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In a recent piece I wrote about the grave lack of charge points that will prevent people from buying or leasing Electric Vehicles (EV’s) along with the lack of range and the ridiculously high cost to buy an EV compared to a petrol or diesel car – we have another factor. Batteries.

Despite everything, we are starting to see a rise in EV sales this year that has taken manufacturers by surprise. One would think that the solution would be simple – up the production of EV’s and solve the problem. On the face of it, that should be the solution but it would seem that increasing the supply of steel or say plastic components would be simple, increasing the supply of batteries isn’t so straight forward.

This increased production needs to be planned years ahead so the fact that Hyundai sold its whole year’s allocation of Kona electric models by March and has a waiting list of 2,000, Kia has also sold out of its year’s allocation of 1,000 e-Niro models it’s put pressure on battery supply. And there simply isn’t the production capacity.

And the increased demand isn’t just the UK, global demand has shot up making the problem even worse. EV’s have suddenly moved from being in the doldrums to higher than expected demand causing car manufacturers to up the investment stakes into battery development and production. Nissan, whilst suffering low sales of their Leaf has now reached ‘Inflection Point’ according to Roel De Vries, corporate vice president, global head of marketing at Nissan.

In other words, demand has outstripped expectations. But, as he pointed out, increasing supply of batteries isn’t as simple as increasing order quantities or place additional orders with other suppliers. The global suppliers are at capacity and if new suppliers are to come online it will take two years to get from plans to production.

In order to address the problem Nissan has taken a stake in Automotive Energy Supply and Toyota has signed an agreement with Panasonic to develop and make Lithium-ion, solid state and next-generation batteries. Other manufacturers are following suit. Kia has partnered two battery producers in order to avoid future bottlenecks in battery supply.

The other issue is cost which needs to come down substantially. Currently, the battery pack in an EV represents 40% of the total cost of the car and this has reduced from 70% over the last 7 years. KPMG expect the battery cost to drop by another 50% by 2030 to 20% of the cost of the car as a result of cell chemistry and economies of larger scale production.

Autotrader have also pointed out that the cost of producing an internal combustion engine is around £1,000 to £2,500 whilst an electric powertrain is approximately £8,000. But in a typical contradiction whenever we discuss EV’s PA Consultancy predict that parity between electric car cost and diesel car cost will reach parity as soon as next year. Given supply and demand of batteries, I find that very hard to believe.

Tesla pointed out that under-investment in mining over the last few years has led to a situation where raw materials could be in seriously short supply. Lithium is limited and could be the first problem so mining companies are searching for areas to mine to increase supply. Nickel is also another metal that will give supply problems.

Beyond the metals we have Cobalt and other minerals that also have to be mined. And the problems don’t stop with the mining. Specialist group, Security of Supply of Mineral Resources (SSMR) have pointed out that 60% of the world’s Cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo controlled by Chinese traders who use child labour and low pay.

They warn that we need supplies from more stable parts of the world or risk being held to ransom by unscrupulous traders. Who said moving to electric vehicles would be easy? Probably the same people who predicted that leaving the EU would be a breeze! By Graham Hill

So what’s he up to this time I hear you ask? Well Mr Angry of West Sussex here is getting really annoyed that we don’t hear anything concrete from this Government regarding diesel cars vs petrol cars vs hybrids vs electric cars.

He’s called for a national scrappage scheme which I don’t disagree with. The real culprits are the very old cars and vans that can be seen spewing out thick smoke and soot which is clearly not good for the atmosphere and the health of our nation.

Having said that MOT testers now have to carry out a visual check on the exhaust of all vehicles and if they are spewing out smoke they fail – simple as. Back to Mr Khan, he’s calling for a national scrappage scheme, not to put people into newer petrol cars that would be a step in the right direction (not exactly as I’ll explain) but into pure electric vehicles.

Well, first of all, you don’t have to be a financial whizz kid to realise that people that are driving old diesel cars about are either eccentric multi-millionaires that are tight with their money but can appreciate a good deal when they see it or is it because they are financially stretched and can’t afford a newer car otherwise they would be driving one?

So expecting these people to swap their old diesel for either a hugely expensive new electric car or a used electric with a range of 3 miles, on a good day, is pure idiocy! And if we could incentivise the diesel drivers to move across to electric cars what about the infrastructure. I live in a rural Sussex town but with the remnants of an old marriage taking up space in my garage that couldn’t accommodate my car anyway (even if it was empty) and with no power to the garage – charging in my garage would not be an option.

