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Will hydrogen cars be the answer?

Thursday, October 6th, 2011

With the future of the new breed of electric cars in the balance, many industry insiders are now questioning whether hydrogen fuelled cars rather than electric battery models will hold the key to our motoring future.

Public not impressed

There is no doubt that the launch of cars such as the Nissan Leaf has captured the imagination of the press, but do seem to have left the general motoring public seriously underwhelmed. Other manufacturers who are now getting ready to release their mass produced models on to the market are furiously trying to think of advertising ploys that will attract drivers in their thousands to get motor insurance quotes on zero emission cars.

Four faults

There are four clearly identifiable problems for today’s motorists when they considers buying an electric car. First of all, the price. Even with the Government subsidy of £5,000 the cars are more expensive to buy than regular equivalent models. Even taking into account the savings on fuel, the deal is not overwhelmingly appealing. Secondly, the range of a fully fuelled car is still well under 100 miles. This is proving to be a worry for motorists that manufacturers cannot dispel. Thirdly the lack of charging stations is proving difficult to overcome. Motorists, at the moment, would have to spend long hours planning a route across the UK where they could be safe in the knowledge that they could re-charge the vehicle when needed. Which brings us nicely onto the fourth problem? The amount of time the battery takes to charge. A full charge can take up to 6 hours which is obviously no use for anyone thinking of travelling any distance in one day.

Hydrogen option not just hot air

Enter the hydrogen cell car. Hydrogen powered cars depend on a fuel cell in the vehicle extracting oxygen from the atmosphere and mixing it with hydrogen from a tank in the vehicle. The resulting electricity turns motors that produce power for the car to move. The beauty about this system is that the car can be filled with hydrogen in the same time as it takes to fill a car with petrol, in fact the first hydrogen pump has already been installed in the UK. The range of a hydrogen powered car on a full tank is around 300 miles. Because of the lack of a mass produced model at the moment it is difficult to compare prices with an electric battery car and the same applies to car insurance cover, however, just like its electric counterpart the hydrogen car will be emission free and will comply with all the green requirements of today.

Tags: car insurance cover, hydrogen cars, motor insurance quotes
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Young drivers relaxed about using phone while driving

Tuesday, October 4th, 2011

Although the raising of the speed limit on motorways and the reduction of alcohol levels in the blood in breathalyser tests have both been in the news of late, a survey by one of the UK’s leading motoring organisations shows that the usage of mobile phones while driving is becoming the big issue for a majority of drivers.

Half admit to breaking the law

According to the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) in its annual “Report on Motoring” over 25% of those surveyed view drivers using a hand held phone to be a bigger problem than drink driving. It appears that drivers who typically purchase young person’s car insurance are the worst culprits when it comes to using their phone while driving, and in fact half of those interviewed in the 18-24 group admitted to using their phone in this manner. The figure is staggering when compared to the fact that over 4 in 5 motorists agree that using a mobile phone while driving is dangerous.

Texting, Tweeting and Typing

A closer examination of the 18-24 group shows that 1 in 6 believe they are perfectly capable of driving their car in a safe manner while using their phone, and approximately 1 in 4 regularly use email, mapping and music apps on driving journeys. Texting is not seen as a problem by over 20% of those in the group and using twitter and other messenger services while driving comes naturally to a similar number.

Not yet a taboo offence

The figures are frightening when the death and serious injury ratio for young drivers is compared to the overall figures and perhaps this is the reason why. Certainly other drivers are now more concerned than ever by mobile phone usage. Over 90% of those interviewed believe the penalties for the offence need tightening up with many calling for a driving ban for repeat offenders. With the price of car insurance cover already running into the thousands for young drivers it does seem amazing that some are still prepared to risk even higher costs by getting points on their licence in such a way, but it does illustrate that young drivers today do not view the offence as being anti-social in the way that drink driving is.

Is heavy punishment the answer?

With little chance of the Government now funding years of high profile advertising campaigns as they did in the case of drink driving, draconian punishment for those caught using mobile phones may be the only remedy.

