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Tesla is allowing non-Tesla vehicles in the UK to use its Supercharger network, as part of a pilot scheme.

The electric car maker has opened 15 Supercharger stations, with 158 charge points, to drivers of non-Tesla vehicles across the UK.

The sites are located at Aberystwyth, Adderstone, Aviemore, Banbury, Birmingham St Andrews, Cardiff, Dundee, Flint, Folkestone Eurotunnel, Grays, Manchester Trafford Centre, Thetford, Trumpington, Uxbridge and Wokingham.

Drivers must use the Tesla smartphone app to access the chargers. Pricing is set at 60p per kWh, for non-Tesla owners, although a monthly subscription of £10.99 will provide cheaper rates.

A statement issued by Tesla said: “Access to an extensive, convenient and reliable fast-charging network is critical for large-scale EV adoption. That’s why, since opening our first Superchargers in 2012, we have been committed to rapid expansion of the network. Today, we have more than 30,000 Superchargers worldwide.

“Tesla drivers can continue to use these stations as they always have, and we will be closely monitoring each site for congestion and listening to customers about their experiences.

“More customers using the Supercharger network enables faster expansion. Our goal is to learn and iterate quickly, while continuing to aggressively expand the network, so we can eventually welcome both Tesla and non-Tesla drivers at every Supercharger worldwide.”

Tesla chargers are equipped with two connectors. One for Tesla vehicles and a CCS connector. Tesla has not confirmed the maximum charging speeds available to non-Tesla owners at the points.

Last year, Tesla launched a similar trial in the Netherlands. It also provides non-Tesla drivers with access to its Supercharger network in Austria, Belgium, France, Norway, Spain and Sweden.  By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

A shortage of wiring harnesses due to the conflict in Ukraine has overtaken the semiconductor crisis as the biggest supply chain problem for Volkswagen.

The German car maker is moving production of the harnesses to north Africa and eastern Europe, as Russia’s war on Ukraine adds to the growing list of automotive component shortages.

UK car registrations were down 25.9% on pre-pandemic levels, in February, as vehicle production remained constrained. Now, it is believed that new car prices will soar due to the rising cost of parts.

Rising raw material costs will drive up prices for both electric and internal combustion engine vehicles, Volkwagen Group chief financial officer Arno Antlitz warned, with everything from batteries to catalytic converters set to become more expensive.

Metals, including aluminium, along with the nickel and lithium used in batteries are becoming increasingly more expensive.

The Volkswagen Group’s sales revenues grew by 12.3% in 2021, despite it selling 2.3 million fewer cars than in a pre-pandemic 2019.

“Over the past two years, we have learned to better mitigate the impact of crises on our company,” said Antlitz. “I am confident that we will make the best possible use of these experiences to stay on track in these difficult times.

The company expects to increase deliveries of new vehicles by up to 10% this year, and boost its revenues by a further 8-13%.

Volkswagen Group CEO Herbert Diess warned that delays in supplies of wire harnesses, which bundle up to 3.1 miles of cables in a car and are unique to each model, could force Volkswagen to revise its outlook for 2022, if alternative sources are not found in 3-4 weeks.

Tesla has also been forced to increase prices in China and the US, this week, as a result of rising raw materials costs.

Elon Musk, the company’s CEO, said the carmaker was facing significant inflationary pressure in raw materials and logistics. By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

Ford has unveiled plans to launch seven new all-electric vehicles in Europe – three new passenger vehicles and four new commercial vehicles – by 2024.

Starting in 2023, Ford will begin production of an all-new electric passenger vehicle, a medium-sized crossover, built in Cologne with a second electric vehicle added to the Cologne production line-up in 2024.

Both newcomers will be built on the Volkswagen Group’s MEB platform, as part of a strategic alliance between the German car maker and the Blue oval.

The first model is likely to be largely based on the VW ID4, while the second is billed as a ‘sports crossover’ like the upcoming VW ID5.

In addition, an electric version of the current Ford Puma will be available, made in Craiova, Romania, starting in 2024.