Parking in the road is manic and with lamp posts located on the inside of the pavements, we couldn’t even mount chargers on the lamp posts. The idea that we can convert everyone into EV drivers is a pipedream and not possible until battery technology catches up. A lightweight battery pack that could be easily removed from the car and charged indoors then reconnected into the car when needed could be a solution – but we aint there yet!

In the meantime, the answer would be to get new car buyers, with the ability to charge electric vehicles, to buy EV’s or plug in hybrids, the more sold would bring down the cost of used cars and make them more affordable.

But as the Government has removed the subsidy on hybrids and reduced the subsidy on EV’s it’s hardly a move in the right direction. And even companies, keen to get their company car drivers into EV’s with zero emissions face the challenge from employees that BIK tax this year, even on cars with zero emissions, face a BIK bill of 16% of the car’s overpriced list price.

I should also mention that if you read my 3 part report into the findings by the Germans who carried out a large survey into latest generation diesel cars only to find that emissions of NOx, CO2 and particulates were less than petrol when tested on the road in real world conditions so if anything we should be moving back to diesel as an interim measure.

Sorry Mr Khan, consider the above then I would get back to the drawing board if I were you!  By Graham Hill

We all know that the more electric vehicles on our roads in the UK the greater the demand for public charge points. Even with public charge points you will need a domestic charge point as the cost of charging an electric car using a public charge point pushes up the cost per mile.

When the fuel stations started to introduce fast chargers they were charging an introductory rate which was roughly half price. Once they increased the rates the cost per mile was higher for an electric car than a petrol or diesel car. Whilst local authority installed charge points should be cheaper they will still be more expensive than domestic chargers.

However, London has decided to assist motorists and encourage the purchase of electric cars by converting lamp posts into EV charge points as part of a £300,000 project. The points can deliver charge rates of up to 7.7Kw, and are being installed at 50 lamp posts in Southwark.

The charge points are being supplied by char.gy and funded by Go Ultra Low City Scheme. The chargers can be accessed by EV drivers on pay-as-you-go basis. Poppy Welch from Go Ultra Low said she wants to see, ‘All new street lighting columns include charging points’ in areas with on-street parking. By Graham Hill

Similar to speed cameras, new cameras are being trialled to measure noise levels from vehicles and like speed cameras, they will record the registration number of the vehicle exceeding legal limits.

The trial has been authorised by Transport Secretary Chris Grayling and will take place later this year. The cameras will detect noisy vehicles in quiet residential areas and anyone caught breaking noise level laws will be fined.

Noise pollution is becoming a big problem. So much so that many police forces have set up on-line systems that allow members of the public to report incidents. Mr Grayling is following the example set by Canada, Singapore, Australia and the UAE who are already using noise cameras.

Mr Grayling is keen to see the results of the trials as he is concerned about the misery caused to communities by thoughtless drivers exceeding acceptable noise pollution levels. If the trials are successful he will roll the cameras out across the whole of the UK.  The trials will also help to formalise legal noise levels. As a general rule noise levels over 90 decibels constitutes a nuisance but there is no formal noise limit.

So if you are having problems with car or motorcycle noise you can report it but it probably won’t be long before they install noise cameras somewhere near you. By Graham Hill

Dometic.com has developed a new tech portable battery to plug all of your technology into including portable fridges and freezers. In their words, they have developed ‘the most advanced battery technology on the market’ to keep all your kit charged and powered.

Their heavy duty unit, the PL40 uses a 40Ah LiFePo4 (Lithium Iron Phosphate) power pack which the makers claim can deliver a stable output for longer than lithium-ion versions. The Swedish makers claim that it is also the lightest and most powerful battery in its class.

It comes with a range of outputs including twin USB slots for charging, phones, laptops and tablets. But the main role when camping, picnicking or on holiday is to power something like one of Dometic’s cool and freezer boxes via its 12v socket. It can run one for up to 40 hours.

It has a built-in LCD display which shows charging and output status. There’s also a sturdy handle for easy carrying. There are three ways to charge the unit. From mains power at home, via the 12v socket in the car or with a solar panel once you’ve arrived at your destination.