Tags: dangerous driving, Mobile phones, Royal Automobile Club, young person’s car insurance
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Price drop due to colour may prove hard on the palate

Tuesday, September 27th, 2011

Purchasing a new car is still an exciting time for most people. Even hardened drivers of fleet cars still look forward with a tingle of excitement to the new car that comes their way every 3 years or so. We all know that there is plenty of choice when it comes to makes and models and it is this particular factor that usually persuades us to get a motor insurance quotation on a vehicle in the first place. However, the colour of the car also is a big factor for many private buyers.

Getting noticed comes at a price

Traditionally the more, shall we say, modest colours have been the most popular for motorists in the UK with blue, silver and red making up a great proportion of the cars sold on the forecourts of garages on our island. Interestingly enough, a recent article showed that motorists who want to make a statement and do it by buying a car in a more exotic colour shade, may be paying twice over for the privilege.

Wait for delivery and wait to get a sale

First of all manufacturers produce the more modest colours in their millions, once we start talking about, green, yellows and pinks then there are far fewer produced which usually puts a premium on their price and extends the waiting time to get delivery. This is all well and good for those that really do want a specific vehicle; it allows them time to sort out some low cost insurance which may make up a little for the extra they have paid on the car. It is when the car comes up for resale, however, when the double whammy effect kicks in.

Who wants a purple Audi?

According to used car experts a car coming from the more exotic spectrum of the colour wheel can lose up to 5% of its value and is usually more difficult to sell. The extra loss is explained by the time the car may take to sell. Extra advertising and depreciation costs both knock value of what was once a prize possession. It may be quite easy to sell a brightly coloured beetle but that is not always the case for cars in the luxury class. Not many owners of Audi’s, BMW’s and Volvo’s are to keen about buying one in bright orange.

Green not envied by many

Of course colours go in and out of fashion like many other things and at the moment shiny black cars seem to be everywhere, but just talk to the owner of a new black car and you will find out that keeping it looking new can be a nightmare. So you pay your money and take your chance, but always try and avoid green… apparently no-one likes them!

Tags: low cost insurance, motor insurance quotation, motor insurance quote, New cars, Price drop
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Servicing charges going through the bonnet

Thursday, September 15th, 2011

The latest inflation figures out today put the average cost of inflation at 4.5%, no doubt a worrying figure for everyone, but motorists could be forgiven for wishing that the costs of running their vehicle had just stopped at an increase of 4.5% over the last 12 months.

Spiralling costs take cars off the road

The cost of fuel has gone up by about three times that figure over the last year and has contributed to bringing the number of drivers on UK roads down to 28 million from a peak of 30 million in 2009/10. It would seem the “green army” are having their work done for them by the combined efforts of the government and greedy petroleum companies. They are lowering the amount of vehicles in the UK simply because people can no longer afford to drive.

Crippling insurance charges

On top of fuel prices motorists have encountered almost unbelievable increases in their motor insurance cover and for some youngsters the cheapest car insurance they can find is way beyond their means and often runs into thousands of pounds. And then of course motorists have to pay road tax, MOT charges and the essential servicing fees.

Massive difference in charges

It is servicing charges that are now attracting the attention of frugal motorists. A recent report shows that the average cost of an hour’s labour by a car mechanic is now slightly over £80. An increase of about 8% on the average price last year. However, the report found there were vast differences in the amounts garages charged, with some in the middle of London charging over £200 an hour servicing costs. There is also a big difference in charging policy between independent garages and those tied in to franchises by manufacturers. On average an independent garage will charge slightly over £60 an hour, the average cost from a branded garage is over half as much again coming in at £95 an hour!

Lame excuses?

Garages do try their best to justify these costs with some putting the pricing down to inflationary costs on energy, fuel and other commodities, as well as explaining the cost of diagnostic equipment and the training of mechanics get ever more expensive. They point out that motorists can now in many cases opt for fixed price service deals which will save them money in the long run, however, motorists will find labour costs of £200 very hard to come to terms with on any deal and garages should consider their charging if they want to retain their custom.

