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One of the most interesting and informative articles I’ve ever published on my blog!

Learn about electric car batteries, how they work and how they’re recycled.

How do electric car batteries work?

Where internal combustion engined cars get energy from burning petrol or diesel, an electric vehicle gets its power directly from a big pack of batteries.

These are much like a scaled up version of the lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery in your mobile phone – EVs don’t use a single battery like a phone, they use instead a pack which is comprised of thousands of individual Li-ion cells working together.

When the car’s charging up, electricity is used to make chemical changes inside its batteries. When it’s on the road, these changes are reversed to produce electricity.

Electric car battery technology

EV batteries undergo cycles of ‘discharge’ that occur when driving and ‘charge’ when the car’s plugged in. Repeating this process over time affects the amount of charge the battery can hold.

This decreases the range and time needed between each journey to charge. Most manufacturers have a five to eight-year warranty on their battery.

However, the current prediction is that an electric car battery will last from 10 – 20 years before they need to be replaced.

How a battery and the car’s electric motor work together is surprisingly simple – the battery connects to one or more electric motors, which drive the wheels.

When you press the accelerator the car instantly feeds power to the motor, which gradually consumes the energy stored in the batteries.

Electric motors also work as generators, so when you take your foot off the throttle the car begins to slow down by converting its forward motion back into electricity – this happens more strongly if you hit the brakes.

This regenerative braking recovers energy that would otherwise be lost, storing it in the battery again and so improving the car’s range.

Electric car battery lithium-ion

A Lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery is a type of rechargeable battery used in electric vehicles and a number of portable electronics. They have a higher energy density than typical lead-acid or nickel-cadmium rechargeable batteries.

This means that battery manufacturers can save space, reducing the overall size of the battery pack.

Lithium is also the lightest of all metals. However, lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries contain no lithium metal, they contain ions.

For those wondering what an ion is, an ion is a an atom or molecule with an electric charge caused by the loss or gain of one or more electrons.

Lithium-ion batteries are also safer than many alternatives and battery manufacturers have to ensure that safety measures are in place to protect consumers in the unlikely event of a battery failure.

For instance, manufacturers equip electric vehicles with charging safeguards to protect the batteries during repeated rapid charging sessions in a short period of time.

Battery capacity explained

Electric car battery life

Once an EV battery loses its capacity to power a vehicle, it can be used to power a home or building by contributing to a battery storage system.

A battery energy storage system stores energy from batteries that can be used at a later time.

If you power your home with renewable energy such as wind or solar, you can also pair it with an EV battery.

You can store it up to use throughout the night when wind and sunlight is reduced. Or even during the day alongside the solar or wind energy.

This method of generating energy can help you save on bills and reduce the amount of energy you use from the grid.

The battery on an electric car is a proven technology that will last for many years. In fact, EV manufacturers guarantee it. Nissan warrants that its electric car batteries will last eight years or 100,000 miles, for example, and Tesla offers a similar guarantee.

This might seem remarkable when the battery in your mobile phone begins to wear out after only a couple of years, but during that time it might be fully charged and discharged hundreds of times.

Each of these so-called charge cycles counts against the life of the battery: after perhaps 500 full cycles, a lithium-ion phone battery begins to lose a significant part of the capacity it had when new.

While that might be OK in a phone, it’s not good enough for a car designed to last many thousands of miles, so EV manufacturers go to great lengths to make electric car batteries last longer.

In an EV, batteries are ‘buffered’, meaning that drivers can’t use the full amount of power they store, reducing the number of cycles the battery goes through. Together with other techniques such as clever cooling systems, this means that electric car batteries should give many years of trouble-free life.

In fact, in order to preserve the life of an electric vehicle battery, manufacturers ensure that there is additional spare capacity to compensate for degradation over time. So as an electric vehicle ages and the battery cycles, the additional spare capacity is used up.

This allows the range of the vehicle to stay the same throughout the life of the battery. Once the battery capacity falls below 80%, drivers may start to notice a fall in the range and performance of the battery.

Electric car battery replacement cost

When it comes to replacing an electric vehicle battery, you need not be too concerned as many manufacturers provide a warranty of up to 8 years or 100,000 miles.

Meaning that even if you did need to replace it in an unfortunate event that something did go wrong, then it could well be covered under this warranty.

Remember to always check the type of warranty offered by your chosen electric car manufacturer.

Also, the cost of batteries fell about 80% between 2010 and 2016 according to McKinsey, from $1000 to $227/kWh. Therefore, a new 40kWh battery in 2016 would have cost just shy of £10,000.

Some predictions estimate that prices are set to fall below $100/kWh by 2030, around the same time as the government are aiming for 50% of all new vehicles sold in the UK will be electric.

Electric car battery leasing

With any new technology, there is always a fear that things won’t work as expected. So some electric car manufacturers and leasing companies have a solution, to provide customers with reassurance about battery degradation.

For instance, Renault offer a finance package, allowing customers to buy a Zoe and lease the battery, which reduces the upfront purchase price and guarantees battery performance up to 75% of the original capacity.

Electric car battery recycling

Many manufacturers are researching how EV batteries can be repurposed once they have hit retirement age.

One idea that is proving to work well is repurposing EV batteries to power homes and buildings.

However, there are no definitive answers as to what will happen to EV batteries once they’re no longer recyclable.

The time that batteries spend in an EV is often just the beginning of their useful life. Once removed from a car, most batteries will still be fit for other demanding jobs like energy storage in the electricity network, or in the home – a growing area of demand.

When batteries do reach the end of their working life, they’ll be recycled, which typically involves separating out valuable materials such as cobalt and lithium salts, stainless steel, copper, aluminium and plastic.

At the moment, only about half of the materials in an EV battery pack are recycled, but with EVs expected to undergo an explosion in popularity over the next decade or so, car manufacturers are looking to improve this.

VW recently announced a pilot plant for battery recycling which will work towards a target of recycling 97% of battery components.

In this process, batteries will be shredded, dried, then sieved to recover valuable materials that can be used to make new batteries.

Electric car batteries environmental impact

Are electric car batteries bad for the environment? Well, we’re here to tell you that the future of EV batteries looks bright.

EV batteries can be fed back into the energy cycle for factories, and homes once its life powering a car has come to an end. Repurposing EV batteries could create a closed-loop system for recycling.

Meaning that the factories that produce the batteries could eventually be powered using the repurposed batteries once their lives powering vehicles comes to an end.

Large car manufacturers have already begun to repurpose EV batteries in other areas. For example, Nissan plans to use retired EV batteries to provide back-up power to the Amsterdam ArenA – the world-famous entertainment venue and home to Ajax Football Club.

Toyota also plan to install retired batteries outside convenience stores in Japan in the near future. The batteries will be used to store power generated from solar panels.

The energy stored will then be used to support the power of drink fridges, food warmers and fresh food counters inside stores.

Renault also announced that the EV batteries from the Renault Zoe EV will be repurposed to generate power to the Powervault – a home energy battery storage system.

With more of these opportunities arising, there will clearly be life beyond an EV. Once a battery has finished powering a electric vehicle, it can be used to power our homes and businesses.

Electric car battery disposal

So what happens when electric car batteries die? Batteries of all forms can prove difficult to dispose of without harming the environment. The same goes for EV batteries.

However, EV battery life cycle management works towards solving expensive and toxic disposal of the batteries.

As well as being used to support the use of renewable energy, EV batteries can be refurbished to help power more vehicles in the future.

