Fleet industry news round up

The Government has confirmed that Fleets and their drivers will not face additional charges to drive into Greater Manchester after a charging clean air zone (CAZ) was ruled out.

The area is set to benefit instead from 117 new lower and zero-emission buses in a £86 million scheme to help clean up the region’s air.

Defra and the Department for Transport (DfT) have assessed an investment-led plan proposed by local councils and concluded it will meet legal obligations to reduce nitrogen dioxide pollution.

The Road Haulage Association (RHA) welcomed the move. “Tackling poor air quality must be a priority and we fully support that ambition,” said Chris Ashley, RHA senior policy lead.“We continue to call for existing charging clean air zones elsewhere to be closed down once legal air quality targets are met”.

While local authorities in other areas have found that a clean air zone is the best route to cutting nitrogen dioxide pollution, Greater Manchester provided evidence they can achieve compliance with legal limits faster without charging.

In addition to the fleet of new buses, traffic-calming measures will be introduced to improve air quality in the region.

There will be a £51.1m towards bus investment, including 40 zero emission buses, 77 Euro VI standard buses and charging infrastructure; £5m for local traffic management measures; £8 million to support moving Greater Manchester’s taxi fleet to cleaner vehicles; and up to £21.9m for administration, delivery, monitoring and other associated costs.

“We will now continue to work towards an all-electric bus fleet whilst investing in local traffic measures and supporting our GM-licensed taxi drivers to upgrade to cleaner vehicles.” Says Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester.

The UK has legally binding targets to reduce the concentration of nitrogen dioxide in the air to an annual average of no more than 40 microgrammes per cubic metre.

The cost of charging an electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle at home is set to rise in April due to energy prices increasing.

Ofgem, the energy company regulator, has confirmed new energy price cap rates for April 2025. They are announcing a 6.4% increase in the next price cap, EV Drivers nationwide can expect a significant rise in their energy bills.

The current rate (Jan – Mar) is set at 24.86p per kWh, but from April it will increase to 27.06p per kWh.

For users on a standard variable tariff, the cost of charging a typical EV (60kWh battery) will rise from £14.90 to £16.20.

Plug-in hybrid drivers will have an increase in costs, with a typical model requiring around 15kWh of energy per charge, the cost will increase from £3.70 to more than £4.

In contrast, ultra-rapid peak and off-peak charging bucked the trend of rising charging costs by chopping a penny off the price in January, according to the latest AA EV Recharge Report.

The average price per kWh for an ultra-rapid (150kW+) charger during peak times fell from 66p to 65p in January. The off-peak rate dropped from 48p to 47p.

Flat rates for rapid and ultra rapid chargers, on average, were up by 1p per kWh, however.

According to Jato Dynamix, over the past six years the price gap between BEV and internal combustion engines (ICE) models fell from 51% to 18% in the UK.

The shrinking gap is said to be caused by the declining prices of BEVs and rising prices for ICE Vehicles. However, the average price of a BEVs, in the UK is still 122% higher than the prices in China.

As countries across the globe shift from fossil fuels to cleaner sources of renewable energy, China’s competitiveness in the BEV market puts it in a commanding position as China is now responsible for two thirds of global EV registrations.

Despite continuous efforts from legacy carmakers to make BEVs more affordable, the price gap between BEVs and ICE vehicles remains. 

Although carmakers’ electric offerings are improving in terms of both quality and affordability, ICE cars have risen in price overall. This is due to various factors such as increased regulation, stricter standards and the introduction of more high-tech features, all of which have combined to hike the final retail price of these vehicles

In the meantime, electric cars have benefitted from lower battery costs, which has caused BEV prices to decline.

The Government is aiming to introduce digital driving this year as it aims to use technology to “make people lives easier and transform public services”.

These digital driving licences will be available in a virtual wallet in a new Government app, with it also becoming an accepted form of ID for buying alcohol or voting.

Physical licences will still be issued, and the new digital driving licence will not be mandatory.

The Government is considering integrating other services into the app, such as tax payments, benefits claims and other forms of identification such as national insurance numbers. However, the new app appears to stop short of being a compulsory digital ID card, which was previously called for by Sir Tony Blair.

Virtual licences are already in use in Australia, Denmark, Iceland, Norway and some US States.

In the European Union, every member state is required to introduce at least one form of digital ID by 2026.