Author Archives: Van Rental

Misfuelling Prevention Dragon Style – DDN Scores Record Investment

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Misfuelling – putting petrol into a diesel vehicle – is a surprisingly common mistake. According to the RAC, more than 50,000 of its members alone managed to fill up with the wrong fuel in 2007.

The consequences can be very expensive, so it’s no surprise that the automotive business has started trying to reduce the ease with which misfuelling can take place. One of the companies leading the way is DDN Ltd, the manufacturer of the Misfuelling Prevention Device.

DDN appeared on the BBC’s Dragons’ Den on the 4th August and were very successful; they secured an investment of £250,000 – the largest investment ever made on the program!

This just highlights the potential size and scale of the market for a product that prevents misfuelling. At a unit cost of around £50 for fleets, it’s a lot cheaper than having to call out a mechanic to drain a vehicle’s fuel system and refuel it – not to mention repairing the possible damage if the vehicle has been driven after misfuelling.

I originally wrote about DDN’s Misfuelling Prevention Device back in March. It claims to be idiot-proof to fit and to use and can be put in place in seconds. It’s already proving a big hit with fleet buyers and is now available to retail buyers from DDN’s rather spiffing new website.

It’s seems a great idea for owners of vehicles that typically have multiple drivers. Amongst obvious potential target buyers are car and van hire companies, families with multiple petrol and diesel vehicles, company fleets and the emergency services – who are already trialling the MPD.

I suspect that there will come a time, in a few years, when misfuelling prevention devices are factory-fitted to most new diesel vehicles. However, there are currently a huge number of unprotected diesel vehicles on the road and that number is continuing to grow day by day – so congratulations to DDN for seizing the moment and coming up with a great product.

To learn more about the DDN Misfuelling Prevention Device, click here to visit their website.

Click here to see DDN’s appearance in the Dragons’ Den again.

P.S. If anyone from DDN reads this, I would love to do an illustrated review of fitting and using the MPD with my 2001 Ford Transit – just drop me a line!

Here’s Why Increasing Road Tax Won’t Decrease CO2 Emissions

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I live in the centre of a medium-sized town. I can walk, in 5 or so minutes, to a daily market, a wide variety of shops and several takeaways and restaurants.

Needless to say, I don’t drive very much when I am at home.

Many of my neighbours, on the other hand, take a rather different view. I routinely see them driving to places I can walk to in just a few minutes – often going out and returning within 10 minutes.

Aside from being just plain lazy, there are a number of more serious downsides to using a vehicle in this way, as highlighted by some new research published this week by the IAM:

  • The first two miles of a journey can use double the usual amount of fuel, thanks to a cold engine and inefficient urban driving.
  • Repeated cold starts and short journeys cause disproportionate wear and tear to a vehicle, as it never warms up properly

Even if we accept the reality that most people don’t really care that much about the environment, there is a serious cost aspect to this (the main reason I don’t do it…).

You might think that the situation gets better once out on the open road, but there’s more bad news here, too:

  • Under-inflated tires – a common sight, despite 20% under-inflation causing a 3% increase in fuel consumption and poor handling
  • Unused roof racks and boxes – up to 20% more fuel at motorway speeds
  • Aggressive driving – up to 15% more fuel used
  • Speeding – driving at 80mph can use 15% more fuel than driving at 70mph

Everything I have described above is fairly commonplace. Yet all of that extra fuel means that the advantages of owning a car with low CO2 emissions are completely wasted, as CO2 emissions rise when fuel consumption rises.

According to the Institute of Advanced Motorists, driving in the manner I’ve described above can mean that even small, low-emission cars like the Ford Focus ECOnetic can end up spewing out as much CO2 as well-driven larger cars, like the Ford Galaxy.

And when driving a larger vehicle – like a lorry – the cost implications can run into £’000s each year, as highlighted by this report from RoadTransport.com.

It kind of makes a nonsense of different VED (road tax) rates, doesn’t it? Maybe road tax should just be scrapped. It might be much fairer for the cost of our road usage to be based on the amount of fuel we use – and we already pay enough tax on fuel, don’t we?

Europcar Adds 50% More Luton Tail Lift Vans – Thanks to Credit Crunch

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Car and van rental giant Europcar has increased the number of Luton tail lift vans it has available by 50%. Tail lifts are invaluable when loading and unloading heavy objects and often enable the driver to manage single-handedly and avoid any heavy lifting.

