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Lack of driver eco awareness costing fleets millions

Fleets are missing out on millions of pounds in fuel savings every day by not ensuring their drivers know how to get the best mileage out of their car.

Fuel

TMC analysed mileage returns and fuel purchases relating to 2,300 cars.

So says TMC as its latest fuel economy data shows some fleet drivers get over 40mpg more than others from identical company cars.

Following up on its recent analysis of the widening gap between officially measured and real-world fleet fuel economy, TMC further analysed mileage returns and fuel purchases relating to 2,300 cars, covering the following popular fleet models: BMW 116d and 320d, Ford Focus and Mondeo, and VW Golf and Passat.

The research found that models featuring ‘eco’ technologies such as auto stop-start are particularly sensitive to the way they are driven, leading to a potential £3,000 difference in fuel cost over three years between drivers in identical cars, rising to a £5,000 variance between the best and worst-performing drivers.

Tests on BMW’s 320d found that drivers of the base level EfficientDynamics model (officially rated at 68.9mpg) achieved between 36mpg and 76mpg in real-world conditions, with an average of 55mpg. The least efficient driver of this model in the sample costs their company £790 more in fuel every 10,000 business miles compared to the most efficient.

Fuel economy achieved by drivers in Ford Econetic-badged models varied by 54mpg between the most and least efficient user. The variance for VW BlueMotion cars was 47mpg and for BMW EfficientDynamics models it was 48mpg.

TMC added that it believes that 50% or more of fleet drivers have not adapted their technique to the latest frugal fleet diesels and employers are therefore missing out on millions of pounds in fuel savings.

Managing director Paul Hollick said: “These variations are mostly down to drivers, not the technologies. Manufacturers are squeezing better and better economy out of conventional engines. Fleets and drivers are happily taking the tax breaks on the CO2 emissions. But many companies are passing up a very real opportunity to slash fuel costs by ensuring their drivers know how to get the best mileage out of their cars.”

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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.