Ford’s Transit range will also include four new electric models – the all-new Transit Custom one-tonne van and Tourneo Custom multi-purpose vehicle in 2023, and the smaller, next generation Transit Courier van and Tourneo Courier multi-purpose vehicle in 2024.

“These new Ford electric vehicles signal what is nothing less than the total transformation of our brand in Europe – a new generation of zero-emission vehicles, optimized for a connected world, offering our customers truly outstanding user experiences,” said Stuart Rowley, chair, Ford of Europe.

EV production and investment in Cologne

Ford confirmed today that the first volume all-electric passenger vehicle to come out of the Ford Cologne Electrification Centre will be a five-seat, medium-sized crossover.

In 2021, sports utilities and crossovers accounted for 58% of all Ford passenger vehicle sold in the continent, up nearly 20 percentage points from 2020.

The all-electric crossover breaks new boundaries for Ford. Capable of a 500km (310m) driving range on a single charge, the vehicle and its name will be revealed later in 2022, with production commencing in 2023.

Today’s confirmation that a second, all-electric passenger vehicle – a sports crossover – will be built at the Ford Cologne Electrification Centre means that electric vehicle production at the facility will increase to 1.2 million vehicles over a six-year timeframe.

Investment in the new electric passenger vehicles to be built in Cologne is expected to be $2 billion. The investment includes a new battery assembly facility scheduled to start operations in 2024.

New global business unit

Today’s announcement builds on the recent news that the company has created a new global business unit – Ford Model e – focused on the design, production, and distribution of electric and connected vehicles.

Together with Ford Pro, the business unit focused on Ford’s commercial vehicle business, these two business units will define Ford’s future in Europe, it says.

“I am delighted to see the pace of change in Europe – challenging our entire industry to build better, cleaner and more digital vehicles,” said Jim Farley, Ford president and CEO. “Ford is all-in and moving fast to meet the demand in Europe and around the globe.

“This is why we have created Ford Model e – allowing us to move at the speed of a start-up to build electric vehicles that delight and offer connected services unique to Ford and that are built with Ford-grade engineering and safety.”

Ford expects its annual sales of electric vehicles in Europe to exceed 600,000 units in 2026, and also reaffirmed its intention to deliver a 6% EBIT margin in Europe in 2023.

The acceleration in Europe supports Ford’s goal to sell more than 2 million EVs globally by 2026 and deliver company adjusted EBIT margin of 10%.

“Our march toward an all-electric future is an absolute necessity for Ford to meet the mobility needs of customers across a transforming Europe,” explained Rowley. “It’s also about the pressing need for greater care of our planet, making a positive contribution to society and reducing emissions in line with the Paris Climate Agreement.”

The company also announced today that it is targeting zero emissions for all vehicle sales in Europe and carbon neutrality across its European footprint of facilities, logistics and suppliers by 2035.

New joint venture aims to increase battery production in Europe

To support Ford’s vehicle electrification plans, Ford, SK On Co and Koç Holding have signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding for a new joint venture business in Turkey.

Subject to execution of a final agreement, the three partners plan to create one of the largest EV battery facilities in the European wider region.

The joint venture would be located near Ankara and will manufacture Nickel NMC cells for assembly into battery array modules. Production is intended to start as early as mid-decade with an annual capacity likely to be in the range of 30 to 45 Gigawatt hours.

The investment the three partners are planning in the battery joint venture – including support from the Turkish Government – will directly benefit large and small commercial vehicle operators across Europe, it says. By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

Wilmott Dixon has successfully argued that car allowance payments made to its employees were ‘relevant motoring expenditure’ and therefore should qualify for relief from Class 1 National Insurance Contributions (NICs).

HMRC had refused to refund Willmott Dixon for NICs paid from 2004/05 to May 2014 relating to car allowance payments made by the firm.

It argued that the car allowances were earnings and not relevant motoring expenditure, but in what was a landmark ruling for fleets, a First Tier Tribunal (FTT) ruled in favour of Willmott Dixon.

Car allowances at the construction and property firm, which was represented by Innovation Professional Services, were paid to employees based on a grade which was allocated to that employee.

