Switching company cars to greener, 120g/km CO2 emitting alternatives could save the UK and its businesses a mighty £3 billion each year, new research shows. The Energy Savings Trust has calculated the figure as part of a drive to encourage people into cleaner fleet cars.
Company cars account for over half of new car sales in the UK, and less than half of the firms providing them have an environmental policy. Worse still, only a third of the companies that have one bother to consider the environmental impact of their vehicles. It’s an area the Government is going to focus on increasingly.
What’s in it for the drivers?
So is this the end of Ford Mondeos and Vauxhall Vectra rep specials? Don’t expect businesses to start dishing out Toyota Prius hybrids overnight – and the mainstream car makers are readying a new generation of cleaner, downsized petrol and diesel engines to trim emissions.
If all company car drivers switched to a car producing less than 120g/km, they’d save 4.9m tonnes of CO2 emissions (if you factor in private use of the cars) – and dodge the London congestion charge, too.
So how much can I save by going green?
Clean cars also trim tax bills. Employees would save £645m in benefit in kind, and a whopping £1.2bn combined in lower fuel bills. Put that into context; a green fleet policy could save an organisation with 50 cars up to £45,000 a year. Not bad…
Part of the problem is companies offering a cash alternative to a company car list, meaning workers can take the money and add it to their own funds to buy any car they wish. While some companies scrutinise the private wheels their employees use, more than half don’t have a limit and just 6 percent take a look at the emissions the cars produce. In theory, you could run anything from a Fiat Panda to a Ferrari 599 GTB.
Should company car drivers be able to choose their own set of wheels? Or should the Government limit choice? Click ‘Add your comment’ and sound off