Tags: cost of motoring, Costs, Garage, MOT, motor insurance cover, servicing
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Drink driving tests show significant drop

Tuesday, September 13th, 2011

It appears that drink driving motorists are more likely to get away with their anti-social habit this year compared to previous years as the number of drivers checked and given the breathalyser test has dropped dramatically according to the latest set of figures available.

They know the risk

Drink drivers are quite aware of the chances they take when they get into their vehicle under the influence of drink. If they are stopped by a police car they know a driving ban is almost certainly inevitable and cheap car insurance a thing of the past…forever! However, those prepared to take the gamble will be delighted by the findings of a Freedom of Information (FoI) request on the number of drivers stopped by traffic police and asked to take a breathalyser test.

Cuts forcing constabularies to reduce manpower

The FoI was responded to by 35 of the Police Forces asked and the stunning statistics show that 24% fewer motorists were breathalysed up to May 2011 than in the previous year. Critics say the reduction can be traced to the budget cuts forced upon constabularies across the UK who can no longer afford the man power necessary to put out adequate traffic control teams. Indeed around 60% of the respondents confirmed they had cut their traffic control teams in the last 12 months.

Drink driving not socially acceptable

In all 9,000 fewer motorists were given the test and road safety organisations say that coupled with the reduction in the number of speed enforcement cameras in operation, UK road safety has taken a massive backward step in the last few years. They are afraid that the work of a complete generation of road safety adverts will be lost if the present policy is continued. And they have a point. No longer is it socially acceptable to drink and drive and those that do bring shame upon themselves and can find little support anywhere. This is completely down to the concerted efforts of road safety campaigners and the willingness of successive governments to fund hard hitting campaigns.

Minister refutes accusation

Road Safety Minister Mike Penning, however, is not convinced that Government policy is to blame and quickly points out that of those who have been subjected to the test 8% more have been prosecuted which indicates that Police Officers are using their resources more intelligently. Whatever the truth is, most motorists will be disappointed that those prepared to lose their licence and incur massive motor insurance premiums seem to have less chance of being caught than they had in the past.

Tags: Cheap Car Insurance, drink driving, Motor insurance, safety
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Cluttered cars becoming a safety issue on our roads

Thursday, September 8th, 2011

How many of us can honestly say we keep our cars clean and tidy. The vehicle we use to get us to work, the kids to school, the family on holiday and the pack horse that brings home the supermarket shop does not stay in pristine condition for long.

Clutter soon builds up

The demands of modern life mean that very few people keep their car looking the same as it did when they picked it up after organising motor vehicle insurance on it for the first time. It does not take too long before the car becomes “personalised”. Of course most people like to have personal objects in the cocoon that they spend so much time in, unfortunately according to a recent AA survey we are putting ourselves and our families at risk by cluttering up our vehicles.

Blinded by the light

The Survey, conducted on 2,000 cars travelling on a motorway, revealed that 1 in 20 cars had significantly obscured the driver’s vision by cluttering up the windscreen or rear window with objects. The survey revealed a plethora of cuddly toys, scented air fresheners and sporting regalia, were putting drivers at risk every day. It also revealed a strange belief that grips thousands of motorists in the UK! Apparently many people are convinced that a dangling CD will prevent speed cameras from recording their speed, a conviction that is totally refuted by the police force. However, they do point out that the dangling CD can well blind a driver coming in the opposite direction in some conditions.

Drivers face fines if safety is compromised

A police spokesman also points out that drivers can be fined for cluttering their windscreens with objects that could impair their vision and therefore compromise the safety of road users. The CD or scented tree therefore can have a big impact on the price of your car insurance cover. Even a sat-nav can cause loss of visibility for the driver if it isn’t placed correctly. It is also worth remembering that a car could feasibly fail an MOT if it is badly cluttered to the point where vision loss is an issue.

