Choosing a vehicle is a complex business. There has always been a lot to consider, particularly around affordability, flexibility, suitability, and maintenance costs. Now, environmental credentials are an important consideration, especially for those businesses who need to take vehicles into one or more of the Clean Air Zones that are emerging across UK cities
Written by Andrea McMahon, BVRLA
Giving businesses access to affordable, zero-emission vehicles
SME Guide
RENTAL & LEASING
There is no doubt that the pandemic has put good health and wellbeing at the top of people’s agenda. We are united by a collective desire to see the UK return to being a healthy, safe, and prosperous place to live, work, visit and do business – and having a cleaner road transport system forms part of that ambition. As Local Authorities start to resume to some form of post-pandemic ‘business-as-usual’, plans for introducing measures to improve local air quality are getting back on track. Bath was the first city outside of London to go live with a CAZ-C Clean Air Zone on 15 March this year, and on 1 June Birmingham followed suit introducing a CAZ-D charging zone for non-compliant vehicles. Bristol, Bradford, Portsmouth, Greater Manchester, Newcastle, Gateshead, North Tyneside, and Oxford are all set to follow, with London extending its more stringent The Ultra-Low Emission Zone to an area rental a 18-times larger than the original Low leasing nd Emission Zone, by 25 October 2021. sector provide The increasing emergence s a of Clean Air Zones is set to flexible ffordable, further increase demand for busines vehicles to cleaner vehicles and the green credentials of rental and lease to switcses looking h vehicles makes the sector perfectly complia to CAZplaced to provide affordable, nt flexible vehicles to individuals and van cars and businesses looking to switch s to CAZ-compliant cars and vans. Although the government has been instrumental in encouraging local authorities to introduce air quality improvement measures - publishing its Clean Air Zone Framework in February 2020 when “poor air quality [was] the largest environmental risk to public health in the UK” – the government has fallen short when it comes to ensuring that there is adequate communications to increase CAZ-awareness. Devolving all CAZ-related responsibility to local authorities is a questionable E supported by
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