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We seem to be having a week of environmental issues! MP’s have prepared a new clean air report for consideration by the Government. In it they recommend that a new scrappage scheme be introduced for diesels and vehicle excise duty (car tax) should be based on nitrogen oxides as well as CO2 and not just CO2 as it is at the moment.

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The report was presented to the Chancellor before his Autumn Statement by the Environmental Audit Committee in a hope that he would take note and encourage people out of ‘polluting diesels’. The chairman of the committee, Huw Irranca-Davies, urged the Chancellor to strike a better balance, he went on to say ‘A National scrappage scheme could provide a shortcut to cleaning up the air in our cities.’

Whilst the Chancellor only retained the 3% benefit in kind loading on diesels in the Autumn Statement that’s not to say that more won’t be done in next year’s budget. My own view is that whilst we should focus on the environment we should stop all this knee jerk reaction, the like of which we’ve seen following the VW debacle.

They did it with pay day lenders which has ended up taking out competition and increasing the use of illegal money lenders and by extending the rules into the whole of the consumer finance industry, to an unnecessary degree, they could end up pushing us back into recession.

Things may look good for the Chancellor at the moment but will it still look quite so rosy in a year’s time when ‘affordability tests’ become the focus of attention by the PPI lawyers? By Graham Hill

Following on from my previous blog post in which I was musing over the next steps to a cleaner environment. Maybe VW/Audi had the answer all along!

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Rather than fiddle the emission figures they have been working in the back room on a revival of the hydrogen fuel cell, something of which I’m a great supporter. According to their press releases the car will be more dynamic and more efficient than anything else in production.

The only thing they haven’t revealed is the bodystyle they will use to launch the new technology. Audi have produced hydrogen powered concept cars in the past as A2 and Q5 models and they have recently been showing off the A7 h-tron prototype which can power to 62mph in 7.9 seconds with a range of 300 miles.

Dr Rene Van Doom, powertrain engineer for fuel cell technology, confirmed that Audi has four major priorities for the immediate future, one of which is alternative drivetrains. He added that Audi were set to go into volume production with fuel cells as soon as the market and infrastructure justifies the move.

Their 10 year plan includes providing an electric alternative for every model in its range. With mild hybrid (whatever that is), plug in or hydrogen cell system. In 2016 a new 48 volt hybrid will be launched with an electric compressor to eliminate the annoying turbo lag and boosting efficiency by shutting down the engine when coasting.

If that wasn’t enough to put them ahead of the game again they are now working on electronic dampers that not only reduce body roll but they use the movement to regenerate kinetic energy to charge your mobile phone and air-con in the way that kinetic energy generated in hybrid cars recharges batteries. They claim that they can recuperate 150 watts meaning a CO2 saving of 3g/km. Amazing!

They also mentioned that they still understand the importance of internal combustion engines and will not neglect development of this technology. Good to hear! By Graham Hill

2 years ago I reported on some comments made by an environmental and technical expert who said that European targets for emissions were not only becoming difficult to meet but impossible to meet.

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He explained that an internal combustion engine burns fossil fuel which has the negative effect of emitting undesirable gasses and particles that pollute the air. That is a fact that can’t be changed. The objectives to continually reduce the gasses is fine and very environmentally friendly but technology and additives can only go so far before the targets are impossible to meet.

We all know that the harder we drive our cars the higher the amount of fuel we use. We may get from A to B quicker but we use much more fuel in doing so and it goes without saying the more fuel we use the more gas we emit from the exhaust. So as we reach the limit of gas reduction is the next step a control on the way we drive.

The only measure used at the moment is CO2 but will NOx enter the equation following the VW debacle? And by halving the NOx emissions target (Euro VI diesel engines) have we created an impossible task for the manufacturers? As we know fuel consumption figures are shown using different driving conditions, urban, extra urban and combined.

They may not exactly reflect actual driving conditions but we have three, often very different figures so why do we have just one CO2 emission figure as well as other singular gas emission figures when clearly they must differ from 10mph to 100mph? It was clear, even 2 years ago when I expressed my opinion on this subject that some creativity would have to enter the equation if targets were to be met.

However, I didn’t expect that creativity to extend to out and out deception. And whilst there wasn’t a murmur when the new Euro VI emissions came into effect on the first of September, following the VW debacle many manufacturers have announced that they are struggling to meet the Euro VI targets – strange that isn’t it? So what next? Will we see driving style and speed controls?

Limits on motorways dropped to 60mph and a drop from 30 to 20 around town? Or maybe cameras that can measure acceleration away from lights to stop drivers from pretending to be Lewis Hamilton? All very worrying for us petrol heads! By Graham Hill

Great news for motorists over Christmas as the oil price riggers, OPEC, fail to agree on output and therefore a price for a barrel of oil so it’s turned out to be a bit of a free for all with the cost of a barrel now dropping below $40.