The new vans are the result of a 15% increase in consumer van rental seen by Europcar over the last year. Hiring a van for DIY moves or deliveries and collections is a popular way to save money and Europcar Marketing Director Catriona Lougher is convinced that the credit crunch is responsible for the increased popularity of van hire:

With the slowdown in the economy, homeowners need to watch their pockets.  The increase in van rentals certainly seems to indicate a savvy attitude to this slowdown … Renting a van for a few hours is often far more cost-effective than having items delivered and with the popularity of sales on auction sites, it’s a great way to transport a ‘bargain’ home.

Europcar is one of the largest van hire companies in the UK, with a combined fleet of more than 6,000 hire vans across 250 UK locations. Click here to find your nearest rental location and get an online quote.

Rental Firm Fined £212k Due To Unpaid Congestion Charges

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The widely-disliked London Congestion Charge is hitting car and van hire firms hard, according to statistics published by rental firm Sixt. The German firm, which has fifteen branches in Greater London, says that it had to pay out £212,000 last year thanks to rental customers who failed to pay the congestion charge.

Some of these non-payments may be due to ignorance. Sixt rental operations director Bob Baillie says that the company has found that “a large percentage of business travellers from outside London are unfamiliar with the Congestion zones.” However, Baillie also admitted that “having to pay up to £100 each for non-payment is a bitter pill to swallow.”

To help people unfamiliar with the London Congestion Charge system, Sixt has produced an excellent guide to the LCC. For those who aren’t familiar, the congestion charging zone includes the City, Southark, Lambeth, Finsbury, Westminster, Soho, Marylebone, Hyde Park, Kensington, Chelsea and Notting Hill – plus a few more areas (see here for a map).

To learn more or to pay the congestion charge, visit the official Transport for London Congestion Charging website at: www.cclondon.com

Ever Thought of Hiring A Van from A Main Dealer?

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The Birmingham branch of well-known commercial vehicle dealer Chatfields has announced that it will begin offering a van and minibus hire service using LDV Maxus vans, which it also sells.

This reminded me that there are quite a few main dealers who also offer a hire service. In fact, I’ve used several in the past and they have often been quite convenient and competitively priced.

This kind of service is usually provided by particular dealers, rather than the manufacturers themselves – so availability in different locations can vary widely. However, if you have exhausted all other options and not been able to find a suitable hire van for your needs, it’s always worth a try, especially if you have a big commercial dealer near to you.

You can find location details for Chatfields’ Birmingham branch here.

Mercedes-Benz Announces Turbo Strategy To Reduce Emissions

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In my recent article “Record Diesel Prices – Will Car Drivers Move Back to Petrol“, I suggested that the current vogue for diesel cars of all sizes might be nearing an end. The premium price diesel vehicles command when new and the increased price gap between petrol and diesel mean that drivers need to do quite high mileages before diesels (with their better fuel economy) pay for themselves.

Just a couple of days later, I noticed this news release from Mercedes-Benz announcing that by 2010, all of its engines will be turbo-charged. It doesn’t specifically mention petrol engines, but since all Mercedes’ new diesel engines are already turbo-charged, this must be a reference to its petrol engines, many of which are still rather large and not turbo-charged.

Although most obviously of relevance to luxury car drivers, this is an interesting indicator of the way the market looks likely to go. I can easily see the same technology being applied to small, low-payload vans. Smaller, turbo-charged petrol engines – of the kind Saab have been using for years – offer comparable performance to larger, normally-aspirated engines and have lower emission ratings.

Reducing CO2 emissions, of course, is the primary motivator for Mercedes’ decision. Ever-tightening EU emissions rules mean that regular reductions will be required for manufacturers to escape fines in the years to come.

I look forward to seeing how different manufacturers meet this challenge.

Europcar Makes Accidents Less Stressful

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Having an accident is always a stressful and difficult event. Having one in a rental van can be even worse – you can end up unsure about who to contact and worried about receiving a huge bill for damage from your hire company.

Europcar have understood this and introduced a new service for UK customers that aims to simplify and de-stress accidents and breakdowns. First Call provide a single number to contact in the event of accident or breakdown – and ensure that everything necessary, including claims paperwork, is handled quickly and efficiently.

The First Call service is already offered by National Van Rental and Europcar say that they hope it will result in more customers reporting minor accidents straight away – rather than leaving it until they return the vehicle, making claims more difficult.

