Green for go, but not for company fleets just yet
Nissan will continue spectacularly to fuel business for North East auto suppliers and salerooms. But more persuasion may be needed to get green cars totally accepted. Brian Nicholls reports.
ALREADY the silver lining lifting previous cash clouds over many supply-chain firms and salesroom staffs, Nissan looks set to remain the sector’s big motivator this year and next.
Propelled by scrappage and other support, Nissan’s Sunderland plant is already producing an all-new engine which, apart from boosting sales, could create 200 new jobs in three years.
The contract to assemble the two-litre petrol unit – codenamed MR – follows approval for the first £2m of a proposed £15m investment package to upgrade Sunderland’s engine operation through to 2014. Around 60,000 MR engines a year will be made in Sunderland, safeguarding 130 jobs and creating up to 200 more by 2013 – depending on demand.
The engine (compliant with Euro 5 and 6 emissions regulations) will be available as an option on several models including the Qashqai and Qashqai +2, also Sunderland-made.
Kevin Fitzpatrick, vice-president of manufacturing in the UK, explains: “Our plant is now in a strong position to bid for future engine derivatives.”
Margaret Fay, chairman of regional development agency One North East which has provided a £1.94m grant, says Nissan’s fresh investment is a boost not only for staff but also for the wider automotive industry in the region – “an example too,” she points out, “of the North East’s ability to lead in global manufacturing in this extremely competitive sector.”
And of course, the impending launch of the Leaf electric car also bodes well for the industry. The Nissan Leaf (an acronym for Leading, Environmentally Friendly, Affordable, Family Car) is a compact five- door hatchback with an all-electric range of 100 miles. Global market availability is expected by 2012.
Being all-electric, the Leaf produces no tail-pipe pollution, is less dependent on oil, and offers improved total cost of ownership as the price of petrol rises. Clearly it is pioneering a new future for motoring, and for that the North East is preparing an accompaniment as one of the UK’s three electric car hubs.
Six all-electric Mitsubishi i-MiEVs are now in the North East as part of the next stage for groundbreaking low carbon vehicle trials. As part of the Low Carbon Vehicle Procurement Programme (LCVPP) run by Cenex, the UK’s first Centre of Excellence for low carbon and fuel cell technologies, two cars will join the fleet at Gateshead Council, two at Newcastle Council, one at Redcar and Cleveland Council and one at Stockton Council.
The i-MiEVs now form the next phase of the Smart Move trial, a major stage of collaboration between Cenex and One North East. Robert Evans, chief executive of Cenex says deployment of the i-MiEV here will give valuable information about electric vehicle acceptance and future market development.
The i-MiEVs have a range of 80 miles, a top speed of 81mph, and have minimal servicing and running costs.
Part one of the trial has involved all four local authorities using the i-MiEV and gave hundreds of drivers a chance to drive an electric car through placements in vehicle fleets and at public test drive events.
A key finding was that vehicle fleets like those at local authorities could provide a successful early market for electric vehicles. Both Gateshead and Newcastle councils are already part of the Department for Transport’s Low Carbon Vehicle Procurement Programme, which is helping selected public bodies across the UK to update some commercial vehicles in their fleets with electric vans and trucks.
Gateshead Council has also ordered 10 electric and four hybrid vans to replace diesel powered vehicles. The two i-MiEVs add to Newcastle City Council’s current fleet of 19 electric powered vehicles with four more electric panel vans due for delivery within the next few months.
As the new industry develops One North East is installing 1,300 charging points across the region – part of the national Plugged in Places programme, supported by the North East’s 12 local authorities.
The agency is also delivering the UK’s Low Carbon Economic Area for Ultra Low Carbon Vehicles. This will include the national Skills Academy for Sustainable Manufacturing and Innovation and the proposed National Low Carbon Vehicle Research and Development Centre.
The first 40 charging points in the North East’s new advanced infrastructure network have already been installed across Tyneside and the UK’s first solar-powered charging canopy installed at Gateshead.
Dr Colin Herron, manufacturing and productivity manager at One North East, says: “As further vehicles arrive on our roads in coming months, and our network of charging points grows further, the sight of vehicles plugging in across the region will become more and more common.”
It does seem, however, that further intensive promotion will be necessary if sales to give the development a comprehensive lift-off are to be achieved.
A survey of 100 finance chiefs in the private sector suggests that while more than half (56%) of directors in the North prioritise the reduction of fleet costs, not one would do so by introducing alternative fuelled vehicles.
The survey was carried out by Lex Autolease – the country’s largest provider of company cars. Chris Chandler there says: “Fully electric powered vehicles are not a realistic mainstream company car yet. This is partly due to the inherent limitations of the recharging infrastructure, limited vehicle choice and availability, but also because of the lack of certainty on running costs.”
Lex Autolease highlights that while the EV market is still very new there are big variations in prices of vehicles coming to market. It quotes prices for the Nissan Leaf as £28,350, and for Mitsubishi’s i-MiEV as £38,699 (excluding government subsidy).
Chandler concludes: “Although many firms want to be green, we will only be accustomed to seeing EVs on the company car park if they are cost effective. More models are promised over the next few years, but to convince these board directors, manufacturers will need to show savings can be made.”
If Government is now going to cut off financial support to encouragement of green vehicle development the question of who will buy could become academic anyway. Let’s hope not.