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This should mean a drop of 5 pence per litre at the pumps for diesel and a drop to less than a £1 per litre for petrol. The average price for diesel is already at a 6 year low at an average of 109.18 pence per litre at the pumps. First to move is expected to be the supermarkets.

Experts suggest that we could be as close as a week away from the price drops whilst others will be reasonably quick to follow. So whilst the producers continue to refuse to cut production we will see a continued drop in prices as the world becomes awash with fuel. To put this into perspective in mid 2014 oil rose to $115 per barrel.

Compared to this time last year the RAC has calculated that we will save on an average fill up £9 on a tank of petrol and £11 on a tank of diesel. Not to be sniffed at. Keep an eye on prices as the Government has asked the sellers to pass on the savings but of course some will refuse so we should avoid using them.

Whilst some commentators have suggested that the rate drops won’t be long lived others have predicted a period of steady price drops till it flattens out around the time that OPEC are due to meet next in June 2016. With production outpacing demand it’s good news for motorists, so fill your boots! As well as your tanks! By Graham Hill

Has anything changed in your life that you feel could affect your car insurance? Have you had an accident or managed to clock up some points on your driving licence. Maybe you have had your eyes tested and been told you are as blind as a bat?

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All of these things are pretty obvious but what about the not so obvious. I read recently about a spate of damage caused to nearly a hundred cars in Bournemouth by vandals.

If any of the owners were like me and managed to fill their garage up with junk, forcing them to park their cars in the road but didn’t tell their insurer that the car was now parked in the street overnight they could find themselves having a visit from their insurance company to see if they could park their car in their garage overnight, if not the insurer could refuse the claim.

You must advise the insurance company of any changes that could affect the premium, even if it is lower. If you move house you might remember to change your driving licence but what about the insurance? Where you live can affect your premium as can the job you do.

You may get a promotion or change employers in which case you should tell your insurance company. uSwitch carried out a survey to see how many drivers were potentially at risk because the information held by your insurer is out of date or inaccurate. The figure was a staggering 60%. When asked 41% of drivers were unaware that they had to tell their insurance companies about changes of circumstances.

They were also unaware that with most insurance companies every time you change details there is a charge of, on average, £22 but it can be as high as £50, something uSwitch suggest you check before you take out a new insurance policy, especially if any changes are imminent such as moving jobs or home. By Graham Hill

For years pundits have been predicting the demise of main dealers. The emergence of brokers, the Internet, car supermarkets have all caused the prophets of doom to claim that dealerships would cease to exist other than to sell used cars and carry out service and maintenance.

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But of course no such thing ever happened and dealers happily sell as many new cars as ever. But following the last warning could that be about to finally change? When Hyundai ‘set up shop’ in the Bluewater shopping centre near Dartford in Kent it was predicted that this futuristic way of selling cars was like garlic bread as Peter Kaye would say – ‘The Future’.

They gave the shop a funky name as well to appeal to a younger audience, they called it Rockar and added an equally funky futuristic web site to support the ‘shop’. The idea was to put car sales where people were in numbers rather than stick the dealership out in the middle of an industrial estate where people wouldn’t just drop in they had to make a concerted effort to go there. So a year on – did it work?

Replacing hard nosed salesmen with softly softly ‘angels’ providing advice and support rather than selling was a big change – did it work? Are we now going to see a move away from coffee shops in shopping centres to be replaced by car shops from every manufacturer? The answer is – possibly – moving towards probably.

Hyundai clearly don’t want their competitors to know how successful they have been but Auto Express has managed to collect some statistics. After just a year Rockar is in the top ten of Hyundai dealers for cars sold – good start. A massive 163,000 people have walked into the store over the last year.

The average age of the visitors is 39 compared to the average age of visitors to other dealerships which is 52. This average age was mainly as a result of the massive success they had with the scrappage scheme which was taken advantage of by older drivers. Women accounted for 54% of the customers, roughly double the number in other Hyundai dealerships.

And half of Rockar customers transact online after visiting the store in person. Whilst Hyundai played down their success by pointing out that they will never be without a network of bricks and mortar dealers but added that the increased use of the Internet in the transaction means that customers are moving closer to Bricks and Clicks.

It was a big and expensive gamble for Hyundai to take but is seems to be working as they announced another Rockar store next month in the Westfield shopping centre in Stratford, East London. Maybe it won’t be long before we see other manufacturers not only follow suit but maybe create their own shopping centre and we will see the Ford Centre or the Mercedes Centre – you heard it here first.