The more senior an employee, the higher the grade. The amount paid did not depend on the number of business miles driven by an employee.

Separate business mileage payments were intended to reimburse an employee for the fuel costs of actual business miles driven.

An employee who was entitled to a car allowance at a certain grade could choose to select a car from a lower grade choice list and be reimbursed the difference in the car allowance for those grades.

Meanwhile, some individuals who drove no business miles were awarded a grade and allowances were paid even when an employee was ill (including long-term sick) or their business miles reduced because, for example, of the pandemic.

The purpose of the car allowance was to ensure that an employee had a properly insured, maintained and reliable motor vehicle available which that employee could use for performing his or her duties as an employee, in other words for business use.

Furthermore, an employee who received the car allowance was obliged to have a fit and proper vehicle for business use. There was no obligation or direction however, on an employee as to how they should spend the car allowance.

While Willmott Dixon anticipated that an employee who had no satisfactory vehicle would spend the allowance, in part, on acquiring one, there was no contractual obligation to do so.

Similarly, once an employee was in possession of a satisfactory vehicle, then Willmott Dixon anticipated that the allowance would be paid on the financing, maintenance and costs of insurance, in other words the ongoing costs of owning a vehicle. But again, there was no contractual or other obligation to do so.

The employee was free to decide on what they spent the car allowance, and it could be spent on something wholly unrelated to the vehicle or its use for business travel.

The court heard that Willmott Dixon undertook a “rigorous analysis” of the underlying data and set the level of the allowances on the basis that an employee who did 10,000 business miles per year would be in the same financial position whether they opted for the car allowance or chose a company car.

An employee receiving a company car could choose whether to continue to take the company car or to switch into the car allowance scheme.

Car allowance payments ‘were earnings’

The FTT had to first decide whether the car allowance payments were earnings for NICs purposes or reimbursements of business expenses.

Given the amount of car allowance paid did not depend on the number of business miles driven by that particular employee, the FTT decided that the car allowance payments were earnings.

However, it decided that the car allowance payments were ‘relevant motoring expenditure’ citing the Court of Appeal decision in favour of Total People (now Cheshire Employment and Skills) almost 10 years ago on a similar matter, while also contradicting a more recent decision involving Laing O’Rourke (LOR).

Laing O’Rourke lost a £2.2 million claim for relief on grey fleet business mileage payments paid to employees at its firm. It had been seen as the first test case following the Total People ruling.

Total People’s long-running legal battle related to an NI refund claim based on the difference between the HMRC 40p per mile (ppm) approved mileage allowance payment (AMAP) rate (now 45p) and the 12ppm paid by the employer plus an additional lump sum paid to the employees for using their private cars on business.

The value of the amount claimed was approximately £146,000 or around £1,000 per employee, which was subsequently paid by HMRC.

Laing O’Rourke argued that its car allowance scheme should also qualify for relief from NICs on payments made to employees.

HMRC said relief did not apply, because the payments could not be defined as relevant motoring expenditure. Judge Tracey Bowler reached a decision last July, ruling in favour of HMRC.

In reaching a decision in the Willmott Dixon case, Judge Nigel Popplewell said: “I totally appreciate that the way in which these payments were made and the amounts of the payments were based not on actual business use but on grades, and those grades, in turn, did not reflect actual business use but seniority.

“A similar arrangement was in place in LOR and this was another reason why Judge Bowler thought that similar payments in that case to the car allowances in this, were not made in respect of use. I respectfully disagree.”

He added: “The evidence shows that in order to receive the allowances an employee was obliged to have a private vehicle available for business use.”

Laing O’Rourke has appealed its FTT decision. HMRC has not said whether it will appeal the court’s decision in the Willmott Dixon case.  By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

Demands on the UK’s electricity network are set to rocket as the country moves closer to the ambition of a net zero economy by 2050.

National Grid estimates overall electricity consumption in that year will be 890tWh, almost three times as high as 2020’s figure of 304tWh.

Much of this will be down to the increased use of electricity in energy-consuming sectors such as industry and heating, but the electrification of the UK’s road transport network will also have a significant impact.

