There is a growing sense within Whitehall that new automotive technology – particularly that surrounding autonomous and connected vehicles – has the potential to deliver huge societal and economic benefits for the UK.

The big question is whether the Government is doing all it can to make this happen.

Last autumn, I gave evidence to the House of Commons Transport Committee, and highlighted how the Government has not yet grasped the opportunities presented by ‘intelligent mobility’. This is the standard phrase now used to describe any optimised form of transporting people and goods that increases mobility, improves safety and enhances user benefits while simultaneously reducing pollution, consumption and congestion. In most cases, the key to optimising transport is using connected vehicles, highways and the information they produce.

The Transport Committee clearly shares the BVRLA’s concerns, as many of our recommendations were taken up by this influential group of MPs in their recently published Motoring of the Future report.

Their support, as well as the £100 million of funding announced in the recent budget, comes at just the right time to provide some much-needed impetus into this vital work. There is a lot at stake.

We’re in the early stages of a motoring revolution, with technology set to transform the way we use cars, vans, trucks and buses. Connected cars, driverless vehicles, big data and smart motorways are just some of the intelligent mobility technologies that are beginning to have a major impact on the road transport sector.

Fleet Industry Manifesto

As the buyers of over half of all the cars, vans and trucks sold in the UK every year, the fleet market is a crucial early adopter of autonomous and connected vehicle technology. Of the 35 million vehicles on UK roads, BVRLA leasing members are responsible for 3.5m. As our members typically operate vehicles on a three- or four-year cycle, these cars, vans and trucks are among the newest, cleanest and safest out there. With the right government support, the potential to reduce harmful emissions, road casualties and congestion is huge.

Last year, in association with Fleet News and ACFO, we produced a high-level blueprint for what the Government needs to do: our Fleet Industry Manifesto. This was presented to transport minister John Hayes and is currently being digested by a range of senior policymakers in the main parties.

In it, we said that the Government should devise a range of fiscal and other incentives to accelerate the uptake of certain new automotive technologies that could bring major benefits in improving road safety and lowering emissions. One such example is autonomous emergency braking. If all new cars sold in the UK were fitted with this technology by 2025, motor insurance research centre Thatcham estimates that 17,000 or more deaths and serious injuries could be avoided within 10 years.

Furthermore, we called on the Government to ask the information commissioner to review and then publish updated guidance on the collection, access and use of vehicle data.

Tackling grey fleet

The success of the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) has shown that a cross-departmental team working towards a unified goal can have a very positive impact. We said that a similar structure should be created to pursue the benefits of intelligent mobility.

More and more organisations in the private and public sector are using fleet management technology to tackle the grey fleet market. Getting business drivers out of their own, older, dirtier and often less business-appropriate vehicles is the first step towards a cleaner, more-efficient fleet. Car club and car sharing operators are already using their pioneering mobility platforms to target business customers. Leasing companies are once again early adopters of intelligent mobility. Now we just need government support.

More articles on: