Put your hands together for the world car of the year!

A worldwide judging panel has chosen the BMW 118d as the World Green Car of the Year at the 2008 New York International Auto Show. A jury consisting of 47 motoring journalists from 24 countries has awarded the BMW 118d, a model that displays all facets of EfficientDynamics, with the “World Green Car of the Year” at the New York International Auto Show 2008.

The three- and five-door BMW 118d records an impressive 62.8mpg on the combined cycle with CO₂ emissions of just 119g/km – putting it into the Band B category for Vehicle Excise Duty. The BMW 118d now costs just £35 a year to tax.

To help it achieve these impressive figures, EfficientDynamics technologies such as Brake Energy Regeneration, Auto Start-Stop and Electric Power Steering are employed to cut fuel bills and emissions. An optimum gearshift change indicator is included to encourage economical motoring.

For the latest green car news log on to www.thegreencarwebsite.co.uk

Tom Purves, Chairman and CEO of BMW of North America, said: “BMW is very excited that the BMW 118d with EfficientDynamics won the World Green Car title. The measures that we’ve implemented within our EfficientDynamics strategy into every BMW mean that we’re able to provide customers with the driving pleasure they expect from a BMW, while still meeting the stringent requirements for fuel-efficiency and low emissions.”

Simon McBride

A ‘car tax trap’ created by the latest budget will hit the existing drivers of typical family cars, from next year, but fail to address the real issue of older and bigger polluters on today’s roads.

That’s according to CAP, the UK automotive industry’s provider of benchmark used car values and technical data.

Hardest hit of all will be drivers of the automatic variants of larger-engine cars up to seven years old who will be hit by a double whammy of huge increases in Vehicle Excise Duty and more rapid depreciation which could severely affect values.

CAP believes that next year’s proposed increases in Vehicle Excise Duty are ill thought out due to their disproportionate impact on ‘ordinary’ used car drivers while doing nothing to encourage the drivers of older ‘dirtier’ vehicles to switch into newer more efficient cars.

To illustrate this CAP experts point to the example of a Volkswagen Passat 2.0 automatic registered since March 1 2001 (Y registration). From next year the owner of this car will face a VED cost of £415 – almost double the current tax disc price of £210. In contrast, the same model registered before that date will only attract an increase in VED based on the standard rate of inflation.

Mark Norman of CAP argues that the new rules unfairly penalise many thousands of drivers by trapping them into paying big tax rises without offering the opportunity to make informed choices about which car to choose. He contrasts it with last year’s introduction of a Band G VED charge for higher emission vehicles. That rule applied only to new cars purchased after the announcement – giving drivers the opportunity to research which vehicles would attract the highest VED charge, thereby giving them the opportunity to choose a vehicle attracting lower car tax.

He said: “No matter which way you look at the new VED rates, they trap many existing drivers into paying substantial hikes in car tax while perversely leaving older, more polluting cars alone.

“The impact will be felt hardest by the typical driver of larger family cars of medium age and especially those with automatics because they tend to be slightly less fuel efficient and therefore produce more carbon dioxide.

“Many of these cars will be worth around £2,000 to £2,500 in the trade and the cost of a tax disc will be around 15 to 20 per cent of the car’s entire value. That will inevitably reduce their value substantially and therefore existing owners face the double whammy of bigger tax and a lower re-sale value.

“We understand and support the principle of pegging fiscal measures to environmental impact but this measure is inconsistent because it leaves truly inefficient vehicles to escape all but an inflationary rise in VED. Nor do the new measures take any account of the actual pollution caused by the vehicle because low mileage users will be penalised at exactly the same rate as the high mileage driver.

“And the impact on drivers’ pockets will also extend to the value of their vehicle itself. We are not talking about luxury vehicles but ordinary family cars with a typical value of £3,000 or less. In years to come these new VED rates will come close to writing off the value of many of these cars.”

www.cap.co.uk

UK motorists will soon be able to place orders to buy the first fully electric powered car later this year, when the new TH!NK city electric vehicle (EV) goes on sale in this country.

Revealed at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show this month by Norwegian electric vehicle pioneers Think, a company with 17 years experience in EVs, the new TH!NK city will be available for customer orders during the last quarter of this year.

TH!NK city is a true, modern urban car, not a quadricycle. It is a fully environmental vehicle, emission free and 95 percent recyclable. With an energy efficiency three times that of a traditional combustion engine car, it is a car that realistically meets the growing challenges of environmental protection and congestion and emissions legislation.