Volkswagen Group has plans to start a recycling project that will see batteries assessed on their quality to determine their future. The batteries with some power left will be given a second life as power packs for mobile vehicle charging.

The others that have little to give, will be ground down to fine powder to extract raw materials such as lithium, nickel, manganese and lithium. The materials can then be rebuilt into more EV batteries.

Electric car battery manufacturers

There are a large number of electric car battery manufacturers. Some are well known such as Tesla and Nissan, while others such as BYD or LG Chem, may not be as well-known around the world, but are nevertheless, significant players in the electric car battery manufacturing space.

LG Chem for instance, supply electric vehicle batteries for the likes of Volvo, Renault, Ford and Chevrolet.

Not only that, they have also signed an agreement with Telsa to supply all Telsa produced in China with batteries.

Another major electric vehicle manufacturer BYD are China’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer and are now selling more electric vehicles than they are fossil fuel powered vehicles since the turn of 2019.

Not only are these battery manufacturers focusing on electric vehicles, but they are also working on battery storage of electricity for residential, commercial and industrial applications.

Electric car battery charging

How far can one charge go?

Just as conventional cars have big or small fuel tanks, lithium-ion batteries for electric cars come in different sizes. Rather than litres of fuel, their capacity is measured in kilowatt hours (kWh).

A typical 40kWh battery pack from a mainstream electric car might be enough to power it for 150 miles or more, while Tesla’s biggest 100kWh battery is good for 375 miles according to the WLTP standard – which aims to give a realistic estimation of cars’ real-world range or fuel economy.

WLTP is an abreviation of the Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure, which came in to effect in 2017 and was set up to measure fuel consumption,CO2 levels and other pollutant emissions from passenger cars.

It replaced the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC)

You might recognise the kilowatt hour from your electricity bill – it’s the industry standard charging unit. A 40kWh battery holds enough energy to power a typical home for four days!

How do you recharge an electric car battery?

You’ll get the fastest charge from a designated EV charging socket. These are rated in kW from about 3kW up to about 50kW – or 120kW on Tesla’s supercharger network. The higher the rating, the quicker they’ll restore your EV’s range.

The chargers most commonly fitted at a home or workplace are either 3kW ‘slow’ units, or 7kW ‘fast’ chargers capable of recharging an EV in 6-12 hours. The UK also has a growing network of public charging stations.

These are typically either fast chargers rated at up to 22kW, or ‘rapid’ chargers capable of delivering up to 50kW.

The fastest public charging stations can top an EV up to 80% of its range in as little as an hour – the last 20% is usually a bit slower, to prevent damage to the batteries as they get near to full charge.

Where no designated charging point is available, you can charge an electric car from a 13-amp domestic plug socket, but this can be very slow.

Because charging demands lots of power over a long period there may also be a risk of overheating or fire, so if you must do this you should have an electrician inspect the socket and wiring first.

How safe are electric car batteries?

The manufacturers of batteries for electric cars go to great lengths to make sure EV batteries are safe, fitting smart management systems to prevent overheating and other problems.

Batteries do get warm as they charge and discharge, but cars are designed to keep them cool – high performance EVs sometimes have liquid cooling systems to help.

Despite this, there have been some cases of electric cars catching fire, but very few  of these incidents have been caused by battery failures.

More typically they’ve resulted from accidents or incidents that might have caused any vehicle to catch fire – such as the 2013 case of a Tesla Model S which hit a large piece of metal at high speed.

Commenting on that incident, which resulted in a limited fire, Tesla CEO Elon Musk pointed out that EV batteries contain only about a tenth of the energy of a tank full of fuel, limiting the danger they pose in an accident.

In fact, a 2017 study by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that the likelihood and severity of fires from lithium-ion batteries was comparable to, or slightly less than that from conventional vehicles.

As more electric vehicles take to the roads, we can be increasingly sure they’re as safe as the conventional cars they replace. By Graham Hill with huge thanks to EDF Energy

The possibilities of connected consumer vehicles are wide—and maybe a bit overwhelming. How can all these needs and wants be met at the same time?

One of the key challenges, if we are to move to driverless cars, is to enable the car to ‘think’. Whilst we may not be able to get a computer to think we can increase the speed of transfer and processing of data in order for the car to decide on a course of action without the involvement of a human brain.

So with the help of Ericcson let’s see how 5G can move the industry further.

5G Is Unbelievably Fast

Let’s start with the simple facts first: from a peak speed perspective, 5G is 100 times faster than 4G. This means that during the time it took to download just one piece of data with 4G the same could have been downloaded 100 times over a 5G network.

 You can just imagine how this speed is important for a connected car when it comes to the amount of data that will need to be shared.

According to Dr. Joy Laskar, CTO of Maja Systems, future autonomous cars will generate nearly 2 petabits of data, which is equivalent of 2 million gigabits. “With an advanced Wi-Fi connection, it will take 230 days to transfer a week-worth of data from a self-driving car,” Laskar said.

With 5G, that time would go from 230 days to just over 2 days.

Lower latency

5G also means low latency, as in a matter of milliseconds.

Latency is the amount of time it takes to send information from one point to another. We encounter it everyday when we drive, and make a decision to break suddenly: latency is the amount of time between our brain sends the instruction to our foot to push down on the brake in this example.

When it comes to networks, we usually talk about the difference between the 20 milliseconds of our current 4G networks to the 1-5 milliseconds of the 5G network.

However, there’s even a larger difference when it comes to self-driving cars.

Human reaction speed is a bit above 200 milliseconds, leading to accidents every day. 5G’s 5 millisecond latency is practically real-time, which can be used to provide the user with additional safety information before it is visible, for example roadworks, fast moving emergency vehicles and visually hidden pedestrians about to cross the street.

These cooperative Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) will help the driver to drive safely and avoid accidents.

5G’s increased reliability

Reliable communication means guaranteed delivery of time-critical information. For example, for remotely driving an autonomous vehicle in real-time in case its autonomous function fails.

There is no other alternative than cellular networks for enabling such services. 5G cellular technology is designed from day one for ultra-reliable communication with low latency to enable complex machine centric use cases, including autonomous cars in dense urban as well as high speed scenarios.

We expect adoption of fully autonomous capabilities in limited areas initially leveraging 5G signal coverage, with long-term evolution towards fully autonomous transport eco-system for maximizing safety, efficiency, and sustainability.

Exciting new case stories & innovation

Thanks to these three elements—increased speed, lower latency, and increased reliability—a whole new generation of exciting use cases can be unlocked.

In Europe, the 5GCAR project, led by Ericsson, is helping to develop an overall 5G system architecture.

As part of their work, they identified a number of new use cases that need 5G to unlock the future of transportation, from lane merge coordination to long range sensor sharing and increased protection for pedestrians.

Industry 4.0

5G won’t just make connecting cars easier: it will make manufacturing cars easier as well.

5G is about to change manufacturing as we know it through secure and almost real-time connectivity that will result in transformative productivity, speed and efficiency improvements. The car industry will be among the first to benefit.

But don’t just take our word for it: ask Mercedes-Benz. We recently teamed up with Telefónica Germany to enable 5G car production via a private 5G network for Mercedes-Benz at the company’s Sindelfingen plant in southern Germany.

Jörg Burzer, Member of the Divisional Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Cars, Production and Supply Chain, said: “With the installation of a local 5G network, the networking of all production systems and machines in the Mercedes-Benz Cars factories will become even smarter and more efficient in the future. This opens up completely new production opportunities.”