Dometic has also released a new range of inverters that turn 12v into mains power. The Sinepower DSP-C Series delivers up to 2,000w from the car battery and can charge it when plugged into the mains. There are three models, starting at £129. See their website at www.dometic.com  By Graham Hill

Whilst the three biggest problems preventing drivers from making the switch, i.e. price of cars, range and charging infrastructure a new challenge has emerged. If an electric or plug-in hybrid car breaks down or is involved in an accident it needs specialist recovery. Fleet News has investigated the implications.

The two main issues are battery complications and the fact that electric vehicles (EV’s) cannot be towed or moved unless the car can be switched on to enable the car to be put into neutral, freeing up the wheels that will be locked in gear.

To reduce the risk of battery fires or electrocution, most EVs use circuit breakers that disconnect the high-voltage system if an impact is detected.

The emergency services will also seek to disconnect any high-voltage components on electric vehicles if they are required to attend. These added complications  mean recovery firms can have a tougher job of collecting these often heavy vehicles.

When a BMW i3 operated by Speedy Services was involved in a collision, it took 15 hours for the vehicle to be recovered by the company’s appointed recovery agent, the AA.

“When the first AA man turned up, he said he didn’t know anything about electric vehicles,” said Gareth Jones, transport compliance manager at Speedy Services.

“A second man arrived later. He was concerned that the battery was damaged and there could be a health and safety issue around transporting hazardous materials.”

The i3 was immobile because there was no power to it.  Jones said they couldn’t disengage the handbrake and the electric motor was locked, so the wheels wouldn’t turn.

A third AA vehicle – a flatbed truck with a winch – was able to recover the car. But the operator first had to work out the weight of the car and the angle it would need to be pulled at, to see if the winch was powerful enough.

“The operator had to literally drag the car up onto a flatbed truck. It was the most annoying day,” said Jones. Speedy Services has been operating three BMW i3s, which have been converted into vans, for the past two years. This incident was the first the fleet encountered.

“We were flabbergasted that companies like the AA seemed unaware of how to deal with it,” said Jones.

“I don’t think the UK is geared up to recover vehicles of this type yet. It hasn’t put us off EVs though. We’ve all got to move forwards and embracing new technology is a core part of our business. What we have to do is look at how we are going to stop it happening again.”

In a statement, the AA said all its patrols are trained to work safely on EVs. However, it did point out that where EVs suffer damage in the event of an accident, there could
be additional health and safety considerations before recovering the vehicle. This may require further risk assessments or equipment. In order to make the scene safe, it may also include specialist support for road traffic collisions.

The Institute of Vehicle Recovery (IVR) delivers specialist training to enable recovery firms to handle electrified vehicles correctly. It has seen a lot of demand for its EV course.

Mark Hartell, vice-chairman of the IVR, said: “It is vital that all technicians, and those responsible for sending them out, appreciate the hazards and specialist knowledge required to recover this type of vehicle.”

Jones advises fleet operators to ensure that recovery firms are aware they are being called to deal with an electric vehicle, whether directly or through an accident management provider.

Pete Williams, RAC road safety spokesman, said: “Our approach to EVs and hybrids is consistent with how we deal with conventional petrol and diesel vehicles. In the event of an accident, if requested to recover an EV vehicle by the fleet manager, we would send a flatbed lorry.

“EVs present a particular challenge as most cannot be towed normally and should be transported with all wheels off the ground. It is a similar situation with many other modern vehicles, including crossovers, SUVs, 4x4s, pick-ups, vans and automatics.

“In response, we have developed our new All-Wheels-Up equipment that effectively brings flatbed recovery capability to our standard long-wheel based orange patrol vans. To date, 600 have been equipped with this new kit. So a single van can recover an EV – saving the driver valuable time.”

The total number of fully electric cars registered in the UK rose by 59% last year, accounting for about 1% of total sales. Plug-in hybrids are more popular, making up 2.8% of sales.

A recent survey by Kia found that 87% of fleet managers have encountered increased demand for electrified vehicles, but the majority feel that the cars won’t be suitable for another two to five years.

Kia’s Fleet Green Perspectives Report found that 65% of fleets operate plug-in vehicles, an increase of 27% in the past year.

It seems that we need to go much further if we are to convince drivers to embrace EV’s and move across from petrol and diesel cars. We only seem to be scratching the surface and paying lip service to those who want to live in a cleaner environment. By Graham Hill

Drivers repeatedly caught leaving their car engine running while parked could be hit with instant fines in a bid to curb pollution, according to reports.

