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Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has moved its key accounts to a direct sales model as part of a new fleet strategy.

The change is expected to strengthen the carmaker’s relationships with end-user drivers and improve customer service for fleets.

It comes a year before the brand’s retailers fully transition to an agency sales model. Leasing companies will transact with JLR directly, with the vehicle then allocated to the driver’s nearest authorised Fleet and Business Centre for delivery.

A key element of the new process is that all JLR fleet customers will receive a full handover from a retailer.

Andrew Jago (pictured), general manager for fleet and business at JLR, said: “Anybody who drives a Jaguar Land Rover vehicle has made an informed choice to drive that vehicle and I think it’s really important we recognise that in the experience we deliver.

“Having a direct brand relationship with our customers allows us to give a great modern luxury purchase and ownership experience, but also the opportunity to renew it at the end.

“We want to strongly move away from preferred supplier arrangements where you’ve got groups who are taking orders for leasing companies and then delivering cars to customers through third party logistics companies.

“There’s no proper handover, there’s no introduction to the service department and there’s no ultimate relationship with the brand.”

Around a third of the JLR retail network is currently recognised as a Fleet and Business Centre. Jago said this gives sufficient geographical coverage, but will remain under review.

Retailers can opt-in to the scheme and must commit to putting the resource and standards in place to engage with fleet customers.

Jago, who has been responsible for fleet sales at JLR since 2019, added: “Utopia, for me, would be that every retailer can really deeply understand and support the needs of the fleet business user, but I won’t compromise on that just to say we’ve got full coverage.

“We want to make sure we are really putting our arms around those customers and are doing the job properly.”

Smaller fleets and small-to medium enterprises (SMEs) will continue to transact with their local dealer directly until the agency model is adopted in 2024.

OVERCOMING SUPPLY CHALLENGES

Last year saw sales declines for both the Jaguar and Land Rover brands, driven predominantly by a shortage of semiconductors. Jaguar sales were down by 35%, according to Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) figures, and Land Rover was 19% behind its 2021 sales.

While registrations fell, the brand launched new versions of its flagship Range Rover and Range Rover Sport models. Both achieved record levels of interest.

Order books across JLR’s portfolio consequentially swelled to more than 200,000 units, 50,000 of which are destined for UK customers.

Production of Jaguar’s XE and XF models was halted, while a large number of derivatives across the model lines of both marques were suspended or given lead times of more than 12 months, allowing factories to focus on building the hotly anticipated new models.

JLR’s UK sales director Paddy McGillycuddy has confirmed to Autocar that availability of the affected models is gradually returning.

Production is still largely centred around plug-in hybrid and electric variants, however. Jago said a number of core fleet derivatives can now be had within a six-month window and that his team is working closely with fleets and leasing companies to communicate any changes to lead times.

Among the cars in the spotlight are the electric I-Pace – Jago said production has been “fiercely protected” – and the recently updated Jaguar F-Pace and Range Rover Velar plug-in hybrids, which now feature a larger battery, giving them sufficient range to slip into the 8% benefit-in-kind (BIK) tax band.

Jaguar has a strategy to become an electric-only carmaker by 2025, but details on how that will be achieved are yet to be revealed. In the meantime, the new Range Rover and Range Rover Sport will have full electric availability from the end of 2024.

The focus remains firmly on the plug-in hybrid variants for now though. Both offer class-leading electric capability with up to 70 miles of zero-emission driving per charge.

Jago added: “The efficiency of the plug-in hybrid models we’re offering with Range Rover and Range Rover Sport has led to a significant shift in the salary sacrifice space, which, predominantly, is driven by battery electric vehicles (BEVs).

“With that 5% positioning on BIK it’s had huge appeal in the salary sacrifice space and we’ve seen people coming out of BEV into plug-in hybrid. There’s definitely more receptiveness to plug-in hybrids.”  By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

A new approach to electrified powertrain development, which aims to cut costs by almost a third, has been unveiled by Nissan.