A clean car is a safer car

Of course the most dangerous aspect of a cluttered car comes into play when there is a collision. Objects flying about a car can maim and kill quite easily and a driver struggling to keep control of the vehicle can easily be impeded by objects blocking his vision or even blocking the controls of the car. It is not always easy to empty the car of clutter after every journey but keeping a clear windscreen will undoubtedly improve the safety rating of your car.

Tags: Car, clutter, mess, motor vehicle insurance, safety
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Ecovelocity powers into Battersea this week

Tuesday, September 6th, 2011

Motorists from all corners of the UK will be converging on the old Battersea Power Station later this week when it stages the festival of eco-motoring for the very first time.

Event will showcase new technology

The show, labelled Ecovelocity, will give spectators an insight into the latest vehicles that are coming on to the market, the low down on how hi-tech manufacturing is revolutionising the motoring trade and the benefits that low carbon emission vehicles will have on our lives. The show will cover the whole gamut of the breed of cars and customers will even get the chance to purchase motor vehicle insurance on a brand new car.

Low emissions valuable asset for capital dwellers

With the show being based in the Capital many visitors will be well aware of the advantages low and zero emission vehicles hold for the London driver. The new vehicles are exempt from congestion charge, often exempt from road tax and in some parts of London exempt from parking charges. Of course cleaner air to breathe is the end product of the new generation of cars and this was the prime mover in putting the new technology in place.

Manufacturers out in force

Visitors to the show will get the chance to actually drive some of the exhibits on a specially constructed test circuit and it is here that manufacturers like Nissan, Honda, Mitsubishi, Kia, Ford, Toyota and Volkswagen hope to convince prospective customers to splash out on car insurance cover for one of the new breed of cars. It is vitally important to all manufacturers that the public begin to buy in to the new concept and shows like Ecovelocity have a lot riding on them.

Supercars and training courses will rub shoulders

The show will feature a Green Supercar Paddock where one-off models such as the Tesla Roadster and Bluebird Electric will demonstrate just what is achievable by the mechanics and engineers at the forefront of the technology. Youngsters will have plenty to do at the show as well. SEAT will give youngsters between 11 and 16 the chance to participate in the “young drivers programme” and Honda will be presenting their well established introduction to motor cycling for young children.

The show will run from Thursday September 6th through to Sunday September 11th with charges for adults being £10, children £5 and a family ticket £25.

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Tags: Battersea, car insurance cover, Car show, EcoVelocity, motor vehicle insurance
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Government plan to move traffic out of town comes under attack

Tuesday, August 30th, 2011

Motoring groups across the UK are stating their concerns over a new Government initiative which they say could have a devastating effect on business and commerce as well as the ordinary driver.

Radical change

The Government’s draft National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) document has suggested a radical change in the planning and building of commerce centres. It suggests that office blocks would be better suited to the periphery of towns and cities and not in the built up centres. This they suggest will make the road network more accessible to businesses and at the same time unclog the city streets from cars and the polluting emissions they release.

Brave new world?

It is a brave concept that should give the cities back to the people and place business and industry perfectly adjacent to the UK’s motorway and main highways infrastructure. The idea could also help car owners who need to know “what insurance group is my car?” as well as bring the cost of car insurance down, so why is it coming in for so much criticism?

Motoring bodies fear traffic chaos

The Campaign for Better Transport (CBT) group along with major motoring organisations such as the AA and RAC are convinced the radical change will be to the detriment of the country. They say that the placing of more business parks and office blocks alongside the main road arteries will simply clog up the roads. They don’t believe the Government have researched the impact on the roads the changes would make. The CBT undertook some research of their own and reckoned that a 220 mile journey on the M1 could take an extra 50 minutes if a new business park was placed on the outskirts of each major metropolis the route passed. The concerns are centred around the amount of traffic entering and leaving the junctions of the main roads. Campaigners point out that major junctions already slow down traffic considerably and more junctions would see traffic gradually become slower.

Urban dwellers will disagree

This may not be the opinion of many people who compare car insurance cover for second cars that do trips such as to the supermarket or the school run. The Government scheme could certainly free up the towns and cities for the considerable percentage of the population who have no interest in business, and the initiative will be roundly applauded by those who campaign for cleaner air in cleaner cities.