Environment secretary Michael Gove has backed Westminster City Council’s call to be granted powers which could see drivers who are caught idling to be fined without warning, the Times says.

The existing arrangement sees officers issue a warning, followed by a fine if a driver keeps the car running for at least a minute – depending on which regulation is used by an authority fines can either be £20 or £80.

Experts claim idling engines are harmful to the environment as they can produce greater emissions than one which is in motion.

Westminster City Council issued just 20 fines last year but other councils – including City of London, Camden, Croydon, Reading, Norwich and Canterbury did not issue fines for idling.

Nickie Aiken, Westminster Council leader, said: “Fines are our last resort but when we establish a pattern of persistent idling we need to be able to send a message.”

And she argued the likes of supermarket delivery vans should be hit with a four-figure sum to be “sufficient deterrent”

Mr Gove said that instant fines for repeat offenders should be considered as a solution to the problem.

It was important to ensure that the new powers would be used proportionately by councils, he added.

Camden council, which wants to be able to issue instant fines, has warned more than 400 drivers but has issued no fines since it was granted the powers last year

The Department for Transport said: “We are determined to reduce the damaging environmental impacts of drivers who keep their engines running while stationary, especially those in school zones.

“This is why we are making guidance for local authorities clearer, so that they know how and when to target drivers falling foul of the law. We will be polling local authorities to understand how any potential review of these powers may look in the future.” By Graham Hill & AOL News

Andy Eastlake, managing director of the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership (LowCVP), says the “overriding aim” must be to accelerate the drive to “truly, low pollution vehicles” and to rapidly increase the number of zero emission miles driven.

However, he told Fleet News: “While combustion fuels still predominate, we need to use all the tools in the box to deliver lower CO2 and cleaner air, and the efficiency of diesel engines should be captured where possible.

“The latest diesels must, and with RDE2 can now be shown to, deliver emissions as low as petrol.”

Indeed, tests conducted by German automobile club ADAC on some of the latest models, not officially classified as RDE2, suggest they are as clean as their petrol counterparts.

The conformity factor for RDE2 gives an actual on-the-road limit of 114mg/km for diesel and 86mg/km for petrol.

Nearly all the cars tested by ADAC emitted less than 50mg/km

The Volkswagen Golf 1.6 TDI SCR performed exactly the same as its petrol counterpart, emitting 14mg/km of NOx.

ADAC performed the tests using a portable emissions measurement device (PEMS), in the same way as the official test.

Erik Jonnaert, secretary general of the ACEA, the European trade association for carmakers, believes modern diesel cars can play a strong role in helping cities move towards compliance with air quality targets.

“It is important we stop demonising diesel technology as a whole,” he said. “Instead, we need to differentiate between the old diesel fleet and the latest generation of vehicles.”

The second stage of Real Driving Emissions testing (RDE2) calls for no more than 114 mg/km of nitrogen oxides (NOx) over a wide envelope of real-world driving conditions. This requires an impressive clean emissions performance from diesel vehicles. But should we trust the system this time?

We can be more confident now, yes. RDE2 is very similar to what has been in place in the USA for more than 10 years. The US test is easier, but the limit is lower and the engineering task overall is similar.

RDE2 vehicles are typically delivering emissions in the 20-40mg/km range on the Emissions Analytics’ test cycle, compared with the average of pre-RDE diesels in Europe of around 400mg/km. So, at least an order of magnitude reduction.

Further, the imminent introduction of in-service conformity testing, which can be carried out by third parties, will make it risky to cheat, meaning confidence in RDE2 results should be higher.

Good though they are, these RDE2 vehicles will not be enough to solve urban air quality problems.

Why? At the same time as these RDE2 vehicles are on sale, for the next six months there will still be new diesels available legally emitting 400mg/km and more – all labelled Euro 6.

As Euro 6 has been in place since 2014, the number of pre-RDE Euro 6 diesels on the road will dwarf the number of RDE2 vehicles for years to come. Even some of the early RDE1 vehicles skate close to the emissions limit and will never be subject to in-service conformity testing.

Action is needed on these pre-RDE vehicles to solve urban air quality and rebuild trust in diesel technology – whether or not that is wanted by policymakers. It may prove necessary to meet climate change goals.