So why should you care about 5G? Well, 5G connectivity has the potential to allow accident-free, stress-free and emission-free driving…and we think that’s a future we can all be excited about.  By Graham Hill Thanks To Ericcson

Early terminations and contract extensions from fleets and company car drivers are being reported by leasing companies as job losses increase.

Over the past three months, the number of people claiming out-of-work benefits (job seekers allowance and low income benefits) has more than doubled, reaching 2.7 million in July, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The latest data also shows more than three million people were still furloughed as the Government scheme begins to wind down.

The ONS says that more than one-in-10 workers (12%) were, effectively, having their wages paid by the Government between late July and the middle of August, a 50% reduction on May’s figures.

Unsurprisingly, the highest number of furloughed staff were found in those companies yet to re-open – almost three-quarters of staff (71%) compared to 11% at those businesses back trading.

The scale of the downturn is unprecedented. The UK economy is now 17.2% smaller than it was in February 2020.

Furthermore, Quarter 2 2020 is now 22.1% below Quarter 4 2019, which is more than three times greater than the total fall during the next largest period of recession, which occurred during the global economic downturn of 2008 to 2009.

The Bank of England has warned that UK unemployment is expected to peak at 2.5 million by 2021, with more than a million jobs expected to be lost in the second half of this year.

It highlighted what it called the “considerable uncertainty” remaining about the prospects for employment after the furlough scheme finishes in October.

WINNERS AND LOSERS

Paul Hollick, chairman of the Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP), said: “Some companies have taken the bit between the teeth by introducing redundancies quickly, but they were already on shaky ground, with plans already in place.”

However, he explained there have been “winners and losers” as a result of the pandemic, with those in the hospitality and travel sector hit particularly hard, while anything that is digitised and can create online services and solutions is able to tap into growing demand.

The amount of money spent online increased by 61.9% in June when compared with February, ONS data suggests. This has resulted in an increase of £943.5 million in average weekly sales from £1.5 billion in February to a staggering £2.5bn in June.

Courier fleets have been among some of the biggest winners, with DPD announcing it was recruiting 6,000 new staff, including 3,500 drivers, in response to the unprecedented boom in online shopping.

The delivery firm is investing £200m this year to expand its next-day parcel capacity, including £100m on vehicles, £60m on 15 new regional depots (10 more than originally planned in 2020) and the remainder on technology.

The new jobs will include delivery and HGV drivers, warehouse staff, management positions and support staff, including mechanics.

CEO Dwain McDonald said the business was experiencing the “biggest boom in online retailing in the UK’s history”.

It is a similar story at APC, with 100 new roles available, all of which will be permanent positions, including drivers, warehouse operatives, customer services staff and IT.

The courier firm’s chief executive, Jonathan Smith, explained that the past five months have seen “unprecedented demand” for its delivery services.

For firms facing a more uncertain outlook, Hollick believes business owners and operators do not know what to do in terms of “rightsizing their business”.

He explained: “No one really understands the total impact yet, because everything is being propped up (by the Government), but I wouldn’t want to be an account manager at this time.

“The way that you operate with customers is going to fundamentally change post-Covid. I think it’s going to be a case of sitting in an office or at home to do an account review rather than face-to-face.”

EARLY TERMINATIONS

Account management and sales teams would, typically, be out on the road, potentially covering long distances to visit their customer base on a regular basis.

But lockdown has shifted customer meetings online and, with obvious productivity gains, returning to pre-pandemic working practices is not on the cards.

Volkswagen Financial Services Fleet reported it was seeing “no demand” from customers for a return to face-to-face meetings. Head of sales and marketing, Tom Brewer, said: “We’re seeing a desire to continue with remote meetings at the moment.

“In our experience, this approach doesn’t seem to have any detriment to the quality of the conversations or the effectiveness of the meetings. There are upsides for all parties – aside from minimising the risk to everyone’s health – in the productivity benefits for us and our customers; meetings tend to be shorter and there is no fuel cost and no time lost to travel.”

It is not planning a reduction in headcount, but elsewhere companies looking to tighten their belts are recognising that they can do more with less.

As a result, Hollick expects the traditional company car market will shrink due to the significant job losses already being seen and those yet to come as the furlough scheme ends.

Furthermore, he says other employees, who qualified for a car due to the amount of annual mileage they covered, face having the benefit removed due to now not hitting the required threshold.

Three-quarters (74.8%) of fleets told Fleet News in a recent survey that they expect greater use of video conferencing in the long term, while almost 61% expect to see average mileages fall. And more than a third (35.8%) said that they expect to be running fewer company cars in the future.

Alphabet has reported an increase in early terminations and reschedule requests in recent months, driven predominantly by individual and small-to-medium enterprise (SME)customers.

However, Gavin Davies, Alphabet’s general manager for customer relationship management and public sector, said: “We are seeing bulk early termination requests from some of our corporate fleets as well, but they are also utilising other options, such as putting new car orders on hold while they assess their individual situations and future fleet needs.

“This has been the case particularly in those industries that have been hit hardest by the lockdown or still have staff on furlough.”

He added: “As the furlough scheme has given an artificial stimulus to current demand, we do expect to see an increase in early terminations as the scheme comes to an end in October.”

Matthew Walters, head of consultancy and customer data services at LeasePlan UK, says contract extensions have increased by approximately 50% above average. “Many businesses are also increasingly interested in the efficiency savings gained by outsourcing their operations and fleet activity.”

Jon Lawes, managing director of Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions, told Fleet News that sales teams were particularly impacted by a lack of travel. “We’re seeing customers looking to reduce their contract mileage moving forward, meaning that policy benchmark mileages have reduced by approximately 10% across certain customers,” he said.

The greatest impact has been in the retail sector, with job losses resulting in company car numbers being cut.

“The headcount and vehicle allocation for retail store area managers has reduced as a result of companies streamlining their middle management to respond to the economic impact of the virus,” said Lawes.

Since March, Lex Autolease has granted payment holidays to more than 3,000 customers, from small fleets to those with thousands of vehicles.

Mileages have also been amended to encourage rental cost-savings and existing vehicles redistributed. As a result, Andy Barrell, head of business development at Lex Autolease, said: “We’re not seeing mass vehicle terminations across our customer base.

“Customers are naturally more inclined towards short-term agreements when there is ongoing uncertainty, so it’s no surprise we’ve seen an increase in demand for short-term daily rental, alongside our informal extension agreements – giving customers more time to assess future requirements.”

The total number of new cars registered to fleet and business so far this year is 45.3% down year-on-year, with 433,868 units registered in 2020, compared with 792,091 in the same period last year.

Historic HMRC data shows a declining pool of company cars, with 890,000 employees receiving the benefit in 2017/18, compared with 940,000 the previous year.

Officials blamed the dramatic decline on reporting issues leaving some vehicles unaccounted for, but the figures for 2018/19, in the coming weeks, are still expected to show a downward trend.

Hollick, however, is predicting leasing firms and carmakers could benefit from a renewed interest in salary sacrifice. He explained: “A few big fleets have already mentioned to me that they are relaunching salary sacrifice schemes to take advantage of the low rates for electric vehicles (EVs). But it’s going to be a fascinating market and I don’t think anybody will know the true impact until the start of next year.”

Hitachi Capital’s Lawes says employees are concerned about the long-term economic impact of Covid-19 and committing to a company car contract, with some perk schemes affected.

That being said, he also sees the renewed potential of salary sacrifice. He told Fleet News: “Now is a prime time to take a salary sacrifice EV with 0% BIK charges.”