National Grid expects EVs to account for more than 80tWh. “Questions will be raised about how they will be charged as the demand on the electricity supply grows,” it says in its 2021 Future Energy Scenarios report.

“Smart charging, where EV owners release some control on the best time to charge to third parties or automation based on price, will be an effective tool to support the local and national electricity networks.”

The most basic form of smart charging allows the user to manually set the times a vehicle will be charged, allowing them to make savings by taking advantage of the time-of-use tariffs which feature lower electricity prices at times of high supply and low demand, such as at night between 1am and 5am.

Fleets which operate a back-to-base model where vehicles are plugged in at a depot can use this to stagger charging times to help avoid a costly electricity network upgrade that may be needed if all their EVs are charged at the same time.

“In some cases, the cost to electrify the site could be higher than the cost of the vehicles, making the transition commercially unviable,” says Nicole Thompson, director of social innovation and head of co-creation partnerships for Hitachi Vantara.

The next step in smart charging is to use artificial intelligence so the chargers communicate with the electricity network to respond to changes in the level of supply, demand and cost.

For this, the user would specify the level of charge required and the time the vehicle is needed by, and the system would manage the flow of energy to the battery to ensure this happens.

Greater flexibility

“There is much more renewable energy coming on to the grid now and that’s really good news for a whole host of reasons,” says Ben Fletcher, associate director of EV at smart battery hardware and software company Moixa.

“It also means that having the flexibility where you can decide what vehicle is – and isn’t – charging and work with the grid is super important in probably a way that hasn’t been as important before, especially with the size of EV fleet that’s coming.

“That’s where the smartness comes in. There are electricity tariffs which are helping to support like Octopus Agile, which tracks the wholesale price of electricity.

“That’s a ground-breaking tariff and is a fantastic tool that has the ability to change every half-hour, but you have to be on top of it and tracking what’s going on as well as triangulating it back to when you actually need your vehicle to be ready by.

“The smartness will allow customers to make the most of these kinds of tariffs alongside the energy companies and the National Grid in the transition to more and more renewable energy.”

Moixa is a partner in the EV Fleet-centred Local Energy System (EFLES) project, which aims to show how artificial intelligence (AI) can break down the barriers to electrification for fleet operators by maximising the cost and carbon savings from EVs.

Supported by the Government’s Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund for Research and Innovation, other project partners are UK Power Networks, UPS and Cross River Partnership.

It builds on the Smart Electric Urban Logistics (SEUL) trial from 2017 to 2019 which saw Cross River Partnership, UPS and UK Power Networks develop charging technology at UPS’s Camden depot to meet the challenge of charging an EV fleet without a costly upgrade of the local power network.

“We started off with EVs in London back in 2008 and had an expensive power upgrade, which could take us up to 63 EVs,” says Claire Thompson-Sage, sustainable development co-ordinator at UPS.

“We reached that limit in 2017, so we worked with the SEUL project to develop smart grid technology to enable us to have a fully-electrified fleet in London, which we’re aiming towards now.

“The (EFLES) project is built on looking at how we can optimise the power.”

Thompson-Sage says that, as UPS charges its vehicles overnight, it uses very little power during the day and it will use the project to look at how it manages its energy systems, including on-site solar panels and static battery storage.

Capital expenduture savings of 70%

The SEUL project identified capital expenditure savings of around 70% through using a smart charging solution instead of upgrading the local electricity network.

ELFES takes this a step further and the integration of Moixa’s GridShare platform will monitor and analyse a multitude of data sources at the depot including energy prices, power demand and weather forecasts to optimise charging for when energy is cleanest and cheapest, while also using on-site energy storage and solar power generation.

“SEUL was about managing capital costs, but what about operational costs?,” asks Sefinat Otaru, ELFES project manager, Cross River Partnership.

“This was how this project came about and, once it wraps up next year, it’s going to be very much about sharing the results and just helping other organisations that are interested make connections with the right people so that, hopefully, they will pick up the ball and keep it rolling.”

Smart charging for fleets is also the subject of a number of other trials, such as the Fleet Connected Smart Charging (FCSM) project.