The manufacturer claims the new approach, called X-in-1, will result in a 30% reduction in development and manufacturing costs by 2026, compared to 2019.  

Nissan says that core electric vehicle (EV) and electric powertrain components will be shared and modularized.

The manufacturer has developed a three-in-one powertrain prototype, which modularises the motor, inverter and reducer in EVs.

A five-in-one prototype, which additionally modularises the generator and increaser, is planned for use in its e-Power vehicles.

The X-in-1 approach has been developed to enable EV and e-Power core components to be produced on the same line.

Nissan aims to achieve e-Power price parity with internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles by around 2026.

Senior vice president at Nissan, Toshihiro Hirai, who leads powertrain and EV engineering powertrain development, said: “We make the most of our expertise and know-how from our more-than-a-decade long development and production of electrified technologies.

“Through our innovations in electrified powertrain development, we’ll continue to create new value for customers and deliver 100% motor-driven vehicles – EVs and e-Power – as widely as possible.”

Under its long-term vision, Nissan Ambition 2030, the company aims to bolster its line-up with 27 new electrified models, including 19 EVs, by 2030.

Nissan says it wants to bring the “unique value” of its electrified vehicles to the broadest range of customers by introducing the most suitable models to each market at the appropriate time.  By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

Testing of a dozen electric vehicles (EVs) in identical wintry conditions has revealed real-world ranges of up to a third less than official figures suggest.

The cars were driven from fully charged until they stopped. The worst performer – the Funky Cat, launched by Chinese carmaker Ora last year – fell 32.8% short of its official range, covering just 130 miles before stopping, compared with the official figure of 193 miles.

The car that got closest to its official range was the Nissan Ariya; it fell 16% short of its official figure, covering 269 miles rather than the 322 suggested.

The tests, conducted by ‘What Car?’, also showed that the Tesla Model Y came second in terms of getting closest to its official range, recording a shortfall of 17.8% on its official range of 331 miles, but covered the most distance overall, at 272 miles.

Will Nightingale, head of What Car?’s test team, said: “More and more people own or are considering electric cars, and it’s important that they understand the pros and cons of this technology, especially in terms of how far they are likely to go between charges.”

In 2020, the Norwegian Automobile Federation tested 20 BEVs in real-world winter conditions, and found that, on average, the range dropped by around 20%: a scenario which will be all too familiar to fleet operators across the UK.

The winter weather also slows down the speed at which a BEV can be charged and, although fleets can take actions to reduce the negative effect of the cooler conditions, such slowing cannot be eliminated.

Last year, both Centrica and Royal Mail reported seeing up to a 40% drop in range for their BEVs in cold conditions.

“We introduced our first 100 EVs throughout 2018/19, so we’ve had them for a couple of winters now,” says Anna Pearson, fleet innovation and environment manager at Royal Mail.

“The colder and darker conditions mean we have to use the heaters and lights more, and we have seen a drop in range.

“We’ve probably seen a drop of about 25% to 30%. That, obviously, depends on how the vehicle is being driven as well.”

In the What Car? test, all cars were driven at the same time at a test venue chosen to remove any variables that might hinder comparing results.

The 15-mile route simulated real-world driving conditions, taking in 2.6 miles of stop-start urban driving, four miles at a steady 50mph and eight miles at a constant 70mph.

Prior to testing, the tyre pressures were set to the manufacturer recommendation, before the cars were fully charged and left outside overnight for roughly 14 hours in temperatures that ranged from 0 to 2 degrees centigrade.

The cars were then plugged in again to ensure the batteries were full, ‘eco’ (or the closest equivalent) driving mode was selected, and all 12 were driven in convoy, swapping running order regularly to ensure no benefits were conferred by road position, until they ran out of charge.

All cars ran their heating systems to provide an interior temperature independently verified at 19.5 degrees.

Real Range test – real-world winter range vs official range

Car	Official range (miles)	Winter test range (miles)	Shortfall
Nissan Ariya 87kWh Evolve	322	269	16.4%
Tesla Model Y Long Range	331	272	17.8%
Mini Electric Resolute	141	113	20.2%
Genesis GV60 Premium	321	251	21.8%
BMW i4 eDrive40 M Sport (Pro Pack)	340	261	23.4%
Jaguar I-Pace EV400	261	197	24.6%
Volkswagen ID Buzz Style	255	192	24.8%
MG 4 Long Range Trophy	270	196	27.6%
Cupra Born 58kWh V3	255	182	28.7%
Renault Megane E-Tech Techno	270	189	29.9%
Renault Megane E-Tech Equilibre	275	187	32.1%
Ora Funky Cat First Edition	193	130	32.8%

What Car? previously analysed three of the cars on the same test route and to the same criteria at the height of summer (in July).

These were the Cupra Born, BMW i4 and Tesla Model 3. The only notable difference in car specification was the BMW running on 20-inch wheels in What Car?’s winter test rather than 19-inch units in the summer test.

In the winter test, the average range achieved by the trio was 18% lower than in summer, with the BMW faring worst (261 miles vs 317, a fall of 21.6%) and the Tesla doing best (272 miles vs 304, a fall of 11.8%).

The Cupra covered 182 miles, against 219 in summer, a fall of 20.6%.

Real Range test – winter vs summer

Car	Winter range (miles)	Summer range (miles)	Shortfall
Tesla Model Y Long Range	272	304	11.8%
Cupra Born 58kWh V3	182	219	20.6%
BMW i4 eDrive40 M-Sport Pro Pack	261	317	21.6%

“The car makers are obliged to quote the official range figures, because they are set to a criteria laid out by European legislators,” said Nightingale. “However, we believe that our testing is far more indicative of what a typical British driver is likely to achieve, and therefore gives car buyers a better understanding before they make the switch to electric.

“Despite falling short of their official figures, it’s still clear that many of these electric cars have the advantage of being cheaper to run than petrol or diesel equivalents assuming you can charge at home – even with the price of electricity so high at the moment.

“The most efficient, the Mini Electric, cost just 8.7p per mile to fuel. The most efficient petrol car we’ve ever tested, a Toyota Yaris, costs 11.2p a mile at today’s prices.” By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

40 years ago, seatbelts became a legal requirement for front seat occupants – a change that heralded in a new era of road safety.

Backed up by the memorable ‘clunk, click, every trip’ motto, the introduction of seatbelts was the single biggest contribution to safety on our roads.

Fast forward to today and their impact is still felt, but seatbelts are no longer the only innovation keeping us safe.

Today’s vehicles feature a mind-boggling array of acronyms for devices and sensors which do what they can to mitigate the severity of accidents.

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) are a suite of technological innovations that feed into our vehicles, from cruise control and automatic emergency braking to self-parking systems and intelligent speed adaptation.

But whereas the simplicity of the ‘clunk click’ slogan, and the easily understandable benefit of seat belts, was integral to improving safety by engaging with drivers and helping get the message across it is the sheer breadth of the systems available, and a lack of clarity around how they work, which causes not only confusion among drivers, but also mistrust too.

Red Corporate Driver Training carried out some exclusive research among 1,000 drivers to seek their opinions on ADAS, and it revealed a huge gulf in knowledge about these systems. We have to find a way to change this.

While 86% had heard of reversing and parking sensors, features such as a driver monitor system (ensuring the driver is alert) and intelligent speed adaptation (linking to traffic signs) only scored 40% and 34% awareness, respectively.

It’s a similar story when it comes to using these systems: 38% of respondents use reverse and parking sensors all the time, while a driver monitor system is used all the time by just 2.8% of drivers.

There are about as many reasons why drivers don’t use them as there are ADAS features. More than half (54%) of respondents say they don’t use them because ‘they like to be in control’, while 44% worry about becoming over-reliant on the technology.

There are other reasons. Cost is, of course, a barrier to some, with the price of buying a vehicle with ADAS fitted (and repairing it) a key consideration.

But most vehicles come fitted with many of these systems as standard now anyway.

The issue is mainly drivers’ lack of knowledge which impedes usage

Many don’t even realise it is in the vehicle, some are scared to try it on their own and others blame the vehicle manual for being too vague.

Others, simply, think they don’t need it, with ‘I feel I’m a great driver’ being a common response when asked about using ADAS.

This is where companies need to assess their approach.

After all, it is pointless to spend extra money on a fleet vehicle equipped with ADAS and then find the systems are not being used because of many of the reasons listed above.

When we asked the respondents what would encourage them to use ADAS, training was the first thing mentioned (either online, in-vehicle or in a classroom) by more than 50%.

This is a stark reminder that while technology improves at an inexorable rate, we mustn’t forget about the people who use it, and just assume that because a vehicle has systems fitted, somehow the issue has been magically solved.

Having the cleverest in-vehicle safety device ever invented is neither use nor ornament if it is not trusted or used by drivers. By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

 Electric vehicle (EV) drivers have outlined what amenities they would like access to when charging their plug-in car away from their home.

One in five (21%) electric vehicle drivers look for retail and hospitality amenities at dedicated service stations, according to new research from Deloitte.

It found that top amenities sought by EV drivers whilst charging include coffee and beverages (64%), bathroom access (56%), Wi-Fi connectivity (55%), snacks and light meals (43%), and a lounge or sitting area (42%).

Jamie Hamilton, automotive partner and head of electric vehicles at Deloitte, said: “Traditional amenities such as coffees and bathroom access remain a priority for consumers, however there is growing demand for other retail services that consumer businesses should consider trapping into as drivers wait for their vehicles to charge.”

The Deloitte research also revealed a third (36%) of EV drivers say they are prepared to wait between 21 and 40 minutes to charge from empty to 80% battery capacity, with one in four (25%) prepared to wait between 41 minutes and an hour.

Hamilton continued: “Charge times are improving greatly with the development of battery technology and rapid chargers, but the charging window is widening both the consumer base and current time spent at service stations.

“Consumers are also signalling that they want more services and amenities made available to them during this time, presenting an opportunity for retailers and hospitality businesses to generate new revenue streams.”

The findings, based on responses from over 1,500 UK consumers, also reflected ongoing growth in hybrid working arrangements, with one in ten EV drivers indicating access to a private meeting room as useful while waiting for their vehicle to charge.

Andreas Scriven, head of leisure and hospitality at Deloitte said: “Changing working patterns mean many businesses are adapting their spaces and product offerings for consumers.

“As remote working becomes more prevalent, there will likely be increased consumer demand for ‘third spaces’ to work from when not in the office or at home.

“This also opens up opportunities for hospitality businesses to create dedicated workspaces, perhaps with additional benefits such as coffee and Wi-Fi, and expand product ranges to serve on-the-go workers using their vehicle charging time to work.”

In terms of leisure time, one in five EV drivers also said they would make use of a full-service restaurant whilst their vehicle charged at a public location.

Scriven continued: “Greater electric vehicle adoption has prompted a new market for hospitality services, with battery charging times also doubling as leisure time.

“Those businesses that look to new charge point locations and create the venues and services that consumers are demanding will make the most of the opportunities posed by EV charge time windows.”

The Global Automotive Consumer Study is an annual survey exploring consumer attitudes towards new automotive technology. The study, of driving-age consumers, is fielded in 24 countries and designed to be nationally representative of the overall population in each market.

The 2023 study includes more than 26,000 consumer responses across 24 global markets. The UK sample size was 1,514 and fielded between 21 and 29 September 2022. By Graham Hill Thanks To Fleet News

National Highways is “urgently investigating” a two-hour software failure which affected large parts of the smart motorway network on Wednesday (February 22).