Although Alphabet has seen an increasing demand to move to cash incentives in recent years, Davies also highlighted the “significant taxation benefits” for companies and drivers who choose to adopt ultra-low-emission vehicles (ULEVs).

“Alphabet has seen a huge uptake in EVs since the 0% BIK rates were introduced earlier this year,” he said.  By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

Petrol and diesel prices rose in August for the third consecutive month, but do not appear to be heading back to pre-pandemic levels, says RAC Fuel Watch.

The organisation says a litre of unleaded petrol rose 0.5p to 114.88p and diesel by 0.3p to 118.47p, meaning both fuels are still 13p a litre cheaper than they were at the end of January.

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “Even though pump prices have risen for three consecutive months, August’s increase was slight sparing drivers any nasty shocks when they went to fill up.

“We had feared prices might rise more quickly as people started driving more after the lockdown but so far petrol has only gone up 9p a litre from its low of just under 106p in May which, it’s important to remember, is still 13p a litre less than it was in January.

“The short-term outlook for pump prices generally does not appear ominous for UK drivers despite a blip in the oil price at the end of August.

“The cost of a barrel of oil rose dramatically due to fears of a hurricane affecting supplies in the Gulf of Mexico, but fortunately there was no adverse impact to production as the hurricane was downgraded to a tropical depression and refineries were spared massive flooding.

“Our pump price forecast for the next fortnight shows petrol should come down by a penny while diesel ought to fall by around 5p a litre if retailers play fair and reflect the downward movement in the wholesale price properly.”

RAC Fuel Watch found the supermarkets increased their prices “very slightly” in August with petrol rising by a third of penny to 109.55p and diesel by over half a penny (0.63p) to 114.17p.

This makes a litre of unleaded at a supermarket more than 5p (5.33p) cheaper than the UK average, and diesel 4.3p cheaper per litre.

Asda started the month as the lowest cost supermarket petrol retailer but by the close Morrisons had edged marginally lower at 109.24p compared to Asda’s 109.43p.

On diesel, however, Asda was a penny a litre cheaper than its nearest rival, Morrisons, at 113.35p.

Yesterday, FairFuelUK, backed by the Road Haulage Association (RHA) and Logistics UK (FTA), has said it will ‘fight tooth and nail’ against rumoured plans to raise fuel duty.

Regional fuel price variation

Regional average unleaded pump prices

Unleaded	30/07/2020	27/08/2020	Change
UK average	114.27	114.71	0.44
London	115.38	116.04	0.66
East	114.60	115.22	0.62
Wales	113.19	113.73	0.54
Northern Ireland	111.20	111.71	0.51
South East	115.25	115.74	0.49
South West	114.10	114.57	0.47
North West	113.85	114.29	0.44
Scotland	114.13	114.53	0.40
East Midlands	114.11	114.48	0.37
North East	113.25	113.56	0.31
Yorkshire And The Humber	113.73	114.01	0.28
West Midlands	114.27	114.50	0.23

Regional average diesel pump prices

Diesel	30/07/2020	27/08/2020	Change
UK average	118.04	118.40	0.36
East	118.92	119.46	0.54
East Midlands	117.98	118.13	0.15
London	119.03	119.35	0.32
North East	116.85	117.07	0.22
North West	117.55	117.81	0.26
Northern Ireland	114.46	114.76	0.30
Scotland	117.81	118.18	0.37
South East	119.34	119.82	0.48
South West	117.97	118.37	0.40
Wales	117.05	117.72	0.67
West Midlands	118.15	118.47	0.32
Yorkshire And The Humber	117.32	117.62	0.30

By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

FairFuelUK, backed by the Road Haulage Association (RHA) and Logistics UK (FTA), has said it will ‘fight tooth and nail’ against rumoured plans to raise fuel duty.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak is considering ending a ten-year freeze on the tax in his Autumn Budget and could increase fuel duty by 5p, to pay for the coronavirus crisis, The Sun reported.

Talking directly to Rishi Sunak, MP Robert Halfon said: “Don’t let the taxpayer millions that funded half-price meals in August, be partly paid for, using an unnecessary hike in fuel duty.

“Such a needless rise in this levy will impact badly on the cost of living for families, increase inflation, hit businesses and jobs hard. It will even swell costs for our hard-pressed public services, including the NHS.”

Howard Cox, founder of FairFuelUK, said: “Do not make the world’s highest taxed drivers, the fiscal fall guys in a post pandemic recovery budget. Hiding behind a green driven agenda to hike a regressive tax will be disingenuous and hit low-income drivers hardest.”

FairFuelUK said that by putting more money in people’s pockets, the extra consumer spending to drive up GDP will help the economy recover.

Cox said: “On behalf of most drivers, business and private, do not screw the commercial and social heartbeat of our economy to mollify the environmental lobby and pay off your post pandemic debt.

“The UK needs to recover big and fast using incentives not punitive knee jerk extra taxes.”

“With more disposable income, we will all spend and spend. Businesses will flourish, and the extra tax cash from ensuing growth in the economy will flood into HM Revenue and Customs.”

Logistics UK is calling for a freeze on diesel and petrol fuel duty, in addition to a reduction in fuel duty for cleaner, lower carbon fuels to support the transition to a zero-emission industry.

Elizabeth de Jong, director of Policy at Logistics UK, said: “Logistics UK and its members are extremely concerned by rumours circulating of a significant fuel duty rise in the Autumn Budget.

“Logistics businesses have worked tirelessly during the pandemic to ensure the nation is supplied with all the goods and services it needs, all while operating at very tight margins and facing severe economic difficulties; a fuel duty rise would be a huge blow to their recovery.”

“The 5p per litre rise – as is speculated in the media – would increase operating costs significantly at a time when margins are most stretched and cash flow is a real problem for many businesses; the UK already pays one of the highest fuel duty rates in Europe.”

However, Claire Haigh, chief executive of Greener Journeys, wants road pricing introduced alongside ending the freeze in fuel duty.

Haigh said: “The Chancellor should take the opportunity of record low oil prices to increase fuel duty.

“The money should be ring-fenced to incentivise the take-up of cleaner vehicles and improve public transport.

“At the very least, the Chancellor should end the freeze and increase fuel duty in line with inflation.”

In the Budget announced in March, the Chancellor said the fuel duty freeze will continue for a further year, costing the the Treasury some £800 million in lost revenue.

Fuel tax table – FairFuelUK

By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

The Range Rover Sport continues to be the most stolen vehicle in the UK, according to the latest data from Tracker.

Land Rover models have dominated Tracker’s top 10 most stolen and recovered models over the past five years with the Range Rover Sport consistently appearing in the top five.

The data also revealed an increase in the number of cars stolen without the keys. Between January and July, 96% of cars recovered by Tracker were stolen without the keys, compared to 92% during the same period last year.

Clive Wain, head of Police Liaison for Tracker, said: “Keyless car thefts are continuing to rise at an alarming rate, as criminal groups reverse-engineer the latest manufacturer security tech to steal valuable vehicles quickly and discreetly.

“It took just 80 seconds to steal a £120,000 bespoke Range Rover that was fitted with one of our tracking devices from a supermarket carpark in Walthamstow, London. It was broad daylight, and not one person noticed what the thieves were doing.

“The car was recovered within 24 hours and it appeared that the thieves had searched for tracking devices before leaving the vehicle parked unoccupied to see if the police would track its whereabouts.  Because the Tracker device was professionally installed, the thieves were unable to find it, leaving the police to quickly track its location.”

The most recent Home Office figures reveal that vehicle theft has rocketed by 50% over the last five years, with experts saying many cars are being stolen using keyless technology. The Government claims that 56,000 vehicles are stolen in the UK each year, though experts say the true figure could be more like 100,000.