This is led by data science company Miralis Data, energy management company Envisij and EV charging firm Mina.

It aims to produce a smart charging solution to optimise the electricity capacity of a site to enable fleets to transition to EVs quicker and more efficiently.

During the project, which has secured funding from the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles, Envisij will report real-time and projected site power capacity and site demand, while Miralis will devise a smart charging solution to optimise the remaining capacity, charging vehicles within cost and capacity parameters. The solution is expected in 2022.

The Government has also identified smart charging as having a key role to play and the Automated and Electric Vehicles Act 2018 gives it the powers through secondary legislation to mandate that all charge points sold or installed in the UK have smart functionality.

In 2019, it introduced the requirement that all Government-funded home EV charge points must use smart technology and it is now proposing that home and workplace chargers installed from May must be pre-programmed to switch off during peak hours (8-11am and 4-10pm) to ease pressure on the National Grid.

Owners and fleets will be able to override the pre-set times to take account of night workers and people who have different schedules.

Smart charging not for all

While the number of smart chargers – both at homes and at businesses – are rapidly increasing, smart charging may not suit all drivers, says Fletcher, adding: “There will be some people who will take their vehicle home and they might be on 24-hour call, so they need to charge the vehicle as quickly as possible.

“For them, it’s go home and put the vehicle on charge immediately because that person needs the confidence that if they are called out in the middle of the night, they’ll be able to respond.

“Other drivers will have a much more predictable duty cycle. They may get home at 6pm and leave at 7am the next day, giving a window of opportunity where the charging can be optimised against the relevant tariff to make sure that both work in terms of money and CO2.

“That would benefit the fleet manager in terms of the costs that are being put in, but it’s also benefiting the user because they’re not thinking about any charging schedules.”

National Grid’s Future Energy Scenario also highlights the role vehicle-to-grid (V2G) – which enables battery electric vehicles (BEVs) to provide energy storage services to the electricity network – can play.

This allows users to plug their BEV in to charge and, potentially, sell any surplus electricity back to the local and national networks at peak times.

The Project Sciurus trial found the simulated annual revenue for a driver using V2G was £340 compared with using an unmanaged charger. In contrast, smart charging could capture £120 from tariff optimisation.

The initiative, which project partner Cenex says is the world’s largest V2G trial, began in 2018 and has more than 320 V2G units installed in UK homes.

Participants are able to set their preferences for charging parameters and remain in control of when their vehicles are ready to use. They get paid a fixed rate for every kWh exported to the grid.

Participants are able to set their preferences for charging parameters and remain in control of when their vehicles are ready to use. They get paid a fixed rate for every kWh exported to the grid.

In its Project Sciurus White Paper, Cenex analysed the plug-in behaviour of users over a 12-month period, looking at different user-types, and found that, although domestic V2G propositions are suitable for a range of drivers, ‘utility style fleet vans’ are among the prime candidates for the technology.

The low-carbon consultancy describes this category as small vans used to carry small volumes of tools and equipment between domestic appointments.

They are owned by a company, but kept by the driver and charged at home or on public networks.

However, Cenex points out the home the vehicle would be connected to would not be the property of the company and, therefore, is unlikely to support V2G activities with the vehicle at the premises unless there are financial or other benefits for the organisation.

V2G drawbacks

While there are other benefits to a fleet opting to install V2G technology, for example the potential to preserve the health of a battery, there are also drawbacks.

Currently the cost of a V2G charging unit is around £4,000 to £6,000, which is significantly more than a smart charger.

Other trials are also taking place in the UK, such as Western Power Distribution’s Electric Nation initiative, which features 100 Nissan EV owners in the Midlands, south-west England and South Wales.

Some industry figures are less convinced about the role V2G will play in the future of the wider charging ecosystem.

“The way I explain it to people is that smart charging gives you 90% of the benefits of V2G for 10% of the complexity,” says Erik Fairbarn, founder and chief executive of Pod Point.

“For that reason, I don’t think it’s a very significant part of charging in most cases, but if you’re talking about depots of buses or fleets of vehicles in a particular location, there are use cases there which I think it could make sense in.

“But if we’re talking broadly across the charging ecosystem, it’s probably one to keep an eye on but I wouldn’t expect much to happen there in the short-term.”

Fletcher adds: “The answer to the question ‘will V2G work for me?’ is ‘it depends’. It depends on the type of fleet and the way the vehicles are used.

“There will be points when the grid is under immense stress but to have the benefit of feeding power back to the grid at those times, the vehicles actually need to be plugged in and available.

“That will absolutely fit in with how the duty cycle of some fleets work, but for other fleets it might be more difficult.

“When you’re talking about BEVs and V2G it’s easy to fall into the trap of talking about them as batteries with wheels, but the key point to remember here is that people actually buy vehicles to get from point A to point B.

“That has to be at the heart of running a BEV. The smartness and V2G needs to be there to enable the vehicles to move things or people from A to B as easily and efficiently as possible, not to have supporting the grid as its main function.”  By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

Highways England bosses will not face corporate manslaughter charges for deaths caused by two collisions on all-lane running sections of the M1 in South Yorkshire.

South Yorkshire Police concluded that the organisation cannot be held liable for the offence because, in legal terms, it did not owe road users a ‘relevant duty of care’ under the terms set out in the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007.

The investigation was launched following concerns expressed by senior coroner Nicola Mundy at the pre-inquest review into the death of Nargis Begum.

Begum was killed in September 2018 when another vehicle collided with her husband’s Nissan Qashqai, which had broken down on the M1.

A separate collision, which led to the deaths of Jason Mercer and Alexandru Murgeanu in June 2019, was also investigated by South Yorkshire Police. In both instances, the lack of a hard shoulder was considered a contributing factor to the deaths.

Assistant chief constable Sarah Poolman, of South Yorkshire Police, said: “I would like to express my heartfelt sympathies to the families and loved ones of those who have lost their lives on the smart motorway in South Yorkshire. Families and campaigners are fighting with dignity and admirable determination in their search for answers and action following these tragedies.

“The force launched a ‘scoping exercise’ to ascertain whether there is a reasonable suspicion that Highways England may have committed the criminal offence of corporate manslaughter. Within our terms of reference, we also included the incident which led to the deaths of Jason Mercer and Alexandru Murgeanu.

“As part of our work, we sought specialist advice from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). Having considered the CPS advice, we have concluded that in the circumstances, Highways England cannot be held liable for the offence of corporate manslaughter.”

Following the death of Begum, a death by careless driving investigation was launched into the driver of the vehicle involved in the collision. A file was submitted to the CPS and charges were not authorised. The driver was subsequently released with no further action.

Lorry driver Prezemyslaw Szuba was jailed for 10 months for causing the deaths of Mercer and Murgeanu by careless driving. He claimed the collision would have been avoidable if there had been a hard shoulder.

The Department for Transport (DfT) is halting the rollout of new, all-lane running smart motorway schemes until five years of safety data is available.

The move has been welcomed by MPs and campaigners, who have been calling for the construction of new smart motorways to be paused while safety concerns were addressed.

A Transport Committee report, published last year, concluded there was not enough safety and economic data to justify continuing with the Government’s plans to roll out an additional 300 miles of all-lane running motorway by 2025.

The report said Government plans to remove the hard shoulder from all future smart motorways and use the lane for live traffic are “premature”.  By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps is being urged to adopt EU vehicle safety measures that are due to come into effect in July.

The package of 15 integrated measures includes better direct vision in HGVs, automated emergency braking that detects pedestrians and cyclists, and intelligent speed adaptation.

The UK supported these measures, which apply to new cars, vans, lorries and buses, until it left the EU. After Brexit the new rules will not automatically apply.

A group of former Transport Ministers, including serving MP Sir Peter Bottomley, Father of the House of Commons, say the UK now needs adopt the regulations to avoid putting the safety of its road users at risk.

David Davies, executive director of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS), which advises the Government, said: “There has been little progress in reducing road deaths and injuries over the past decade (apart from during the 2020 lockdown).

