CAP calls for van CO2 transparency - February 2007
Thursday, November 01, 2007 |
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Helping Customers Making Better Business Solutions |
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February 2007
CAP calls for independent CO2 and fuel economy facts for light commercials
FLEETS are being held back from achieving their green aspirations by the lack of independently produced fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions figures for light commercial vehicles.
As political and regulatory pressure grows on businesses to understand and reduce their impact on the environment, the majority of fleet operators – who typically register 1.7 million new vehicles each year – are taking significant steps to reduce their ‘carbon footprint’.
But the lack of independent information on van fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions means they are unable to make fully informed decisions on the environmental credentials of the 400,000 vans they commonly register each year.
CAP, which publishes the industry’s most comprehensive vehicle fuel consumption and CO2 emissions figures available for new cars in Britain, is now calling for vans to be included in standardised pan-European testing for MPG and CO2 output.
Values Services Manager, Mark Norman, who works closely with CAP’s fleet customers, said: “Senior figures across the industry, from fleet managers to finance directors, are all under increasing pressure to achieve carbon neutrality.
“In turn some fleets are demanding their suppliers demonstrate green credentials and there is now a genuine commitment within the fleet industry to manage and mitigate its environmental impact.
“And yet we are still unable to meet their need for independently derived fuel consumption and CO2 emissions figures for vans because that information is not made available to the UK market.
“The principal argument against independently tested standardised fuel consumption figures for vans is that they would not give a true picture because commercial vehicles are operated with widely varying payloads.
“However, there is no reason why vans cannot be tested on a level playing field by running them unladen and fully loaded, to produce best and worst case scenarios.
“This would at least enable the end user to make comparisons between vehicles on the basis of their independently assessed environmental impact.
“Many businesses have now stated bold intentions to achieve carbon-neutrality. But until transparency is achieved for all the vehicle emissions they are responsible for they will be unable to take the necessary decisions to achieve it.”
The European Commission is working on harmonised testing for light commercial vehicle fuel consumption and CO2 emissions in order to produce comparative rankings but there is currently no legal requirement for manufacturers to publish such data anywhere in Europe.
Note: CAP New Vehicle Data is proven as the most comprehensive and accurate source of new vehicle technical and specification information in the UK. It includes officially derived CO2 emissions data and fuel consumption figures for more than 6,000 currently available new car models and derivatives. In the case of the 3,035 currently available van derivatives in the CAP NVD database, CO2 and MPG data is available only where the manufacturer chooses to supply its own figures. |
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