Dear Boris: What Autocar would like to see in the budget

The announcement’s timing is unfortunate because it comes as sales of hybrids are increasing. It would be a shame if the decision to ban them discouraged car makers from introducing more efficient models. Worse for the government, once it is in force, without hybrids to buy, motorists may be encouraged to keep their diesel and petrol cars for longer.

Continue to support electric cars

We hope the budget will have spared it, but if not and the £3500 grant for plug-in electric cars expires as planned, Autocar asks that the government considers some other form of support to encourage the take-up of EVs. It is incentivising that should fuel EV growth, not banning alternatives.

Zero-rating benefit-in-kind tax for electric cars from April is a great start but that only benefits company car drivers. Instead, salary sacrifice can benefit every employee. Fortunately, from April, the scheme will include electric cars that employees will be able to lease, making repayments from their gross salary.

So that’s working people sorted, but how about others, such as the retired? They might appreciate a cut in the VAT charged on EVs. There would certainly be support for such a move, with a third of AA members saying they’d buy an EV if it were the same price as a diesel or petrol car.

A subsidy sounds worryingly like the tax payer is being asked to support those least in need of help but an increase in sales of new EVs will mean an increase in the supply of used ones at lower prices, which will benefit us all.

Increase the number of ERAs on smart motorways

Smart motorways are looking a little dumb after it was revealed that at least 38 people have been killed on them in the past five years. The schemes were given the green light when it was promised that emergency refuge areas (ERAs) would be located at least every 600m. However, since the roll-out, this interval has increased to as much as 2.5 miles on some sections.

Last October, transport secretary Grant Shapps ordered a review of smart motorways and halted the roll-out of new schemes until its results are known. One simple way to improve safety would be to retro-fit additional ERAs but, on the Reading section of the M4, which is being turned into a smart motorway, ERAs are still being built at approximately one-mile intervals.

Meanwhile, the roll-out of the stopped vehicle detection system, currently found only on sections of the M25 and M3, needs to happen faster. This is particularly important because, as it is, it takes 17 minutes for a stopped vehicle to be spotted, an additional three minutes to activate the red X signs closing the lane and a further 17 minutes for assistance to arrive.

Give young drivers a break

A review of insurance premium tax – set at 12% before chancellor Sunak rose to the dispatch box and charged on breakdown as well as motor insurance – would be welcome.

It generates more than £6 billion in income for the government but among those people paying the tax are many who can least afford it: young drivers.

They already pay sky-high insurance premiums, so we reckon they deserve a reduction in the charge, especially if they have a black box fitted to their car.

Harmonise city centre clear air zones

This summer, Birmingham and Leeds will become the latest UK cities to have clean air zones, following Glasgow, Southampton and London. More cities – including Edinburgh, Bristol, Derby and Nottingham – are planning to launch similar schemes.

The zones have a crucial role to play in reducing urban pollution but their individual qualifying and charging criteria risk confusing motorists and undermining the zones’ acceptance. For example, Birmingham and Leeds will each operate different restrictions. Birmingham’s scheme imposes minimum emissions standards on vehicles including private cars, but Leeds’ scheme places no restrictions on private cars. Meanwhile, Glasgow’s zone applies to buses only, but cars will be included from December 2022.

It helps that all ultra-low-emission vehicles will be exempt from any charges. The government is also trialling an online zone checker, where motorists can see if their car will be subject to a charge. Even so, it is important that zones harmonise their entry and charging criteria across the country to avoid confusing and alienating motorists.

Keep supporting the development of connected and autonomous vehicles

As the motor industry moves towards electrification, it’s important that the government does not dilute its support for this country’s work in the field of autonomous vehicle technology. The recent, successful completion of a 230-mile drive by an autonomous Nissan Leaf – a vehicle developed in the UK by the car maker and other organisations, including Cranfield and Leeds universities – proves that this country is a world leader in the technology.

That the Nissan Leaf’s level-five autonomous systems are years away from being adopted widely doesn’t matter. The lessons learned developing the car will feed into current level-two autonomy and, more important, level three, which is just around the corner and where a car can drive itself in certain circumstances. Other forms of transport and networks will benefit, too.

“These systems will help get us to zero road deaths,” Richard Billyeald, chief technical officer at Thatcham Research, told Autocar. “Step by step, the technology is making cars safer. We can’t afford to back off.”

Don't ignore local roads

In 2018/19, vehicle excise duty (VED) generated £6.4 billion. That same year, the then chancellor, Philip Hammond, announced a £30bn investment package for roads funded by VED over a five-year period from 2020 to 2025.

The money was to include an immediate payout of £420 million for pothole repairs, but the bulk of it – £28.8bn – is to be directed towards Highways England to develop and maintain motorways and major trunk roads.

Local authorities welcomed the funding but pointed out that the government spends 43 times more per mile maintaining national roads, which make up just 3% of all roads, than it does local roads, which they control. The Asphalt Industry Alliance claimed £8bn was required to fix outstanding maintenance issues with local roads. Speaking to Autocar, it said the £1bn governments have spent filling potholes over the past decade has been wasted. The RAC said drivers were twice as likely to break down as a result of hitting a pothole as they were in 2006.

The Treasury has confirmed that the new government will honour Hammond’s pledge. However, traffic volumes on rural roads have been increasing since 2013 and experience of them suggests more of the VED pot should be used for their repair and maintenance. On this point, it would also help if local authorities were forced to ring-fence the money they receive from government for the roads for that same purpose.

Get a solid-gold trade deal for the UK car industry

With his phrase ‘oven-ready deal’ still ringing in our ears, Boris Johnson and his negotiators are locking horns with their opposite numbers in the EU as they thrash out a trade deal. Whatever the outcome, the UK’s motor industry deserves one that reflects the huge contribution the sector makes to national prosperity. Recently, it has been hammered by muddled thinking on diesel and on Brexit, which caused a fall in production, investment to be scaled back and consumer confidence to melt away.

Fortunately, Europe still represents a golden opportunity for the UK. Despite the tensions, the proportion of cars made here that were exported to the EU rose in 2019. It’s why the government can’t afford to let its oven-ready deal burn to a crisp.

We're watching minister...