Infrastructure key to electric future

While Gordon Brown’s plan to create electric car cities in Britain is a bold strategy, serious consideration will have to be given to having an appropriate infrastructure in place to support the nationwide use of electric vehicles (Budget to set UK on the road to an electric future, April 16).Without such an infrastructure in existence, the desire of vehicle manufacturers to produce such vehicles, and of consumers to purchase them – even with a £5,000 sweetener – will surely flounder. 

We only have to learn from the experience of mainstream vehicles being produced in recent years which were designed to run on LPG or CNG – as soon as it became apparent that the government and fuel companies were not seriously investing in a national infrastructure, manufacturers withdrew investment on the back of falling demand.

If he is serious about his pledge to encourage a “low carbon” economy, Gordon Brown needs to enter into meaningful discussions with power companies to develop sustainable renewable electricity sources. 

Only with such commitment are we likely to see the required investment from manufacturers, sustained consumer interest and a genuine hope that electric vehicles could play a key role in a low carbon society.

TIM BOWDEN
Head of operations,
Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions


Professional approach is needed

I thank Fred MacDonald for his letter under the headline ‘Part-timers report is a red rag to a bull’ (April 16), as it raises a number of interesting points. 

Firstly, I never said that part-time managers have no role in fleet management. What I said, as quoted, was that “there is no longer a place for ‘interested amateurs’ in fleet management”.

Today there are fewer full-time fleet managers than in the past. Most people who manage fleet wear a number of hats so by definition they are part-time as is Fred MacDonald.  

However, although fleet management may be just one of their responsibilities, it is such a critical area to most businesses that it requires a professional approach.

Hence my call that more individuals take up the opportunities provided by the Institute of Car Fleet Management’s excellent education and training programmes.

Whatever his age, even Mr MacDonald might gain some benefit from ICFM membership and I would invite him to submit an application. 

We could perhaps find ways of reducing the current three days a week he spends managing his 23-vehicle fleet.

 

RODDY GRAHAM
Chairman, ICFM


Rescue scheme is a disaster

Regarding scrappage schemes: Say a customer decides to support LDV by buying a van and trading in a Sherpa, can LDV afford their £1,000 contribution? It would be ironic if these contributions pushed them over the edge. 

When a manufacturer (or dealer?) chips in the extra £1k scrappage subsidy for the sub-prime private car buyer who trades their old Metro for a new Picanto or i10, where does that £1k come from? You don’t suppose it will be passed on to everyone else who buys cars, do you? 

Or are manufacturers and dealers going to play Santa Claus, giving away £1,000 gifts to council-house customers? 

This whole scrappage scheme is a disaster, still not clear and will create massive confusion for mainly sub-prime retail and businesses customers. 

Which credit-worthy business runs 10-year-old banger vans? These “target” customers won’t get any finance for the balance! 

This rescue package of the industry has caused a buying freeze all year by dangling a promised bribe for four months, and it is set to continue thanks to all this confusion.

 

Ling Valentine
LingsCars.com


European speed alert

In response to your article ‘Europe-wide crackdown on speeding begins’ (fleetnews.co.uk), anyone planning to drive in Europe, or who is sending members of staff abroad, should research the local rules and speed limits before leaving. 

Most European police forces do not allow the UK’s quite generous 10% + 2mph margin. 

Speeding fines in France are immediate so warn potential speeders to carry plenty of euros or a credit card. The police will usually accept credit cards or take you to a suitable ‘hole in the wall’.

The French are not the harshest in Europe. I know drivers who have been stopped and fined in Austria for exceeding the speed limit by 1km/h, and of one who discovered that it is also a specific offence to swear at an Austrian police officer, even if he has stopped you for being 1km/h over the limit! Have a safe trip.

 

EDWARD HANDLEY
WRRS Consultancy