The outage froze signs and signals, and deactivated the stopped vehicle detection system from 8.30-10.30am. 

The system is crucial to keeping drivers safe on smart motorways as it automatically detects a stopped vehicle. Without it, a vehicle would need to be detected by CCTV or National Highways patrols.

AA president Edmund King told the BBC that the failure meant drivers in vehicles that had broken down in live lanes were “sitting ducks”.

The fault occurred across the M5, M6, M62 and M60 as well as the M1 north of Northampton, but did not impact roads in the East and South East.

The software failure also meant that National Highways was unable to change signals in overhead gantries to close lanes with a red ‘X’ sign where a hazard had been detected.

National Highways blamed a software problem but added that it had not received any reports of incidents or injuries as a result.

Andrew Page-Dove, operational control director at National Highways, told the BBC that engineers had worked to repair the system “as soon as possible” and apologised for any inconvenience caused.

He said following the outage the agency had increased patrols and CCTV monitoring.

A similar outage lasting several hours occurred on October 26, last year.

Problems with the technology used on smart motorways to identify stopped vehicles in live lanes were flagged by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) in a safety report, published in Decmeber.

The stopped vehicle detection system is a radar-based technology that is on every all lane running (ALR) smart motorway where the hard shoulder has been permanently converted to a live traffic lane.

The ORR report said that the performance of stopped vehicle detection was falling short of the performance requirements the company set itself.

In January, last year, the Department for Transport (DfT) halted the rollout of new, all-lane running smart motorway schemes until five years of safety data was available. By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

Three electric vehicle (EV) charge point operators (CPOs) have raised the cost of charging at peak times, due to high wholesale electricity costs.

GeniePoint, Ubitricity and Char.gy have all joined Tesla in deploying dynamic pricing across their public networks, offering drivers lower rates for charging at off-peak hours, and higher prices during times of peak demand.

Oliver Archer, lead analyst at Cornwall Insight, said: “Against the backdrop of rising commodity costs, charge point operators are trying to price in a way that supports the best use of their network, while still reflecting high input costs. Dynamic pricing may be a useful tool in this task, if done well. In many cases it will clearly be preferable to pushing up costs across the whole day.

“The challenge lies in setting a tariff that works for CPOs and drivers. Using the public network can already be complex and frustrating, and CPO’s need to ensure that dynamic pricing is seen as an opportunity by customers and not simply another inconvenience. This includes getting the tariff structure right and helping drivers to navigate a network of moving prices from multiple operators. The risk is that difficult decisions prompted by the energy crisis could push us towards dynamic pricing faster than we can help customers adjust to and take advantage of it.”

EV charger dynamic pricingThe price that EV drivers pay at the charger is comprised of several aspects including: the cost of electricity, the cost of installing infrastructure, the operation and maintenance of the charging network, as well as VAT at 20% for public charging.

Energy suppliers also add on non-commodity costs, their own running costs and margin on top of wholesale electricity.

While the CPOs have been motivated to implement dynamic pricing for similar reasons, the structures of their tariffs are varied, with differences between when peak prices occur and what are off-peak and peak rates. Ubitricity has also introduced an element of smart charging, with drivers able to delay charging until after the peak period ends.

Cornwall Insight says the optimum dynamic pricing structure will depend on the contracts between CPOs and energy suppliers, expected demand throughout the day, and the willingness of customers to adjust behaviour around the price. What works in one case may be less appropriate in another, depending on where the chargers are located.

The cost of charging an electric vehicle (EV) at home, on a standard variable tariff, has increased by around 20% this winter. By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

Drivers of electric vehicles (EVs) can boost their battery range by up to 10% when using EV-specific tyres, says Michelin.

However, research conducted by the tyre manufacturer showed that most drivers are unaware that EV-specific tyres are available, with three-quarters (72%) of drivers in the dark.

