Rushing to greener models could be a "costly mistake", warns Total Motion MD

By Jessica Maguire

8 February 2021

Fleet managers rushing to switch to greener vehicles could be making a “costly mistake” to their business, Total Motion’s MD has warned.

Simon Hill (pictured), managing director at Total Motion, says fleets need to consider different factors, including the TCO (total cost of ownership) and aspects such as downtime, maintenance, and reliability.

He said that going green and tax implications should not be a reason to move away from petrol and diesel models.

Hill said: “The current tax implications for operating electric and hybrid vehicles is making it incredibly tempting for fleet managers to move away from diesel and petrol models.

“However, rushing to ‘green’ fleets can be a costly mistake, and the brakes need to be applied before making any sudden change based solely on tax calculations.

“There are other important factors too – the down time for recharging batteries and a vehicle’s overall reliability.

“The Government PR machine is encouraging fleet managers to make wrong choices – and we all know what happened when we were told a few years ago about the benefits of moving from petrol to diesel!”

Total Motion spent more than £1 million developing technology used by Uber to create a client communications hub for fleet operators.

Hill also said the 2030 cut off point for manufacturing combustion engine vehicles should be pushed back to 2040, highlighting battery capacity as a ‘major issue'.

He said fleet managers need to consider where the vehicle will be parked overnight and if the driver has a charging point.

Total Motion said its ‘Actual Life Cost System’ model helps fleets transition to alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs).

Hill said: “Our experience in the alternative fuel field began with us converting and supplying LPG/CNG (liquid petroleum gas/ compressed natural gas) vehicles through to managing electric vehicles and fleet electrification projects in 2004.

“By the end of 2006 we had over 500 LPG and 650 electric vehicles (EVs) in operation.

“In addition to working with major fleet operators, we have, and still continue to work with a number of vehicle manufacturers to help them with their strategies.”