Fuel Duty Increase Postponed – Duty Lower in Real Terms Than 1999

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The Prime Minister Gordon Brown has announced that the 2p increase in road fuel duty planned for October will be postponed indefinitely. Fuel duty will remain at 50.35p per litre for the forseeable future.

Motorists have welcomed the move but commented that it is something of a drop in the ocean – with fuel prices already up 22.5% since the beginning of this year.

The Chancellor Alistair Darling, on the other hand, was keen to point out that fuel duty is actually 17% lower in ‘real terms’ – i.e. taking into account inflation – than it was in 1999.

Darling said that by postponing the increase in fuel duty the government was helping “motorists and businesses get through what is a difficult time for everyone.”

More interesting to me is the news that oil prices have started to fall a little – could they have peaked? Watch this space.

Record Diesel Prices – Will Car Drivers Move Back To Petrol?

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While all fuel prices have risen over the last year, none have leaped skywards with more enthusiasm than diesel prices. The average price of diesel reached 132.7 pence per litre at the end of June – a whopping 22.5% higher than at the beginning of 2008.

The reason for this is that only a certain percentage of crude oil can be refined into diesel – and in the European market, demand has grown so that pretty much all available diesel is being used. One of the reasons for this, of course, is the surge in popularity of diesel cars in recent years.

While lorry, bus and van operators have little choice but to choose diesel vehicles, it’s only over the last 3-5 years that diesel has achieved such remarkable popularity as a fuel for cars. Modern common-rail diesel engines offer strong performance and excellent fuel economy – meaning that despite a purchase price premium, many car owners have made the change.

Sentiment in the industry now seems to be suggesting that this trend might be about to reverse, however. The cost of diesel fuel is so much higher than petrol that only true high-mileage car drivers will save money by driving diesels. In addition, diesel cars typically still cost more to buy and maintain than their petrol counterparts – meaning that for many car owners, they simply don’t make financial sense anymore.

This could be good news for companies such as Audi, who have continued to develop new petrol engines offering reduced emissions and improved performance. Such engines are an obvious replacement for turbo-diesels, as are hybrids. These, however, are still more expensive than regular petrol-engined cars to buy.

Pressure Continues To Rise on UK Biofuel Policy

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A new report from the UK’s Renewable Fuels Agency, an independent body, has recommended that the adoption of biofuels be “significantly slowed” until measures are put in place to alleviate the unwanted side effects of biofuel production:

  • Loss of agricultural land used for food production
  • Possible increases in greenhouse gases
  • Rising food commodity prices – particularly oil seeds in the UK (corn in USA, I believe)

The report’s most striking conclusion – and one that chimes with many environmental and poverty organisations’ findings – is that:

…there is a future for a sustainable biofuels industry but that feedstock production must avoid agricultural land that would otherwise be used for food production.

The report also concludes that there “sufficient land for food, feed and biofuels” but that biofuel production must target “idle and marginal land” and the use of “wastes and residue”. It notes that current [UK] policies are likely to lead to an increase in carbon emissions:

“…the balance of evidence shows a significant risk that current policies will lead to net greenhouse gas emissions”

Biofuels Contribute to Rising Food Prices

Just like the recent World Bank report, the RFA believes that biofuels are contributing to rising food prices but concludes that the net effects of biofuel production on food prices might stabilise and moderate over time.

Needless to say, the report concludes that those worst affected by the consequences of increased biofuel production are the poorest members of society – both in the UK and in countries of biofuel production.

A Successful Biofuel Industry Is Possible – But Must Be Regulated

The reports ultimate conclusion is that a sustainable, environmentally beneficial and responsible biofuel industry is possible – but that much greater regulation is required for this to be achieved.

It suggests that the current Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) policy in the UK should be amended so that biofuel content in road transport fuel is increased by no more than 0.5% per year from its current 2.5% level. This would leave it at a maximum of 5% by 2013/14 – against the current target of 5% by 2010.

The report also puts forward a suggested framework of regulation that would help shape the industry into an effective and sustainable force for emission reduction and ends by suggesting that short-term financial assistance should be provided to those worst affected by rising food prices, since these are at least partially the result of western governments’ ill-considered biofuel policies.

Note: It’s worth emphasising that the kind of biofuels causing the problems alluded to above are those produced from large-scale farming of oil seed (in the UK) and corn (for example) in the USA. Biofuel production from waste oil and other by-products is generally considered to make a positive contribution to greenhouse gas emission reduction and most independent experts agree that it should be fostered and encouraged.