Twenty11, Charged and ready…

Hybrids,  fully electric cars and vans,  there you go we are on the cutting edge of Green industry comment…

These feats of modern technological design are nearly there. Charging times reducing ranges now up to 150 miles for a small number of fully electric vehicles. £5,000 support for anyone looking to make a green statement on the company car park or suburbian badge comparing site (Pardon the pun, household drive I meant!).

The challenge here is simple, there simply aren’t enough charging points, Purchase prices of these vehicles even allowing for the political enticement  (£5,000) are steep, plus a question, would you invest in any fully electric vehicles for your fleet in Twenty11?

I remember sitting down to watch my two favourite TV programs of the week, Tomorrows World followed by Top of the Pops. Tomorrows World fronted by Michael Burke for those of you that can only remember MTV as music TV, showcased the future of  late 20th and early 21st Century living and technological innovation.  In 1967 they previewed the first home computer terminal and in 1979 modern-day mobile phone. Both of these basics of day-to-day life we now take for granted.

It seems to me the £5,000 on offer is not going to cost the state very much over the next 2/3 years, however with all major vehicle manufacturers committed to offering fully electric vehicles and the huge rises in the cost of Petrol and Diesel. The latest increases (Duty and VAT January 2011)  taking both to record high’s with no sign of reduction in the cost of the product, and the huge % of tax in the overall cost there is at some point soon going to be a dilemma for the state.

How if we  move over to fully electric vehicles is the chancellor going to cover the lost tax revenue? I’m thinking about this and can’t see the answer, unless they, wait a minute collect the tax in some other way?

This piece is not about politics left or right, just a few thoughts on the inevitable transition from Fossil to Plug and drive. If you have any comments on this subject please do. In the meantime here are a few suggestions to do your bit for the green loby, save some money, pay less tax and take some positive steps towards a cleaner conscience.

Take a fresh look at modern clean diesel engines, some of these now offer the lowest CO2 emissions, fantastic fuel economy and have superb residual values. These cars don’t drive like the rickety noisy oil burners of the early Tomorrows world era. They are quiet, responsive, offer the same if not better performance than their petrol rivals. Thanks to all the above Residual based finance products such as Contract Hire and Personal Contract Purchase (PCP) are good value for money and monthly payments can be surprisingly low even for premium brands.

Electricity is on the horizon, for now though we recommend high performance diesel, watch this space for more on the plug-in revolution… 

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