Britain's low-carbon future

By Guy Bird

Motoring Issues

25 March 2008 12:36

Higher purchase taxes for high emitters, ‘traffic-light style’ tax discs to indicate a vehicle’s environmental friendliness and mandatory dashboard-based driving efficiency technology are just three recommendations from a new report that looks set to inform Government policy for the next decade.

Published on the same day as the Budget, the snappily titled King Review Of Low Carbon Cars Part Two (Recommendations For Action) was lost amid all the hoopla of new tax bands. But now we've had time to scrutinise it, we can assess the proposals that could affect your next car choice, from upfront purchase price to tax and running costs. The Government-commissioned 114-page review offers 40 recommendations covering reducing vehicle emissions, the use of cleaner fuels, consumer choice and research and development.

How will the King Review affect my car choice?

Julia King – report author and former director of advanced engineering at Rolls-Royce – says one of the easiest ways to make the 80 percent CO2 reductions the report says the UK needs to stabilise climate change by 2050 is by choosing more efficient vehicles.

It suggests stronger upfront tax incentives for ‘eco-focused’ vehicles and disincentives for higher-emitting ones, raising awareness on the choices available through better comparative CO2 labelling in car showrooms and cars out on the road plus improved education about eco driving styles.

Chancellor Alistair Darling has already heeded some of the report’s ideas in his first Budget. Road tax rocketing to £950 (from £300) for the first year of any new car that emits 255g/km of CO2 or more from 2010 and reduced road tax for low emitters is one obvious example. But the King report also proposes more radical measures, including name-and-shame tax discs.

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By Guy Bird