The two seater urban car has a top speed of 65 miles per hour. It accelerates from zero to 30 mph in just 6.5 seconds and 50 mph in 16 seconds. It requires just an overnight top-up of electricity and can travel for 124 miles in city driving on a fully charged battery. A full charge from a domestic electricity socket takes just ten hours. Over 10,000 miles use, the total cost of electricity used to power a TH!NK city will be in the region of £125.

TH!NK city is designed to meet the strict safety requirements of both Europe and the US, as a highway-safe road car. The car is equipped with ABS brakes, airbags and three-point safety belts with pretensioners and it meets all European and US requirements with good margins.

“Unlike the lower-range, electric quadricycles that have had limited success in the UK, TH!NK city is a real car which provides a realistic option for those motorists who want to drive a true zero emissions car,” said Richard Blundell, Managing Director of Think UK.

“Also, concern for the environment has been at the heart of the development of TH!NK city. It’s not only environmentally sound to drive, but the car itself is designed to be recycled,” he added.

Engineers, developers, buyers and designers in the company have focused on utilising clean recyclable materials, non-polluting production processes. The dashboard can be completely recycled. The fabric, body, supports, air ducts, adhesives and fixings are designed using the same recyclable materials.

TH!NK city’s body is made of recyclable ABS plastic, designed specifically for city driving. Not only is it ideal for motorists want to avoid visible scratches and irritating dents, the unpainted plastic bodywork also reduces both energy consumption and toxins, while also making the panels easier to recycle. The batteries are returned to the supplier at the end of their useable life.

Standard equipment on each TH!NK city includes power steering, central locking, a 4kW electric heater, and electric windows and mirrors. Optional equipment will include air conditioning, a pre-heat timer, electrically heated windscreen, full length sunroof, Radio CD with MP3, USB, Bluetooth, a navigation & multimedia system, alloy wheels, roof rack and 2 + 2 children seats (including 3-point seat belts)

Production started last autumn, and the first batch of cars will be delivered to Norwegian customers this spring with orders for UK cars being taken in the last quarter of this year. The expected retail price of TH!NK city is £14,000.

http://www.think.no/

The age of green driving has arrived, as the UK’s first motorway car share lane, has been opened by Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly.
The 1.7-mile lane, built by the Highways Agency, links the southbound M606 near Bradford to the eastbound M62 towards Leeds. It is open to cars and taxis with two or more occupants, as well as buses and coaches, and bypasses the notoriously congested section where the two motorways merge. The new lane will save road users an average of six to eight minutes per journey – 30-40 minutes per week for regular commuters.
If you really want to go green, check out the greenest cars available to buy or lease on www.thegreencarwebsite.co.uk
Ruth Kelly said: “This new lane offers motorists the opportunity to reduce both their journey times and their carbon footprints. Currently, four out of five vehicles using this busy junction have only one occupant. I hope this new lane will encourage people to share their journeys, which will ease congestion, cut journey times and improve local air quality. We have identified around 500 miles of motorway as potential priority sites for new traffic management measures, which may also include more car share lanes.”
Simon McBride

The future is green for Norwich City Council as it taken delivery of 50 examples of the Volkswagen Polo BlueMotion.
This is the largest single order of BlueMotion vehicles to date.

The Polo BlueMotion is one of the most efficient vehicles on the road with the ability to achieve 74.3 mpg on the combined cycle while emitting just 99 g/km of CO2 – placing it in Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) band ‘A’ and exempt from road tax.

Norwich City Council leader Steve Morphew, commented: ‘We’re delighted to be driving the UK’s biggest fleet of one of the world’s greenest cars.  This will not only save the council in excess of £60,000 a year, but will also save more than eight tonnes of CO2 annually.’

The council placed the orders for the vehicles, which will be leased, following an extensive evaluation process which took into account running costs, versatility and carbon emissions.

If you want to find how much a Polo BlueMotion will cost to lease, log on to http://www.contracthireandleasing.com

Anton Bull, Norwich City Council’s head of procurement and service improvement commented:  ‘As an authority we are constantly looking at ways we can reduce our environmental impact.  When we were reviewing our fleet car contract we explored the option of using more environmentally friendly cars – which led us to the Volkswagen Polo BlueMotion.’
Simon McBride

According to a report issued by The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT); throughout the last ten years, significant and sustained progress has been made in cutting CO2 emissions from new cars. Among comprehensive figures in SMMT’s latest CO2 report is the headline that average CO2 has fallen 13% since 1997. Publication of the seventh annual report also reinforces the industry’s drive towards open and honest reporting on sustainability measures.