Wain added: “Stealing cars is a very lucrative business which is why there is a significant amount of organised criminal activity in this market. These gangs steal to order for four broad reasons: for export, often to Eastern Europe, for their identity to be changed and the vehicle sold on within the UK; for parts, which is a growing problem and where the vehicle is stripped down in a so-called ‘chop shop’; and to be used in further crimes.”

Tracker data reveals the top targets for vehicle thefts in 2019 have remained firm targets for thieves in 2020, despite many vehicles being parked at home during lockdown.  This demonstrates location is not a barrier to determined criminals.

Most popular cars stolen and recovered by Tracker in 2020:

1. Range Rover Sport

2. BMW X5

3.  = Range Rover Vogue and Land Rover Discovery

4. Range Rover Autobiography

5. Mercedes-Benz C Class

By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

The Chancellor’s summer economic plan introduced a range of measures to help the UK economy recover from the impact of the coronavirus.

The plan, revealed to the House of Commons yesterday (Wednesday, July 8), to protect jobs, help younger workers and encourage spending with measures such as a temporary VAT cut, from 20% to 5%, for the hospitality sector and a restaurant voucher scheme.

However, help for the fleet industry and wider automotive sector, including a potential scrappage scheme, was not forthcoming.

Paul Hollick, chairman of fleet representative body the Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP), said: “The Chancellor’s announcement was all about carefully targeted help for various sectors that are felt to be among the most vulnerable and it is disappointing that none of this support has found its way into areas that are likely to benefit fleets.

“This especially applies to low-carbon transport initiatives but there could also have potentially been aid for dealers, manufacturers and even fleet service support companies, all of which are facing specific problems.

“Given the fast-moving economic and infection situation, we don’t think this is the last time we’ll see him making announcements of this type over the next few months and we remain hopeful that we will be included in future programmes, an argument we’ll be making as an organisation.”

The automotive sector had been hoping for a scrappage scheme, offering money off a new car purchase.

Mike Hawes, chief executive at the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), welcomed the Chancellor’s plans to safeguard jobs and encourage consumer spending in some parts of the economy.

However, he said: “It’s bitterly disappointing the Chancellor has stopped short of supporting the restart of one of the UK’s most important employers and a driver of growth.

“The automotive sector has been particularly hard hit, with thousands of job losses already announced and many more at risk.

“Of Europe’s five biggest economies, Britain now stands alone in failing to provide any dedicated support for its automotive industry, a situation that will only deter future investment.

“We urgently need government to expand its strategy and introduce sector-specific measures for UK auto to support cash flow such as business rate holidays, tax cuts, and policies that provide broader support for consumer confidence and boost the big ticket spending that drives manufacturing. Until critical industries such as automotive recover, the UK economic recovery will be stuck in low gear.”

The Chancellor instead offered a ‘job retention bonus’ to encourage firms to retain furloughed staff. The one-off £1,000 payment will be made to employers for every furloughed employee retained to the end of January 2021.

It applies to workers earning over £520 per month, with the cost estimated at up to £9.4 billion.

There is a six-month VAT cut for restaurants, hotels and attractions, from 20% to 5% from July 15 to January 12, 2021.

Food and non-alcoholic drinks in restaurants, pubs and cafes, as well as hot takeaway food will be covered. Accommodation in hotels and B&Bs and admission to attractions such as theme parks and cinemas also affected

The threshold for stamp duty on residential property in England and Northern Ireland will also rise from £125,000 to £500,000. It applies from July 8 until March 31, 2021.

Energy efficiency grants for homes have also been introduced.

In addition, a ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ scheme offers 50% discount for every diner, up to £10 a head, from Monday to Wednesday throughout August.

Support for young workers is to be delivered through the ‘Kickstart scheme’ – a £2bn fund to pay for six-month work placements for 16 to 24-year-olds on universal credit – and grants for training young people.

In terms of infrastructure, more is expected in the Budget, while the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has earmarked £100 million for 29 road projects.

Nick Molho, executive director of the Aldersgate Group, said: “Beyond the need to commit public investment to support shovel ready projects and early stage innovation trials, it is critical that the Government puts forward a comprehensive policy plan in the autumn to drive private sector investment towards the low carbon and environmentally resilient infrastructure needed to put the UK on track for its net zero and nature restoration targets.

“Clear policy commitments in areas such as energy efficiency, clean transport and industrial decarbonisation will be vital if the private sector is to do a lot of the heavy lifting to build a competitive, jobs rich, low carbon economy.” By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

Local authorities in London and Cardiff have raised £58.2 million from drivers committing moving traffic offences in just one year, with the same powers due to be rolled out to other councils.

Moving traffic offences include stopping on a yellow box junction, making an illegal turn or driving down a ‘no entry’ road.

The only local authorities that currently have the power to enforce these offences in England and Wales are London boroughs and Cardiff Council.

Figures obtained via a Freedom of Information request suggest they collected £58.2m in penalty charge notices (PCNs) in 2018/19 – 25% (£11.5m) more than in 2016/17 (£46.7m).

The Department for Transport (DfT) confirmed on July 27 that it plans to extend these enforcement powers to all local authorities in England and Wales.

Currently, local authorities outside of London and Cardiff only have powers to enforce bus lane contraventions. 

RAC head of roads policy, Nicholas Lyes, said: “It’s plain for all to see that London boroughs, TfL and Cardiff are generating phenomenal sums of money from the enforcement of moving traffic offences.”

In 2016/17, councils issued 752,871 PCNs, rising to 1,007,405 in 2018/19 which equates to a 34% rise.

Yellow box junctions were the biggest revenue generator, bringing in £31.4m in 2018/19 compared to £22.3m for ‘no turn’ offences and £4.4m for ‘no entry’ contraventions.

Looking at Cardiff alone, nearly four times as many PCNs were issued in 2018/19 compared to 2016/17 (74,142 compared to 19,080) translating to a £1.8m hike in revenue (£593,160 to £2.4m – 313%).

The most profitable offences for Cardiff are ‘no turns’ yielding £1.4m in contrast to £826,424 for yellow box junctions and £182,782 for ‘no entry’ offences.

Of the London boroughs which provided data to the RAC a total of 933,263 PCNs were issued in 2018/19, 27% more than two years ago (733,791). This, however, only translated to a 21% increase in revenues (£46.1m to £55.7m).

Yellow box junctions

Of the authorities which benefitted the most from the enforcement of yellow box junctions, Transport for London (TfL) topped the table with a revenue of nearly £10m (£9,969,545 – 135,923 PCNs) in 2018/19.

But in terms of single councils, Hammersmith and Fulham came out top with a £3.5m yellow box revenue pot (from 53,576 PCNs) generated from 16 enforced junctions out of 23 in its area – £1.1m ahead of its nearest rival Redbridge on £2.4m (34,782 PCNs from 14 enforced junctions out of a total of 35).

Merton, the only other council to pocket more than £2m in yellow box penalties, was third on £2.2m (31,081 PCNs from 27 enforced junctions, no overall total of junctions available).

In terms of average revenues per enforced junction, Westminster recorded the highest figure with a single junction generating £333,295 from 4,595 PCNs.

Hammersmith and Fulham had the second largest average on £223,472 (£3.5m from 16 enforced junctions) and Richmond had the second largest average revenue with £156,117.

TfL has 399 yellow box junctions but declined to disclose how many are enforced.

