Fleets will increasingly look to consider the overall emissions of their vehicles in the future and not just what comes out of the tailpipe, says Epyx.

One of these sources will be particulate matter emissions caused by brake pad wear, which – together with tyre wear - was the focus last month of a report from the Government’s Air Quality Expert Group.

Tim Meadows, commercial director at Epyx, said: “For decades, we have looked at little more than tailpipe emissions but the wholelife environmental impact of a vehicle is wide ranging.

“This might include, for example, the emissions generated by a car or van’s manufacture but, closer to home, there is likely to be growing interest in areas around service and maintenance.”

Meadows said Epyx’s 1link Service Network could be used to help fleets measure brake pad particulate matter emissions.

Its service and maintenance platform is used to manage four million company cars and vans, and contains data for brake pad wear and replacement for all these vehicles.

Meadows added: “This is a very new area for fleets but, seeing as the Government estimates that these kind of emissions will account for 10% of some kinds of particulate emissions by 2030, one that is set to grow in importance.

“A lot of research will undoubtedly go into reducing the PMs created by pads and technology introduced that will reduce the pollution created at source as a result.

“However, while that process is underway, there probably needs to be better monitoring and understanding of brake pad wear – and we perhaps have more information available than anyone else.”

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