By Ross Williams
Alpha Contracts Leasing
THERESA May really does know what she is doing; Newcastle United are the World’s Greatest Team and buying an electric hybrid car will save the planet.
Well, you probably have your own versions of the above but the last one definitely isn’t true if you read the recent report by the Miles Consultancy for the BBC. They discovered that despite record numbers of Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV) hybrid cars being sold (and the UK is the biggest market in Europe for PHEV vehicles thanks to a Government Grant incentive worth up to £4,500 to persuade drivers to switch to a greener method of travel) the actual figures seem to paint an opposite and disturbing view.
The average fuel consumption on these cars is actually nearer to 40mg rather than the 130-plus that is often advertised. Indeed, many drivers have never even unwrapped their plug-in cable which remains in the original plastic wrapping months after the vehicle was delivered. The cars are predominantly being bought by company fleets who use the Government Grant to reduce their cost of purchase or lease, and this decision is further driven (no pun intended) by the company car drivers who see the benefit to them personally of a reduced personal tax bill by taking a low CO2 PHEV car as their company vehicle. This is not a criticism of the company, or the driver, who are only making their decisions based on the rules that exist.
One urban myth not noted above is that the Chancellor of the Exchequer, together with HMRC have a coherent plan for persuading drivers to change their purchasing decisions to help the environment. Well they don’t. We have a poorly designed tax system which has resulted in drivers taking these vehicles to save tax, then not using them as designed which means they and the environment aren’t getting the benefits intended. They are using more fossil fuel, not less. In addition, HMRC haven’t yet decided on BIK levels for tax year 2021-2022 yet and that affects the purchasing decision of company cars drivers now!
The trigger for this article (rant?) was the BBC report, but it sent me thinking about people stating the bleeding obvious, which I changed to the more acceptable Urban Myth headline. But what did they expect? Perhaps the Government can console themselves that when the power stations can’t supply our electricity we’ll all know someone with a PHEV that can be used as a light generator!
One myth that is absolutely true is the existence of Santa Claus, we at Alpha Contracts hope you have all been good readers and that Santa brings you exactly what you would like. Of course the old boy is a bit under pressure at this time of year so if we can help then let the sales team at Alpha Contracts Leasing know on 01604 756620 and we will try to solve your Christmas Present problem for you!
Safe motoring and a Happy Christmas and New Year