Making the regulations for future vehicles ever harder is burdening manufacturers – and ultimately buyers – with unnecessary cost, when the more efficient solution is to address the dirty Euro 6s already on the road. To enable this, genuinely independent ratings are required to compare vehicles of all types and ages, not just piecemeal self-certification by manufacturers. In that way, more targeted and efficient procurement and city access policies can be set.

Rebuilding trust and evidencing the low emissions of their current vehicles are key reasons why Jaguar Land Rover submitted a range of its latest diesel vehicles to the independent AIR Index test (www.airindex.com). These are ratings based on the new European standard methodology CWA17379 and conducted for the independent AIR Alliance (www.allowAIR.org).

The ratings apply to vehicles of any age and are controlled by neither governments nor manufacturers so, for once, the results, can truly be trusted. By Graham Hill (Thanks To Fleet News)

Brexit will not diminish the emissions rules either, given the Government has said they will apply when the UK leaves the EU.

The rules have been called into question in the courts, however, with three cities – Brussels, Madrid and Paris – successfully challenging the provision allowing on-the-road emission limits to vary from those required in the laboratory.

The European Court of Justice ruled in their favour, saying that the European Commission (EC) had no power to weaken the emission limits.

The ruling meant the Commission needed to amend the RDE regulation to ensure that diesel vehicles actually emit less than 80mg/km during the on-the-road test.

The EC subsequently lodged an appeal against the ruling and is also preparing new legislation that will have the same effect as the law declared illegal by the courts in December.

Elzbieta Bienkowska, European Commissioner for industry, says that if the new legislation is adopted in time, the commission will withdraw the appeal. By Graham Hill (Thanks To Fleet News)

Fleets and some consumers are taking delivery of the first RDE2 diesel cars, cutting vehicle excise duty (VED) and company car tax, with manufacturers promising that more models will follow.

Mercedes-Benz stole a march late last year, when it added two new diesel engines to the A-Class range – the A 200d and the A 220d – which met stricter emissions limits, well before they become the legal requirement.

The new units have been tested to the RDE2 standard, meaning company car drivers will benefit from tax savings thanks to the removal of the 4% benefit-in-kind (BIK) tax diesel surcharge.

Fleets will also benefit from not having to pay the higher first-year rate of VED on new diesel cars not meeting the RDE2 standard.

The German carmaker says it now has eight RDE2-compliant cars available to order: A200d, A220d (both available as saloon or hatch), B200d, B220d, GLE 350d and GLE 400d. The first deliveries were made in February.

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has also been quick out of the blocks, announcing in January that the all-new XF 2.0-litre diesel 163PS and 180PS rear-wheel drive variants had been certified as RDE2-compliant.

It says this could save 40% taxpayers up to £2,304 in company car tax over three years compared with models which are subject to the 4% diesel surcharge.

JLR subsequently announced that the revised XE would also be available with an RDE2-compliant 180PS diesel engine, as well as 163PS and 180PS XF Sportbrake models and the new 150PS Evoque.

The manufacturer told Fleet News that further announcements on RDE2-compliant cars are “imminent” and deliveries of the first tax-busting models would be made by the end of this month.

It says its latest diesel engines offer approximately 25% better fuel economy than their petrol equivalents, produce around 15% less CO2 and emit around the same amount of NOx.

Rawdon Glover, managing director of JLR UK, attributed its success to “significant investment” in advanced engine technology.

“These new diesel engines meet the demanding target, set by the latest European standards, well ahead of schedule,” he said. “The test results reflect their performance in real-world driving conditions.”

BMW told Fleet News that the new 1 Series will be its first model that is classified as RDE2. A spokesman said: “We will introduce RDE2 technology into the BMW range from the middle of this year, with the first customer deliveries in Q3.

“There will be a staggered roll-out of this technology across the range but the full model range will, of course, be compliant ahead of the required deadline.”

Vauxhall is also advanced with its plans, with the new Astra, due for launch this summer (first deliveries Q4), the first of its RDE2-compliant models. “Then it comes model by model,” said the company.

However, Audi admitted it was still in the “preparatory phase” after dealing with re-homologation under the Worldwide harmonised Light vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP).

A spokesman said: “We continue to work at full speed on this to close the remaining gaps in our product range and to minimise delays.” By Graham Hill (Thanks to Fleet News)