News analysis
Plea for certainty as fleets chase sustainability
More notice of EV funding changes is among fleets’ needs for 2022, according to the AA. Sean Keywood reports.
The motoring organisation’s president, Edmund King, made the comments on its 2022 State of the Nation webinar, which also covered topics including dealing with uncertainty, sustainability, urban mobility and the effects of EVs on the National Grid. King discussed the government’s decision in December 2021 to reduce its plug-in car grant, with immediate effect, from £2,500 to £1,500. According to King, the lack of notice about this had meant a financial hit for fleets such as the AA’s own driving
I
ncreased notice about changes to EV grant funding is one of the developments fleets need to see in 2022, according to the AA.
school operation, which is starting to roll out EVs including the Vauxhall Corsa-E and Peugeot E-208 to instructors. King said: “In December last year when it was announced that the EV grant was cut to £1,500 overnight, that cost the driving school something like £100,000 on that day, because it meant they wouldn’t get that grant.
“Obviously, they had planned for that fairly long term, so a message to government is that we need prior notice, as and when technology is changing.” The issue of uncertainty was also touched on during the wide-ranging webinar by AA business services director Gavin Franks, who said he thought
it would be one of three key themes for 2022.
“We’ve spent the last two years trying to predict what next year is going to look like, and we keep failing, because it is such an uncertain time,” he said. “So for me part of what we are looking at, part of the themes, is about flexibility and agility in the way you plan. Being able to pivot and move quickly as you see different trends and changes.
“There are things that happened over the past two years that accelerated the way we lead our lives, so it’s [about] trying to pick up on those trends. What are the things that are going to move back to the way they were before, and
what are the things that are going to be permanently changed?”
Franks said that some pandemic- prompted changes in working patterns had been evidenced by the AA’s own breakdown data.
He said: “We used to see breakdowns early in the morning, with people commuting to work, and a lot in the evening as people came back from work, and the shape of that has changed completely for us.
“Our peak is [now] in the middle of the day. I do think we are going to see people getting back in their cars, we are going to see more movement of people,” Franks continued.
4 | March 2022 |
www.businesscar.co.uk
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