Here is a package of measures that would kick start a new chapter. It comes at almost no cost to government or the motorist. We support the call from former transport ministers for the government to at least match the standards that will apply in Northern Ireland. It could demonstrate the UK’s new independence by going further and faster.”

The measures have the support of road safety stakeholders and the UK automotive industry, as compliance with these standards will be a requirement for exporting vehicles to Europe from July this year.

Under the Northern Ireland Protocol with the EU, they will also apply to Northern Ireland.

In a letter to Shapps, the former Transport Ministers said not adopting the new standards “risks putting the UK automotive industry at a competitive disadvantage.”

The Government consulted on new vehicle regulations in November 2021. A response has not yet been published.  By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

Grey is the UK’s most popular new car colour for fourth consecutive year, followed by black and white, according to figures published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

The SMMT data shows that 408,155 new grey cars were registered last year, up by 2.8%, equating to one in four new cars sold (24.8%).

Black, which had been the most popular car colour in the UK from 2009 to 2012, was the next most popular colour, equating to one in five new cars (20.5%) sold. White was the third most popular (17.2%).

It means that an incredible 62.4% of all new cars sold in 2021 were painted in one of these monochrome shades, although blue edged closer to the top three, increasing its sales (1.4%) for the first time in five years and trailing just 2,638 units behind white.

The rest of the top 10 remained largely unchanged from 2020, although green overtook orange to gain seventh place, equating to 17,927 cars. Sales of green cars rose for the first time since 2015, with 24% more buyers opting for the colour than in the previous year.

SMMT Chief Executive, Mike Hawes, says that, while last year’s new cars might share the same shades as previous years, under the bonnet there has been a real shift, with one in six buyers choosing to go ‘green’.

“With car registrations still low compared to pre- pandemic, helping even more drivers move to greener cars – whatever the actual colour – has never been more important,” he said.

“Incentives are helping move the market and should continue, but the speed of this shift to electric must be matched by an acceleration in the pace of charging infrastructure investment. Drivers should expect to be able to recharge irrespective of wherever they live, work or visit.”

White was the most popular shade for mini-sized and sports cars, while larger dual purpose, luxury saloons and executive cars were, as usual, most likely to be black.

At the niche end of the colour palette, gold, yellow and turquoise were the fastest growing colours, with gold more than tripling its appeal (up 231.8%), yellow up by a third (31.3%) and turquoise up by a fifth (19.2%), although together they accounted for less than one percent of the market (0.9%).

A non-monochrome colour has not been among the UK’s overall top three since blue in 2010, although it was second most popular colour amongst Welsh and Northern Irish new car buyers.

Grey was the top colour in every home nation last year, but more so in England (25.3%), closely followed by Scotland (22.9%), Wales (22.8%), and Northern Ireland (21.7%).

Counties sporting bright-coloured cars included Bedfordshire, the most likely place to see a new pink car, with 66 registrations, while Greater London and Buckinghamshire had the highest numbers of green and turquoise motors, with 1,263 and 238 registrations respectively.

Orange was the new black in the West Midlands, where tangerine-tinted cars accounted for 1,156 registrations, the highest in any UK region.

Scotland was, however, the least likely place to spot a new maroon car, as none were sold in the country. In fact, just 12 buyers across the whole of the UK specified their new car in the colour – the lowest number since 1997.

Consumer preference for grey, which comes in many varying shades, can be attributed to a wide range of reasons; it can be a sleek and deeper tone than other shades, is well-suited to black trims and darker wheels and offers an attractive compromise between the also-popular black and white, with wider resale appeal than brightly coloured cars, so a potentially ‘safer’ choice, especially as it reduces the visibility of dirt more than the other shades.

By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

The fitment of camera systems/digital recording has reduced collisions or near-misses for 59% of fleets, a survey by Brigade Electronics, has revealed.

55% of survey respondents also said it improved driver behaviour, while 44% safety technology had helped with insurance claims.

The road safety company comissioned a survey of the readers of Commercial Motor and Motor Transport magazines to get their views on the reasons they use cameras and video technology on their fleets, how useful they are, and what they consider when they decide to invest.