No turn offences

Three authorities topped £2m in revenue from ‘no turn’ offences with Ealing even managing to outdo TfL with a revenue of £2.6m (from 44,612 PCNs) versus £2m (£2,093,651, from 28,978 PCNs). Hackney had the third highest total on £1,888,845.

No entry offences

Harrow was top for ‘no entry’ offences with a revenue of £549,785 followed by Southwark on £420,760 and Islington on £357,265.

Lyes said: “The vast majority of drivers we’ve surveyed agree that those who stop on yellow boxes, make illegal turns or go through ‘no entry’ signs need to be penalised, but when it comes to extending powers to other councils many are concerned, with 68% thinking local authorities will rush to install cameras to generate additional revenue.

“Four in 10 drivers (39%) also believe that road layouts and signage will be made deliberately confusing to increase the number of PCNs issued.

“Clearly, the priority for enforcement should be to improve road safety and reduce congestion.”

The DfT’s decision to extend the same enforcement powers to other local authorities, however, Lyes believes should come with guidance setting out where enforcement should be targeted and the types of signs that must be used to make drivers aware that enforcement cameras are operating, and for what type of moving traffic offence.

“It should also make clear the circumstances in which a PCN can be appealed and where mitigating circumstances may apply such as stopping in a yellow box to allow an emergency services vehicle to go by,” continued Lyes.

“We welcome proposals that first offenders are sent a warning letter before subsequent penalties apply. This is particularly important where changes are made to urban road layouts. What we do not want is this being seen by cash-strapped local authorities as a way to generate revenue.

“In addition, we would urge local authorities to publish annual reports of moving traffic offence receipts by type and by junction.

“We would also encourage them to monitor hot spots where an unusually high proportion of PCNs are issued as this is more than likely a clear indication of a problem with signage or road layout.”

Tables

Key: NA – Not available; DNE – Does not enforce; DNR – Did not respond

Summary – all authorities in England and Wales with power to enforce moving traffic offences
All – London boroughs & Cardiff	PCNs – 16/17	PCNs 17/18	PCNs 18/19	Revenues 16/17	Revenues 17/18	Revenues 18/19
Box junctions	404,618	455,129	510,065	£25,893,253	£28,943,627	£31,410,486
No turns	290,094	384,356	419,801	£17,119,308	£21,908,787	£22,377,326
No entry	58,159	62,490	77,539	£3,725,794	£3,563,781	£4,453,518
Total	752,871	901,975	1,007,405	£46,738,355	£54,416,195	£58,241,330
Change – year-on-year		149,104	105,430		£7,677,840	£3,825,135
			+12%			+7%
Change 16/17 to 18/19			254,534			£11,502,975
			+34%			+25%

Cardiff	PCNs – 16/17	PCNs 17/18	PCNs 18/19	Revenues 16/17	Revenues 17/18	Revenues 18/19
Box junctions	4,163	8,165	23,752	£150,876	£296,030	£826,424
No turns	14,917	42,862	44,747	£442,284	£1,388,241	£1,438,732
No entry	0	4,474	5,643	£0	£160,292	£182,782
Total	19,080	55,501	74,142	£593,160	£1,844,563	£2,447,938
Change – year-on-year		36,421	18,641		£1,251,403	£603,375
			+34%			+33%
Change 16/17 to 18/19			55,062			£1,854,778
			+289%			+313%

London boroughs	PCNs – 16/17	PCNs 17/18	PCNs 18/19	Revenues 16/17	Revenues 17/18	Revenues 18/19
Box junctions	400,455	446,964	486,313	£25,742,377	£28,647,597	£30,584,062
No turns	275,177	341,494	375,054	£16,677,024	£20,520,546	£20,938,594
No entry	58,159	58,016	71,896	£3,725,794	£3,403,489	£4,270,736
Total	733,791	846,474	933,263	£46,145,195	£52,571,632	£55,793,392
Change – year-on-year		112,683	86,789		£6,426,437	£3,221,760
			+10%			+6%
Change 16/17 to 18/19			199,472			£9,648,197
			+27%			+21%

Box junctions PCNs ranked by 18/19
Rank	Council / Authority	PCNs – 16/17	PCNs 17/18	PCNs 18/19
1	Transport for London	108,151	122,991	135,923
2	Hammersmith and Fulham	65,367	64,316	53,576
3	Barnet	28,530	40,399	38,860
4	Waltham Forest	34,472	23,851	35,423
5	Redbridge	11,723	27,937	34,782
6	Merton	32,589	39,679	31,081
7	Cardiff	4,163	8,165	23,752
8	Brent	12,600	18,032	20,207
9	Islington	2,423	9,392	15,343
10	Wandsworth	1,440	5,517	15,321
11	Richmond	2,995	4,526	15,238
12	Barking & Dagenham	5,219	4,461	12,903
13	Enfield	16,903	10,958	11,018
14	Kingston upon Thames	17,245	15,665	9,654
15	Bexley	11,416	9,079	9,609
16	Ealing	7,126	9,229	9,565
17	Haringey	10,036	13,380	9,205
18	Camden	6,957	5,889	7,407
19	Hounslow	13,442	8,077	7,051
20	Lambeth	1,077	1,927	5,230
21	Westminster	6,946	6,416	4,595
22	Hackney	11	3,217	2,609
23	Harrow	1,835	1,220	1,161
24	Southwark	1,208	804	552
25	City of London	744	2	0
	Sutton	0	0	0
	Croydon	DNR	DNR	DNR
	Newham	DNR	DNR	DNR
	Bromley	DNE	DNE	DNE
	Greenwich	DNE	DNE	DNE
	Havering	DNE	DNE	DNE
	Hillingdon	DNE	DNE	DNE
	Kensington and Chelsea	DNE	DNE	DNE
	Lewisham	DNE	DNE	DNE
	Tower Hamlets	DNE	DNE	DNE
	TOTAL	404,618	455,129	510,065
	Change – year-on-year		50,511	54,936
	Change 16/17 to 18/19			105,447

Box junctions revenue ranked by 18/19
Rank	Council / Authority	Revenues 16/17	Revenues 17/18	Revenues 18/19	Number of Box junctions	Numbers currently enforced	Numbers enforced in 18/19
1	Transport for London	£7,622,149	£8,895,998	£9,969,545	399	NA	NA
2	Hammersmith and Fulham	£4,572,143	£4,518,388	£3,575,565	23	16	16
3	Redbridge	£833,095	£1,933,623	£2,463,172	35	18	14
4	Merton	£2,366,302	£2,885,817	£2,253,219	NA	23	27
5	Waltham Forest	£2,337,874	£1,587,932	£1,880,431	27	17	17
6	Brent	£864,875	£1,238,439	£1,241,202	116	59	59
7	Richmond	£156,978	£549,265	£1,092,821	14	7	10
8	Wandsworth	£87,065	£373,946	£982,139	22	11	11
9	Islington	£150,343	£607,728	£979,817	40	37	37
10	Barking & Dagenham	£337,624	£315,083	£917,360	NA	13	13
11	Cardiff	£150,876	£296,030	£826,424	N/A	12	11
12	Kingston upon Thames	£1,119,590	£977,429	£719,618	28	8	5
13	Enfield	£1,063,083	£692,022	£688,123	43	6	6
14	Bexley	£780,377	£606,236	£649,193	11	7	7
15	Haringey	£696,022	£893,305	£606,541	45	23	23
16	Ealing	£496,960	£611,529	£568,492	NA	9	NA
17	Camden	£472,327	£416,741	£543,354	55	6	6
18	Hounslow	£973,161	£576,374	£466,654	NA	NA	26
19	Lambeth	£73,550	£125,003	£356,874	NA	4	8
20	Westminster	£483,011	£475,462	£333,295	NA	1	1
21	Hackney	£195	£229,951	£179,421	23	1	2
22	Harrow	£127,994.93	£81,641.27	£77,154.11	18	5	8
23	Southwark	£84,230	£55,554	£40,073	36	4	4
24	City of London	£43,429	£130	£0	5	0	0
	Sutton	£0	£0	£0	5	1	0
	Barnet	NA	NA	NA	22	17	17
	TOTAL	£25,893,253	£28,943,627	£31,410,486	945	288	311
	Change – year-on-year		£3,050,374	£2,466,859
	Change 16/17 to 18/19			£5,517,233

