by Jay Parmar, Legal and Policy Director, BVRLA
Join Jay and the BVRLA at our next meeting
The vehicle rental and leasing industry contributed around £14bn a year to the UK economy – which is the equivalent to £1 in every £90 of UK GDP. The British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA) uses this influence to lobby on issues affecting the industry, and it also provides advice for companies looking to improve their image, balance sheets and vehicle fleets.
As the BVRLA’s Legal and Policy Director, I’ve witnessed the slow introduction of ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEVs) onto businesses’ fleets. At the time of going to press, our members own and operate fewer than 700 electric vehicles, and many of these are run on a trial basis.
Fortunately, we’ve been able to convince the government of the vital role the rental and leasing sector can play in supporting the take-up of ultra-low emission vehicles, and it’s in listening mode, thanks to the current green agenda.
The government wishes to make the UK a ‘centre of excellence’ for hi-tech, ultra-low emission vehicle technology, and this dream has been bolstered by Nissan choosing the North-East as its European location for building the plug-in Leaf, which is the world’s best-selling electric car.
But it’s clear that there’s a long way to go yet. The Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) had £400million to spend on stimulating the development of ULEV market between 2010 and 2015, but according to latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, just 2,512 electric cars were sold last year. Thankfully, OLEV now has an extra £500m earmarked for growing the ultra-low emission vehicle market up to 2020, and it recently sought our advice on how best to spend this money.
The BVRLA gave a ten-point plan on how to kick-start the ULEV market, which included measures like providing subsidised or free EV parking, giving
tax incentives for companies to install charging points, and introducing an emissions-based AMAP regime. Measures such as ensuring that benefit-in-kind company car tax is charged on the Plug-in Car Grant-inclusive cost of a vehicle (rather than the higher list price) and reinstating 100% first-year allowances for leased or rented ultra-low emission vehicles will go some way to overcoming concerns fleets have about the residual values of electric vehicles.
There are other plans in the pipeline too. Politicians want London to become an ultra-low emission zone by 2020, and Oxford has just rolled out a low emission zone for buses. Meanwhile, the European Union has proposed a 95g/km limit for manufacturers’ average new car fleet by 2020, and as of October 2013, publicly quoted companies are required to report their greenhouse gas emissions each year. All this is vital for decision makers, strategists and managers when developing supply chain strategies and plans.
Plug-in grants will continue until at least 2020, and as rental and leasing companies buy nearly half of all cars and vans registered each year, they are uniquely positioned to be able to work proactively with government policymakers in helping them deliver their green agenda.
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