John Howe, managing director for UK and Ireland at Michelin, says that EV-specific tyres “can enhance battery range, allowing drivers to travel further per charge”, but also “last longer on an electric car than a standard tyre”.

Further research also revealed that the increase to battery range is viewed by respondents as the main benefit of EV-specific tyres (35% of drivers), with the second most important benefit proving to be that EV-specific tyres last longer on an EV than a standard tyre (one in five respondents).

Howe continued: “A great deal of innovation and research goes into producing a tyre that can increase the range of an electric car.

“It requires the incorporation of several new tyre technologies to lower rolling resistance, increase efficiency and optimise the handling characteristics of electric cars.

“However, to truly get the most out of an EV, drivers should ensure they are making use of every opportunity available to them. To this end, we have provided our expert-recommended Top Tips for increasing EV battery range.”

MICHELIN’S TOP TIPS FOR INCREASED EV RANGE

1. DRIVE MORE SLOWLY AND SMOOTHLY

Electric cars are notoriously faster off the line than their petrol or diesel equivalents, but it is wise to limit full throttle accelerations to not only stay safe on winter roads, but also to extend your EV’s range. Where possible, keep your speed under 60 mph; as speeds increase, drag and rolling resistance increases too. Utilise your car’s “Eco” mode, if it has one.

2. USE EV-SPECIFIC TYRES

Electric cars can perform with a suitable standard tyre – they don’t have to be EV-specific tyres. However, if you are keen to maximise range, reduce noise levels or embrace the full performance of your car, EV-specific tyres can allow you to travel further on a full charge. Whichever tyres you choose, make sure they are inflated according to the manufacturer’s guidance, as improperly inflated tyres can reduce range, accelerate wear and pose a safety risk.

3. MAKE THE MOST OF REGENERATIVE BRAKING

Use your EV’s regenerative braking function as you come to a stop to harness the energy generated as the car slows down. By using the brake pedal less and using regenerative braking instead, you can extend the range of your car.

4. ONLY USE THE HEATER WHEN YOU NEED IT

The heating system can drain your EV’s battery – switch it off if you don’t need it. Some EVs allow the driver to pre-heat the car while it’s plugged in, but even this can consume energy before your journey has begun, so be mindful of this when aiming for the maximum range from your EV in winter.

5. TRAVEL LIGHT AND REMOVE THE ROOF RACK

Reducing a vehicle’s weight will improve efficiency and therefore range. So, remove any unnecessary items from the back seats or the boot, especially if they are weighty. Roof racks and other accessories will cause additional aerodynamic drag which will reduce your EV’s range, especially at high speeds when drag increases significantly.

6. CHECK THE LABELS ON YOUR TYRES

On new tyres, the EU Labelling can indicate the specific qualities that a tyre possesses. For example, choosing a tyre rated A or B for rolling resistance will help you to maximise the range of your EV.

By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

A quarter (25%) of electric vehicle owners also own or regularly drive a car with an internal combustion engine (ICE), according to Zap Map.

It’s annual EV Charging Survey revealed that among those drivers who also have a petrol or diesel vehicle, electric is chosen for the vast majority of journeys.

The type of journey electric is most likely to be favoured for is a local daily trip such as going shopping, the school run or eating out, for which 85% of the time dual fuel drivers will take the EV.

For commutes, 71% these drivers use their EV, and even for journeys of over 100 miles 67% will stick with electric. Even for UK based holidays, likely to involve long cross-country journeys reliant on the public charging network, a majority of 55% will leave the fossil fuel car at home.

Melanie Shufflebotham, COO & co-founder of Zap-Map, said: “Our survey has shown for several years now that once you go electric, you don’t go back. This year we’ve gone further to show that drivers who haven’t quite let their conventional car go yet still choose to drive their electric. Even for those long cross-country journeys where a charge stop is likely to be necessary.

“It’s an endorsement for EVs that even when the option is open to take the fossil fuel car, drivers are very happy to stick with electric.”