Tags: Campaign for Better Transport, Compare car insurance, Governnment plans, Insurance groups
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Skoda speedster breaks Bonneville record

Thursday, August 25th, 2011

It does not seem all that long ago when Skoda cars were dismissed as nothing but a joke. No self respecting motorist in the UK could be persuaded to even get a motor insurance quote on one of the Czech cars, never mind actually take money out of their wallet to buy one. How things have changed.

More than just reliable

The subsequent rise and rise of the humble Czech company is well documented and started the day it became part of the Volkswagen group. Today many motorists still can’t be persuaded to buy a car with the Skoda name but for the millions who are now converts; the reliability and sheer value of a Volkswagen engineered car at entry level prices just cannot be ignored. However, the recent record set by a Skoda has nothing to do with boring reliability, the Skoda turbocharged vRS has just become the fastest 2 litre production model in the world.

World record

The Skoda UK team have just returned from the salt flats of Utah celebrating a 227 mph world record in the Bonneville Speed Trials. The Skoda team were confident of achieving the record as they knew they could get past the mind boggling 200 mph mark from previous attempts but on Thursday afternoon despite weather conditions that were not perfect they set about completing the second of two timed runs that are necessary to qualify the record. The five mile course was completed at an average speed of 228 mph which when averaged with the first run gave an outcome of just over 227 mph, beating the previous record by 11mph. Of course no motorist back in the UK will get a low deposit car insurance that allows him to travel at such speeds, but it is just another notch on the belt of Skoda that distances them from the company of a generation ago.

Time for recognition from all corners

Various Skoda models win top car prizes year after year now when it comes to voting by the general public and perhaps this new speedster will even turn the heads of motoring and media journalists.

Tags: Bonneville record, motor insurance quote, Skoda speedster
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Rise in number of parking tickets put down to CCTV vehicles

Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011

As motorists in some parts of the country prepare to claim back parking fines illegally issued by certain councils in the UK, the true cost of falling foul of traffic regulations was highlighted by figures revealed by the freedom of information act.

Tip of the iceberg

A motorist from Richmond in London famously won his appeal against a parking ticket last week and the judgement by the Traffic Penalty Tribunal means that millions of pounds will have to be paid back by dozens of councils across the country, however, the amount paid back will only be the tip of an iceberg that is made up of over 4 million parking fines. With each ticket averaging around £50 it is not hard to see how much of a cash cow motorists are to the local councils across the UK.

Change in tactics

The amazing number of tickets handed out by councils last year altered the public’s perception somewhat, and no longer is the traffic warden the motorist’s number one enemy. The increase of some 10% on the figures from the previous year is put down to the preference of many councils to replace the traffic warden with mobile CCTV cameras. The new breed of surveillance cars can generate tickets automatically once the cameras home in on their target and the first thing the motorist knows about his misdemeanour is when the letter lands on his door.

Public enemy number 1

Motorists around the country have had a number of reasons to complain about their lot in the past months; the rising cost of motor vehicle insurance, the record price of fuel at the pumps and the change in law regarding vehicles off the road requiring low deposit car insurance even if they are not in use, are all major causes of irritation, however, they pale into insignificance when compared to mobile CCTV cars.

Cameras not always right

According to motorists the cars often contravene parking regulations to try and trap other drivers; they often don’t work correctly and have been known to issue tickets to drivers who have not even stopped their vehicle. Others have been given fines for actually unloading vehicles in a perfectly legal manner and one motorist even landed a parking fine when they stopped their vehicle for 46 seconds to change drivers.

Here to stay

There is little chance of the cameras being withdrawn even though some councils will have to pay back their ill gotten gains. If local authorities conform to the rules regulating their implementation then they are perfectly legal and at a time when cuts to council budgets mean revenue is short then any means of raising cash will be welcomed.

Tags: Fines, motor vehicle insurance, Parking, Parking tickets, Richmond Upon Thames
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