by 2025 and to reach net zero by 2050.

All manufacturers selling in the EU are rushing to meet emissions regulations that came into force on 1 January. The regulations were introduced in response to the climate crisis, with road transport a major contributor to global CO2 emissions.

Overall UK car sales fell by 2.4% year on year to about 2.3m, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, with the industry body blaming Brexit uncertainty and the slump in diesel sales as the main factors.

This indicates the worst year for the UK market since 2013, when sales were 2.26m. They reached a peak of 2.7m in 2016 but have declined steadily since.

A quarter of the CO2 increase was caused by the 21.8% drop in diesel sales over the year. Newer diesels on average have lower CO2 emissions than petrol cars, despite a backlash prompted by air quality concerns. Another quarter was caused by increased sales of SUVs, which are often heavier and have much worse aerodynamic profiles than smaller cars. Increased fuel use by SUVs was the second largest contributor to the increase in global CO2 emissions from 2010 to 2018, according to the International Energy Agency.

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Climate change: If you worry about global warming, the next car you buy should be electric

January 22, 2020Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and Comment, Opinion, PollutionRepost

If you’re concerned about climate change, the next car you buy really should be electric.

Why? Because the average car, SUV or light truck in the United States is on the road for 11.8 years. So vehicles bought this coming year will be part of the shift away from fossil fuels that climate scientists say needs to be well underway within 10 years.

“By 2030 we need to be really well into this transition. Which means people need to be buying these cars now,” said Lewis Fulton, director of the Sustainable Transportation Energy Pathways program at the University of California, Davis.

The message is getting out there. In May, 16% of Americans said they were likely to buy an electric vehicle the next time they were in the market for a new or used car. Their leading reasons were concern for the environment and lower long-term costs of EVs, according to a AAA survey.

The good news, say owners, is that today’s electric cars are cost-effective, reliable, fun to drive and get upward of 200 miles to the charge so it’s not a hardship.

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