Brigade said that clients are playing an increasing role in the adoption of this technology, as 12% of respondents said cameras are a contractual requirement from a client, a 3% rise on 2020.

The survey revealed that one-fifth of operators have no plans to use road safety technology and the most common reason (44%) is that it is not seen as relevant to the operation.

Brigade said that, changes to the Highway Code that came into effect in November with further new guidance being added on January 29, will increase the responsibility of commercial vehicle drivers, making it more important to be able to mitigate risk.

The new hierarchy of road users means those who are most likely to be seriously harmed, such as pedestrians and cyclists, will have greater priority over other road users – with HGV drivers ranked lowest.

Chris Hanson-Abbot chairman BE of Brigade Electronics, said: “It’s good to see that the benefits of cameras and other safety technology are being recognised by fleet operators.

“As cameras on their own are a passive technology that does not alert the driver to act, Brigade always recommends that they are combined with active technology such as sensor systems with driver alerts to reduce collisions.

“However, there is still some way to go. Only 47% of fleets have 100% of vehicles fitted with the technology – despite overwhelming evidence they improve safety and save lives.

“That said, only 2% of operators said their fleets had no safety technology at all, which is encouraging.”

The survey also revealed how customers who start using the technology are quickly convinced of the benefits – on a scale of 1 to 5, 73% rate vehicle camera and recording technology as a 4 or 5.  By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

Soaring energy prices could lead to increases in the price of new cars, SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes has warned.

Vehicle manufacturers are already facing a rise in the cost of materials such as lithium and cobalt, key to electric vehicle production, with some experts expecting this alone to be enough to push vehicle prices up as the car parc increasingly electrifies.

However, Hawes said the cost of energy will become the industry’s most pressing challenge once the ongoing semiconductor supply issue is resolved.

“There is the expectation will improve as the year goes on, particularly in the second half of the year, but there will still be ripples into 2023,” said Hawes, speaking at a media event where it was announced that the number of cars produced in the UK in 2021 fell 6.7% to 859,575 units.

“If the semiconductor issue can be resolved, energy will be the most immediate and pressing challenge as we can see what’s coming down the line in terms of price increases.

“The margins on volume car manufacturers are wafer thin and energy will potentially be going up 50%, 60% or 70%.

“There were vehicle price increases last year and, like any other manufacturing sector, if you’re facing increasing input costs, it is going to pull pricing up.

“But manufacturers will always do everything they can to mitigate those costs, either through investment or reductions in other areas.”

This means EVs could face a pricing double whammy. Typically a battery accounts for around 40% of the cost of making a BEV, with the cost of producing them having fallen by almost 90% in the past 10 years.

Figures from Bloomberg New Energy Finance show the inflation-adjusted price of battery packs for cars was $1,200 per kWh in 2010. This had fallen to $132 last year.

The impact this has on the cost of producing an EV is significant. Assuming a kWh price of $132, it would have cost $6,000 to produce a 50kWh battery last year. In 2010, this would have been $60,000.

Prices of many of the elements used in EV battery production rose sharply in the second half of 2021: for example, battery-grade lithium carbonate rose to a record high of $41,060 per tonne, more than five times higher than last January, cobalt doubled to $70,208, while nickel jumped 15% to $20,045 a tonne.

“We’ve got an ever-increasing reliance upon elements such as nickel, cobalt, lithium, manganese and copper for EV batteries,” said James Nicholson, partner in advanced manufacturing and mobility at EY.

“For a while now, a lot of those commodities have had supressed prices and there’s a strong chance that as demand goes up and these metals become quite scarce, we will see some of those material prices continue to lift.

“That’s going to put a pinch point on the cost of the materials that go into battery cells and that could lift the price to the carmaker and eventually the consumer.”

James Frith, head of energy storage research at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, added: “This creates a tough environment for automakers, particularly those in Europe, which have to increase EV sales in order to meet average fleet emissions standards,” says

“These automakers may now have a choice between reducing their margins or passing costs on, at the risk of putting consumers off purchasing an EV.”  By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News