‘No turn’ PCNs ranked by 18/19
Rank	Council / Authority	PCNs – 16/17	PCNs 17/18	PCNs 18/19
1	Barnet	21,558	36,745	53,297
2	Cardiff	14,917	42,862	44,747
3	Ealing	43,985	41,716	44,612
4	Hackney	0	2,194	31,327
5	Waltham Forest	23,222	25,757	29,052
6	Havering	4,486	26,080	29,012
7	Transport for London	14,117	26,539	28,978
8	Harrow	15,801	19,062	17,596
9	Brent	30,630	23,171	16,773
10	Westminster	2,264	16,546	16,391
11	Merton	18,454	21,259	15,577
12	Wandsworth	3,125	4,692	11,786
13	Tower Hamlets	1,042	6,612	9,611
14	Barking & Dagenham	7,514	9,294	9,161
15	Islington	9,272	9,634	8,930
16	Haringey	13,337	12,718	8,319
17	Southwark	10,515	9,045	7,297
18	Enfield	7,683	10,281	7,061
19	Camden	9,622	8,409	6,470
20	Hammersmith and Fulham	11,315	10,382	6,180
21	Kingston upon Thames	12,683	6,419	5,932
22	Lewisham	0	2,914	4,648
23	Lambeth	6,601	4,579	3,760
24	Redbridge	4,272	2,463	1,258
25	Hounslow	417	299	954
26	Richmond	2,995	4,526	846
27	Bexley	267	158	172
28	Hillingdon	0	0	54
	City of London	NA	NA	NA
	Sutton	NA	NA	NA
	Bromley	DNE	DNE	DNE
	Greenwich	DNE	DNE	DNE
	Kensington and Chelsea	DNE	DNE	DNE
	Croydon	DNR	DNR	DNR
	Newham	DNR	DNR	DNR
	TOTAL	290,094	384,356	419,801
	Change – year-on-year		94,262	35,445
	Change 16/17 to 18/19			129,707

‘No turn’ revenue – ranked by 18/19
Rank	Council	Revenues 16/17	Revenues 17/18	Revenues 18/19
1	Ealing	£2,683,701	£2,656,095	£2,685,346
2	Transport for London	£1,012,411	£1,903,322	£2,093,651
3	Hackney	£0	£133,420	£1,888,845
4	Havering	£459,856	£1,698,206	£1,872,821
5	Waltham Forest	£1,526,667	£1,688,329	£1,865,539
6	Cardiff	£442,284	£1,388,241	£1,438,732
7	Brent	£1,969,815	£1,756,762	£1,317,666
8	Westminster	£88,507	£1,195,813	£1,177,011
9	Merton	£1,322,351	£1,548,912	£1,132,455
10	Harrow	£1,044,236	£1,245,682	£1,096,385
11	Wandsworth	£175,279	£302,830	£718,888
12	Barking & Dagenham	£472,662	£631,866	£620,809
13	Tower Hamlets	£4,616	£395,168	£569,120
14	Haringey	£921,276	£853,553	£535,393
15	Islington	£553,306	£554,082	£495,051
16	Southwark	£706,394	£607,718	£463,048
17	Camden	£633,714	£578,576	£445,899
18	Enfield	£484,953	£656,839	£421,395
19	Kingston upon Thames	£805,522	£369,325	£399,809
20	Hammersmith and Fulham	£771,727	£710,464	£399,250
21	Lewisham	£0	£180,653	£263,818
22	Lambeth	£438,396	£315,769	£246,080
23	Redbridge	£287,682	£155,448	£81,444
24	Richmond	£214,526	£310,580	£61,407
25	Hounslow	£28,767	£19,388	£52,803
26	City of London	£53,942	£41,543	£20,215
27	Bexley	£16,719	£10,204	£11,034
28	Hillingdon	£0	£0	£3,412
	Sutton	£0	£0	£0
	Bromley	DNE	DNE	DNE
	Greenwich	DNE	DNE	DNE
	Kensington and Chelsea	DNE	DNE	DNE
	Barnet	DNR	DNR	DNR
	Croydon	DNR	DNR	DNR
	Newham	DNR	DNR	DNR
	TOTAL	£17,119,308	£21,908,787	£22,377,326
	Change – year-on-year		£4,789,479	£468,538
	Change 16/17 to 18/19			£5,258,018

No entry PCNs ranked by 18/19
Rank	Council / Authority	PCNs – 16/17	PCNs 17/18	PCNs 18/19
1	Harrow	2,209	3,223	8,286
2	Southwark	5,213	5,309	7,000
3	Islington	6,954	5,210	6,845
4	Haringey	7,379	6,049	5,825
5	Cardiff	0	4,474	5,643
6	Hackney	471	1,979	5,099
7	Lewisham	3,396	3,760	5,092
8	Enfield	3,665	5,029	4,086
9	Merton	172	39	3,673
10	Barnet	838	4,072	3,640
11	Waltham Forest	1,030	3,324	3,103
12	Hillingdon	0	0	2,974
13	Sutton	0	556	2,830
14	Camden	3,647	2,475	2,116
15	Kingston upon Thames	17,379	5,505	2,086
16	Redbridge	0	181	1,826
17	Lambeth	1,216	1,185	1,442
18	Hounslow	129	4,177	1,355
19	Tower Hamlets	116	646	1,326
20	Ealing	715	947	1,197
21	Westminster	NA	1,353	1,023
22	Barking & Dagenham	392	660	339
23	Transport for London	2,717	989	339
24	Bexley	145	191	204
25	Havering	227	949	113
26	Brent	127	201	75
27	Wandsworth	22	7	2
	City of London	NA	NA	NA
	Hammersmith and Fulham	NA	NA	NA
	Bromley	DNE	DNE	DNE
	Greenwich	DNE	DNE	DNE
	Kensington and Chelsea	DNE	DNE	DNE
	Richmond	DNE	DNE	DNE
	Croydon	DNR	DNR	DNR
	Newham	DNR	DNR	DNR
	TOTAL	58,159	62,490	77,539
	Change – year-on-year		4,331	15,049
	Change 16/17 to 18/19			19,380

