All Commentary articles – Page 5

  • electric truck driving
    Commentary

    Proposed weight increases for new technologies

    2023-01-31T15:00:00Z

    Last week, the Department for Transport (DfT) put out its draft documentation outlining the changes to the Authorized Weight legislation. The new rules will allow additional gross weight capacity for new vehicles with lower emissions than traditional diesel vehicles. On the surface, the proposal looks like a step in the ...

  • tesla semi truck
    Commentary

    Life in the legacy truck brands?

    2023-01-24T16:35:00Z

    A recent interview our colleagues at Commercial Motor carried out with the new Managing Director at Scania UK has got us thinking about brand image, identity and differentiation between the truck manufacturers as we shift to a future beyond fossil fuels. The comments in the interview refer to Scania’s mighty ...

  • electric energy
    Commentary

    Are you making the most of the Capacity Market opportunity?

    2023-01-17T15:40:00Z

    Mid January will see the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy set out procurement levels for its upcoming Capacity Market (CM) auction, due to start on 10 February. For those not familiar with the CM, it was introduced in 2014 as a way of providing an income stream for ...

  • electric passenger cars
    Commentary

    Lessons to be learned from the electric passenger car backlash

    2023-01-10T14:01:00Z

    It may be a quiet news week that’s caused it or the mainstream journalists have got bored of espousing their benefits or we may be facing a real backlash. But either way, over the past few days there seems to have been the ripple of a backlash against electric vehicles. ...

  • 6x2 truck
    Commentary

    Does the UK 6x2 tractor unit have a place on the road to carbon zero?

    2023-01-03T14:42:00Z

    For fear of sounding like a broken record coming up with yet another barrier for the industry to overcome on its journey to decarbonisation, we feel we should raise an amber flag on the ubiquitous (in the UK at least) 6x2 tractor unit. We raise this and other points, not ...

  • renault
    Commentary

    Our carbon zero 2023 wish list

    2023-01-03T11:22:00Z

    It seems like it’s the time of the year for wish lists and new year’s resolutions, so we thought we’d ask our contributors to tell us where they would like to see some focus in the year ahead… Let’s have an open conversation [Andy] – people raising concerns with a ...

  • green truck
    Commentary

    Pricing changes on the way for connections to the electricity grid

    2022-12-14T09:52:00Z

    Do you want to get a new connection to the electricity network, or boost an existing connection? You may like to hold back on that until April, because after then the capital charge for the connection will fall away. At the moment, businesses are charged the full cost of new ...

  • shutterstock_2193198291
    Commentary

    Searching for the first mover advantage

    2022-11-29T06:23:00Z

    Normally, when you’re in an innovation race there should be a first mover advantage – the early bird catches the worm, and all that. And when it comes to the decarbonisation of the commercial vehicle and road freight sector, you would think that those operators who are first to the ...

  • pexels-marcin-jozwiak-3641377-1536x1023
    Commentary

    What’s all the fuss about Scope 3 emissions reporting?

    2022-11-22T17:36:00Z

    We’ve heard a lot of references to Scope 3 emissions in our discussions over the past few weeks. It’s an important regulatory development which all transport operators should have on their radar. We thought we’d kick off with a short explainer. Since April 2019, carbon reporting has been a mandatory ...

  • shutterstock_1899557371
    Commentary

    Let’s talk about the cost of commercial vehicle decarbonisation

    2022-11-08T17:35:00Z

    There’s much to be written, and we’ll be writing plenty of it, on the journey to the carbon zero promised land. Much of it from suppliers as we’re bombarded with information as they jostle for position, establishing their credentials and bid to secure their place in the race. There are ...

  • shutterstock_1237639432
    Commentary

    Legislation will drive industry change

    2022-11-01T17:34:00Z

    The news last week that all parties of the EU – the Commission, Parliament and Council – have reached an agreement to phase out petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2035 may not cover trucks, but its significance should not be ignored by the truck sector. This is BIG ...

  • shutterstock_1917115289 (1)
    Commentary

    Commercial vehicle operating duty cycles will drive carbon zero fuel choices

    2022-10-25T17:33:00Z

    To guide some of the thinking and decision-making research we’ve worked with Darren Newman at Low Carbon Truck Consultancy to produce and update a simple summary table on the vehicle and technology choices open to truck operators as they pick their way through the journey to decarbonisation. ...

  • shutterstock_2042393249
    Commentary

    The road to decarbonisation is paved with good intentions…

    2022-10-18T17:32:00Z

    Industry needs guidance, support and transparency if it’s going to meet the carbon zero challenges and keep the UK’s shelves fully stocked