The Zap-Map survey showed that 49% of EV owners drive just one full battery-electric vehicle, 8% two or more and 2% own or regularly use one battery electric and one plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

A £110 million scrappage scheme has been launched ahead of the expansion of London’s ultra-low emission zone (ULEZ).

The fund is accessible to low-income and disabled Londoners, but the vast majority of fleets will miss out.

Transport for London (TfL) says that the scrappage scheme is open to charities, sole traders and business with 10 or fewer employees registered in London.

They can apply for a £5,000 grant to scrap a van or £7,000 for a minibus, with a £5,000 grant also available to retrofit certain vans or minibuses.

Grants to scrap and replace a van or minibus with a fully electric vehicle (EV) are set at £7,500 and £9,500 respectively. 

In launching the ULEZ scrappage scheme, TfL has also hiked the penalty charge notice (PCN) from January 30 for non-compliant vehicles entering the zone from £160 to £190 (reduced to £90 if paid within 14 days).

TfL says that the increase will “maintain the deterrent effect” of London’s ULEZ and “achieve the scheme’s air quality and health objectives”.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “We need to get the most highly polluting vehicles off our roads, which are damaging the health of all Londoners, including drivers.

“The rising cost of living has been a key consideration for me, which is why we are launching this new and improved scrappage scheme – the biggest ever – to help low-income and disabled Londoners, businesses, sole traders and charities switch to cleaner vehicles, or support them to make the most of other transport options.”

Khan announced last year that the existing ULEZ would be expanded to operate across all London boroughs, up to the current Low Emission Zone (LEZ) boundary, from August 29.

The expanded ULEZ will continue to operate 24 hours a day, every day of the year (except Christmas Day).

To comply with the ULEZ, petrol cars and vans must be Euro 4 and diesel cars and vans must be Euro 6. Motorcycles and mopeds must be Euro 3 to comply.

Vehicles that do not meet the standards must pay the £12.50 daily charge.

Alex Williams, TfL’s chief customer and strategy officer, said: “Londoners are already choosing public transport, walking and cycling for the majority of trips and the Mayor’s new scrappage scheme will support more people to get rid of their highly polluting vehicles and make the switch to greener travel.

“These grants will play a significant role in ensuring smaller businesses, those on low incomes, disabled people and charities are fully prepared ahead of the expanded zone coming in later this year.”

In addition to the scrappage grants, Williams says that TfL is offering options for annual bus and tram passes as well as teaming up with other organisations to provide incentives that make it easier to travel more sustainably.

“This includes exciting offers from our partners, such as bike hire subscriptions, e-scooter discounts and car club deals,” added Williams.

“We would encourage drivers to take advantage of these fantastic ways to get around for less.” 

However, Sue Robinson, chief executive of the National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA), which represents car and commercial retailers across the UK, doubts how effective the scrappage scheme will be.

“Whilst the NFDA supports and is encouraged by the London Mayor’s decision to provide a financial incentive towards exchanging ageing and non-compliant vehicles for newer, greener modes of transport, we are severely concerned that this will not be enough and the scheme will continue to have negative implications for a large proportion of motorists,” she said.

“The total budget allocated for the scrappage scheme will not be sufficient to make an impact the level at which the Mayor is expecting.”

“By increasing the ultra-low emission zone to the entirety of London, it is forcing the residents of London to make a decision before they are ready.

She continued: “During a period of unprecedented financial struggle and in the midst of a cost of living crisis, families of low income may not be ready to make a transition to a newer vehicle even with the scrappage scheme.

“NFDA remains firmly against the decision to extend the ULEZ, or at least the timescale of enforcement is far too soon.

“Without the availability of government incentives and the commitment for more investment towards EV infrastructure to adequately prepare London for a complete transfer to EV adoption, this restriction to older ICE and diesel vehicles should not be implemented.”

To learn more about the scrappage scheme, visit the TfL website.  By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News