‘No entry’ revenue ranked by 18/19
Rank	Council / Authority	Revenues 16/17	Revenues 17/18	Revenues 18/19
1	Harrow	£145,187	£209,595	£549,785
2	Southwark	£346,670	£343,540	£420,760
3	Islington	£393,285	£300,862	£357,265
4	Haringey	£453,605	£365,735	£339,607
5	Hackney	£27,468	£121,885	£307,539
6	Lewisham	£203,876	£217,105	£288,870
7	Merton	£12,287	£2,738	£243,063
8	Hillingdon	£0	£0	£198,979
9	Sutton	£0	£24,127	£190,571
10	Waltham Forest	£67,943	£210,741	£189,606
11	Cardiff	£0	£160,292	£182,782
12	Enfield	£197,406	£232,101	£179,249
13	Kingston upon Thames	£890,944	£308,018	£145,360
14	City of London	£434,750	£246,878	£145,180
15	Camden	£187,193	£153,129	£142,585
16	Redbridge	£0	£12,560	£115,166
17	Hounslow	£8,933	£223,070	£89,933
18	Tower Hamlets	£649	£39,489	£89,318
19	Lambeth	£79,154	£75,269	£87,269
20	Westminster	NA	£89,178	£73,395
21	Ealing	£29,972	£44,714	£49,843
22	Transport for London	£186,964	£70,586	£23,409
23	Barking & Dagenham	£20,996	£31,541	£17,980
24	Bexley	£9,253	£13,373	£12,512
25	Havering	£21,067	£51,291	£7,073
26	Brent	£6,826	£15,574	£6,353
27	Wandsworth	£1,365	£390	£65
	Hammersmith and Fulham	NA	NA	NA
	Barnet	NA	NA	NA
	Bromley	NA	NA	NA
	Greenwich	DNE	DNE	DNE
	Kensington and Chelsea	DNE	DNE	DNE
	Richmond	DNE	DNE	DNE
	Croydon	DNR	DNR	DNR
	Newham	DNR	DNR	DNR
	TOTAL	£3,725,794	£3,563,781	£4,453,518
	Change – YOY		-£162,013	£889,737
	Change 16/17 to 18/19			£727,724

By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

We are now into the blackberry season and it would seem that birds love blackberries if my white car is anything to go by! And in these days of water-based car paint, cars are even more vulnerable to this acidic poo than ever before.

At best it makes the car look unsightly at worst, even if you have removed the droppings, the car can remain stained to the point where a lease car could be assessed to be seriously damaged when returned at the end of contract with the leasing company charging for a respray of affected panels. In one case that I reviewed the car needed a complete respray so make sure that you read this advice AND ACT IMMEDIATELY.

Here is the advice from Car Buyer:

We’ve all spent ages cleaning our car to a lovely mirror finish only to have our hard work ruined by the unsightly splatter of bird droppings. As well as being unpleasant and annoying, bird mess can actually damage paintwork, with potential repair bills in the hundreds or even thousands of pounds in the worst cases.

Time is of the essence, because the longer droppings sit on the paintwork, the more chance they have of causing costly problems. But why does bird mess damage paintwork? And what’s the best way to remove it safely?

How can bird droppings damage a car?

When bird droppings are removed from paintwork, they can leave a dull, cloudy mark, and even a visible ripple in the paint’s surface in the worst-case scenario. It’s also possible to make matters worse by scratching the paintwork in the removal process, either by being too aggressive or using the wrong tool.

For many years, the acidity of bird droppings has been blamed for the ‘etching’ effect they can have on paintwork. Recent research carried out by car detailing specialist Autoglym, however, has come up with another reason.

• Carbuyer’s best car cleaning tips and products

In its testing, it was found that as the top layer of paint lacquer warms during the day, it softens and expands, while bird droppings instead dry and become hard. Later on, when the lacquer cools and contracts, it can mould to the texture of the hardened bird mess, leaving a troublesome impression on the surface.

While the effect might be fairly slight, only a small imperfection is needed to create a visible dull patch that stands out against the shiny paint next to it.

How to remove bird mess safely

As we’ve mentioned, speed of removal is the most important factor in preventing damage, and according to Autoglym’s theory, this is especially important on sunny or hot days when the lacquer is at its softest. If you drive your car every day, you’ll have a good chance of spotting any offending droppings quickly and taking swift action.

If you use your car less regularly but it’s still parked outside, it’s worth having a quick look over it on a daily basis. For vehicles left outdoors for longer periods, a car cover is the most sensible and surefire solution. It can also be worth trying to avoid parking under trees, street lights and the eaves of buildings if your car seems to attract bird mess.

The key to easy and safe removal is to use water to ensure the droppings are soft. This is most easily achieved by placing a damp cloth or car cleaning wipe over the offending area and leaving it in place for a few minutes. Once you’ve done this, you should find it comes away from the surface easily.

Always avoid pressing hard, or using a rubbing or scraping motion to dislodge the droppings; if not all of it is removed first time, simply place another damp cloth or cleaning wipe over the spot again and repeat this process until everything has gone.

It’s advisable to wear disposable gloves when tackling this job and, of course, to wash your hands thoroughly afterwards.

What if my car is already damaged?

If the paintwork already has dull spots from bird mess, you can usually deal with them yourself with a little time and attention. More extreme cases may require the help of a car detailing company or paint restoration expert.

If you want to try to correct the paint at home, the first step is to wash the car to ensure it’s clean. Once it’s dry, apply a lightly abrasive car polish to the affected area, following the manufacturer’s instructions. This should gently remove the damaged top layer of paintwork, exposing the fresh paint below for a better finish.

Once it’s polished, ensure you cover the panel with a wax or sealant to protect it from the elements. If the condition of the paint is very poor, an expert will be able to assess the damage and use the correct products along with tools such as orbital polishers to get a satisfactory result.

WD40

I also came across this bit of advice but take care and follow instructions as you don’t want to make matters worse. According to WD-40, its magic-in-a-can spray has 259 automotive uses – and cleaning off dry bird poop from car paint is one of them. To remove bird droppings from your vehicle, spritz a little WD-40 on the area, let it sit for 60 seconds, then rinse or wipe away with a clean, soft cloth.

Final Warning & Advice

You should check your car’s paint warranty and make sure that you don’t do anything that could invalidate the warranty. And if you find that your car is badly damaged and could need a complete respray check to see if you are covered by your insurance especially if you have no claims discount protection. By Graham Hill thanks to Car Buyer

The UK’s largest motorway services provider has announced it’s trialling an 8p-per-litre fuel price cut at some key locations.

The scheme is taking place at five forecourts run by Moto Hospitality on three of their sites: Frankley on the M5 near Birmingham, Lancaster on the M6 and Donington Park on the M1 near Derby.

It will see petrol and diesel prices brought down to levels more competitive against both local fuel stations and supermarkets.

The trial prices will start at 111.9p per litre for unleaded petrol and 117.9p per litre for diesel. For comparison, the latest RAC Fuel Watch figures peg petrol at 113.47p and diesel at 117.17p per litre.

If the scheme proves successful by getting more drivers to fill up by the motorway, rather than search out cheaper fuel at off-highway locations, Moto will roll it out across all 47 of its UK forecourts. The firm is also calling on the Government to cut VAT on petrol and diesel, allowing retailers to pass the savings on to drivers.

Ken McMeikan, chief executive of Moto, said: “Times are tough and we know from our customer insight that motorists want to see lower fuel prices to help them make their money go as far as possible. We are hoping that, subject to a successful trial, we will be able to roll out these fuel price cuts to all of our Moto operated petrol stations.

“We are doing our part, but we hope the Government can provide some much needed help to motorists, too. I have written to Rishi Sunak, urging him to make an immediate cut to VAT on fuel in line with his recent VAT cut from 20 per cent to 5 per cent for the hospitality industry.

“We welcomed that decision and immediately passed the full VAT cut on to our customers, which has gone down extremely well as people seek support during these tough economic times. “A cut in VAT on fuel would instantly put more money into people’s pockets at precisely the time they need to be travelling again for work, visiting loved ones and during the expected increase in staycations.” By Graham Hill thanks to Auto Express