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Fleet World’s five-minute industry briefing: This week’s top stories

All the key news in fleet from the last week…

London street with traffic

Sadiq Khan has set a target for London’s entire transport system to be zero emission by 2050.

London Mayor to explore pay-per-mile road pricing

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan is to look at measures including road pricing, a workplace parking levy scheme and a zero-emission zone in central London in a move to drive down car use and ensure London’s entire transport system is zero emission by 2050.

The mayor’s newly published draft Transport Strategy – which is now out for consultation until 2 October – sets out a target to reduce total London traffic by 10-15% by 2041, cutting travel by three million car journeys a day to “free up space for essential freight and business trips”.

For more details, click here.

Woman using EV charger in car park

Motorway service stations and large fuel retailers will be required to install EV charge points. Image: Chargemaster

Queen’s Speech to make fuel station EV charge points mandatory

Motorway service stations and large fuel retailers will be required to install EV charge points under legislation planned for in the Queen’s Speech.

The Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill sets out a number of measures including moving towards a set of common technical and operational standards for EV charging, such as common connectors and accessibility, in line with government plans for “almost every car and van to be zero-emission by 2050.

For more details, click here.

fleet heroes

This year’s Fleet Hero Awards will once again recognise fleets at the forefront of ultra-low emission innovations.

Fleet Hero Awards 2017 open for entries

Companies at the forefront of sustainable fleet management are being urged to enter this year’s Fleet Hero Awards, which are now open for entries.

The awards – run by the Energy Saving Trust – cover nine titles this year including the new category of Ultra-low Emission Infrastructure.

For more details, click here.

epace

E-Pace will mark the second SUV in Jaguar’s international line-up.

Jaguar confirms £28k E-Pace compact SUV

Jaguar’s Evoque-sized SUV, dubbed the E-Pace, will make its full reveal next month, the carmaker has confirmed.

Positioned under its F-Pace sister model – winner of the Best Premium SUV in this year’s Fleet World Honours, the E-Pace will be priced from around £28,500 and is likely to be offered with a choice of four and six-cylinder petrol and diesel engines similar to the XE, as well as two and four-wheel drive.

For more details, click here.

Police accident sign

As EU road death figures stagnate, employers are essential to tackling road risk according to the new ETSC report.

Up to 40% of road deaths in Europe are work-related, new research suggests

Employers, national governments and the EU are being urged to take action to tackle work-related road risk, as latest estimates suggest that up to 40% of all road deaths in Europe are work-related.

The analysis of EU road safety data, published by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC), comes as the organisation says employers are essential to tackling road risk but that fleets need help and support from national governments and the EU to take action.

For more details, click here.

technician

In-car Cleverness claims car breakdowns will increasingly be pre-empted using in-vehicle data.

Technology could halve unexpected fleet breakdowns, says ICC

Developments in fleet telemetry could halve unexpected breakdowns by 2020, according to In-car Cleverness.

The telematics specialist says car breakdowns will increasingly be pre-empted using in-vehicle data as analytical telematics devices begin to integrate further into connected vehicles to predict faults and errors. The technology could also improve TCO figures for fleets.

For more details, click here.

Kia Stonic

Due for launch in Q3, the Stonic is likely to become one of Kia’s best-selling cars.

Kia’s new Juke rival revealed

Kia has revealed more details for its forthcoming Stonic compact crossover, which will rival models such as the Nissan Juke and Renault Captur.

Due on sale in Europe during Q3 2017, the Stonic will offer a 352-litre boot with a two-step floor and Kia promises class-leading shoulder room and generous leg and head-room.

Initial engine details have now been released, with the petrol line-up to include the 118bhp 1.0-litre T-GDI turbo unit as well as 1.25- or 1.4-litre naturally aspirated MPI engines alongside a 1.6-litre diesel unit.

For more details, click here.

Tusker says salary sacrifice orders on existing schemes and implementation of new schemes continue to rise.

Pendragon said its analysis found that it would cost 8.5% more per annum to run a PHEV fleet than a diesel one.

Diesel still has vital role in fleet sector, says industry

A reported migration from fleets away from diesels is still failing to impact the rental sector, where diesel is still the default fleet choice.

So says Meridian Vehicle Solutions as Pendragon Vehicle Management adds that diesel is still the ‘only realistic choice’ for business-critical and workhorse fleets.

For more details, click here.

autonomousfeatures

Manufacturers including Ford are undertaking extensive tests of autonomous driving features.

Driverless cars green-lighted for on-road trials

Trials of connected and driverless cars are to move onto UK streets by the end of this year as the UK Autodrive consortium completes its final set of private test track demonstrations.

This week saw a number of connected and autonomous vehicle trials carried out by project partners Jaguar Land Rover, Ford and Tata Motors European Technical Centre, including crossroads collision warning technology as well as a system that warns cars of approaching blue light vehicles. And Jaguar Land Rover demonstrated its ‘Autonomous Urban Drive’ driverless technology on an automated Range Rover Sport.

For more details, click here.

Man holding phone while driving

This year’s Brake fleet safety survey will focus on the issue of driver distraction.

Annual Brake survey to provide fleet safety benchmarking opportunity

Fleets are being invited to take part in Brake’s annual fleet safety survey to provide an opportunity to benchmark themselves against industry safety standards.

The survey will focus on policies and procedures on managing driver distraction caused by mobile phones and other technology in the fleet and takes around 15 minutes to complete.

All organisations that take part will receive a free copy of the results after the survey closes on Friday 18 August 2017.

For more details, click here.

drivingbusiness

The Driving for Better Business initiative is now led by Highways England.

Driving for Better Business celebrates 10 years with new initiatives

Driving for Better Business is marking its 10th anniversary with a new three-year programme to engage with employers in both the private and public sector.

Still supported by RoadSafe, the initiative is now led by Highways England and is embarking on a revitalised campaign to make it easier for employers to access information on what they could be doing, and give them tools and resources, free wherever possible, to help them put it into practice.

For more details, click here.

For more of the latest industry news, click here.

Natalie Middleton

Natalie has worked as a fleet journalist for over 20 years, previously as assistant editor on the former Company Car magazine before joining Fleet World in 2006. Prior to this, she worked on a range of B2B titles, including Insurance Age and Insurance Day.