“Our latest CO2 report shows how far we have come, but also the challenges that lie ahead,” said SMMT chief executive Paul Everitt. “Industry is bringing more new technologies to market. Encouraging consumers to embrace these and choose lower-CO2 emitting variants must be our priority. However, this is not a task for industry alone; car makers, government, fuel companies and new car buyers have a role to play in delivering lower carbon motoring.”

Highlights from the report, which is available to download from the home page of the SMMT web site, include:

• A 13% improvement in average CO2 reduction since 1997
• 39.5% of new car market under 140g/km CO2 last year; just 3.9% in 1997
• Band B emitting cars set to overtake Band G sellers for the first time in 2008
• Diesel penetration at 40.2% in the UK; 26.5% in 1997
• Diesel duty lower than petrol in all major European markets except the UK
• Total CO2 emitted by cars has fallen 4.8% since 1997; 72.2 to 68.7 million tonnes
• Government revenue from motorists up from £33.8 to £45.1 bn since 1997

Paul Everitt added, “We shall be working with government to help shape the new car CO2 regulation, emphasising the need for appropriate lead-times, fines that are closely aligned to the market price of carbon and with suitable incentives for innovation. We will also be urging government to ensure that the diversity of the market and car manufacturing bases in the UK are protected.” 

The report was launched to the All Party Motor Group of MPs at a House of Commons event on 17 March 2008.

For more information visit: www.smmt.co.uk

There is more good news for green cars and hybrids in particular. Mark Cowling, the business development manager of CAP announced at last week’s Car Fleet Management conference that hybrid cars were holding their residual values just as well as their petrol and diesel equivalents.

The average hybrid car is holding approximately 36.5% of its original value after 3 years/60,000 miles. This compares favourably with the corresponding petrol and diesel cars holding 36.9% and 36.8% respectively.

Cowling finished off by stating that “These vehicles are not to be afraid of.”

This is an important landmark in hybrid cars entering the mainstream and becoming a viable driving option to all UK motorists.

BMW’s EfficientDynamics technology has won the Environmental Award at a Fleet News ceremony. EfficientDynamics reduces CO2 emissions and improves fuel consumption and shows BMW’s continued dedication in developing green cars.

The award from Fleet News adds to an already impressive recent collection with What Car? And CAR magazine already presenting the EfficientDynamics technology with their prized ‘Green Awards’.

The Green Party want a 90% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2030. They would also like to see a reduction in road building with the money saved going towards the building of light-rail systems in the major cities. The Green Party would also like to see a reduction of fares on the rail and bus network.

Speed limits outside towns would be capped at 55 miles per hour and The Green Party are also in full support of congestion charges in pollution hot spots.

Fleet News has become the latest media outlet to nominate MINI as a green winner. In the publication’s 20th Annual Awards ceremony, MINI was named Best Small Car 2008 thanks to the introduction of new fuel-saving technologies and amazingly strong residual values.

Cost-conscious, practical and desirable motoring topped the awards criteria. The Fleet News panel* cited the new Clubman model as key to the appeal of MINI for business car drivers, with one judge claiming: “There is no other car in the sector that drivers would like to have more.”

MINI’s new range of Hatch and Clubman models shot to prominence in 2007 thanks to technologies based on BMW’s EfficientDynamics systems.  With carbon emissions-based taxation a key factor in this week’s Budget announcement, many MINI owners could now actually find themselves in a stronger financial position.

Emitting just 104 and 109g/km CO2 respectively, the MINI Cooper D Hatch and Clubman models will be exempt from Vehicle Excise Duty as of 01 April 2009 under the Budget ruling.  This follows earlier news from Transport for London that from October 2008, cars emitting less than 120g/km CO2 will be exempt from congestion charging. 

Company car tax thresholds have also been revised and the Cooper D derivatives are again winners, thanks to the income tax rate cut and reduced 13 per cent taxation on diesel cars emitting less than 120g/km CO2.

The Fleet News Environmental Award was claimed by BMW Group. This award recognises the fleet industry’s commitment to reducing its impact on the environment. EfficientDynamics developments, available across BMW and MINI products, positioned BMW Group as the clear winner in a hard-fought category.
22 BMW derivatives and 5 MINI models now emit less than 140g/km CO2.  From April 2009 every one of these sub-140g/km cars will fall in to VED band E or lower, meaning owners will then pay a maximum of £115 for their annual road fund licence.