ISO 14001 and the UK Ban on New Petrol and Diesel Cars by 2030

As an Auditor of Management Systems, I meet with a lot of businesses and am in the privileged position to hear about the risks, opportunities and plans for the future of my clients.  So, I recognised the potential for a huge impact on those clients when I first heard of the impending ban on petrol and diesel vehicles in the UK. Here’s what you need to do to prepare your organisation and make sure you’re ready to make the most of the ban.

When are petrol and diesel vehicles banned in the UK?

On 18th November 2020, the UK government announced that sales of new petrol- and diesel-powered cars and vans would be banned from 2030, with new hybrids banned from 2035.

This ban does not mean that existing vehicles will have to be removed from the road, so you’ll be able to run petrol- and diesel-powered vehicles alongside their newer electric counterparts.

How are businesses reacting to the ban?

Since the announcement of the 2030 ban, it has been interesting to see the contrasting impact it has had on Environmental Management systems.  The responses can broadly be grouped into three categories.

Some businesses have missed the news: understandably, the COVID-19 pandemic has meant that many businesses have missed the announcement, and have not yet added this to their risk register, let alone begun to plan for the change.

Some businesses have updated their risk register: for a proportion of organisations, the change is already listed on the risk register and in some cases, this is already leading to the setting of environmental objectives.

Some businesses can’t wait for the change: for a small but growing proportion of businesses, particularly those performing city centre deliveries and “last mile” deliveries, electric vans and e-cargo bikes are already a part of the transport fleet.

Don’t worry if your organisation falls into the first camp – you’re not alone. Whichever camp your organisation falls into, here’s what I advise you to do in order to prepare for the coming ban.

How to prepare for the petrol and diesel vehicle ban in 2030

1. Add the ban to your risk register

This is the first step to any preparation. Review your ISO 14001 risk register or CROO matrix and think about adding transport issues such as how goods and people get to work, where people work and the transport infrastructure that the business invests in. Don’t be surprised if you begin to get some recommendations from your auditor to add more environmental aspects related to transport within your risk register because we all need to begin to plan for this change.

No single choice of vehicle has ever been right for all businesses so when we look at battery-electric vans and cars, we need to think about the vehicle use case.

2. Examine the data

Review any data your organisation holds that is related to the current use patterns of vehicles. Before investing in battery-electric cars and vans, you’ll want to know the maximum range that is needed per day.  Sources of data may include fuel cards or expenses claims.

Where businesses don’t currently have access to any useful data, it is common for them to create an ISO 14001 objective to collect and review the data that will help in making informed vehicle use cases decisions.  I have seen this working well in a number of businesses.  I am told that some lease companies can use this data to help to narrow down the shortlist of appropriate vehicles.

Data from expenses, fuel cards and vehicle trackers can be used to understand the current real-world range needed from vehicles. Battery electric cars and vans with a 200 mile plus range are now more common than you may imagine, and some vehicles such as the VW ID.3 and Tesla Model 3 can cover a range of over 300 miles on a single charge. Take time to identify the options that work for you at a price you can afford.  I remember that my 1980’s Ford Escort’s petrol tank gave me a real-world range of 350 miles and that didn’t cause me any range anxiety.  Do any of your current fleet needs fit this range profile?

3. Consider the benefits of electric vehicles

Electric vehicles hold the promise to solve other problems. Some vehicles like the Hyundai Ionic 5 offer “vehicle to load” capabilities. For rural businesses and those who operate in areas of outstanding natural beauty, the ability to run power tools off of the van’s battery will remove the need for jerry cans of diesel and spill kits when working on remote sites. While the lease cost of battery vehicles is currently higher, some organisations are already seeing whole life cost savings due to the low fuel costs.

Business reactions to the ban on petrol and diesel cars

Many of the largest UK fleet operators have already completed the calculations for themselves and are making the move now.  It is worth noting that the UK Electric Fleets Coalition, whose members are responsible for 400,000 fleet vehicles, are already committing to move to electric vehicles before the 2030 deadline.

Its members include BT, Openreach, Anglian Water, Centrica, DPD UK, Engie, Fleet Alliance, Foxtons, Hitachi Capital UK, Iberdrola (Scottish Power), Ingka Group (IKEA), LeasePlan, Mawdsleys, Mitie, Natwest Group, Octopus, Orsted, OVO Energy, Severn Trent, Tesco, Tusker and Unilever.  That’s a long list of fleet managers who have done some whole cost of ownership and operation calculations.  If your business has not yet looked at the figures, you could make this task an environmental objective and start a spreadsheet.

British Gas has already placed an order for 3,000 Vauxhall Vivaro-e vans to be part of its fleet of 12,000 vans. It’s likely that many of these early electric vans will trickle into the second-hand market, by the middle of the decade.

As technology advances at pace, some businesses are setting environmental objectives to run the numbers for themselves every 6 months to be able to spot the tipping point where the whole life costs of electric vehicles make sense for the business.

Where I have audited businesses that already have electric vans on the fleet, I was expecting to see issues related to range on the risk register or non-conformance log. In reality, the reports I get are of reliable vehicles with low running costs and high levels of mechanical reliability.

In conclusion

If change is on the horizon, make sure you incorporate the planning for that change into your risk register as part of your management system. If staff need to travel to, from and in work, businesses need to be thinking about the influence and choices the business has in relation to that travel as part of your Environmental Management System.

Other environmental changes that may encourage you to take a look at your future vehicle choices include the CAZ (Clean Air Zone), ULEZ (Ultra Low Emission Zone) and more established road charging like the London Congestion Zone.

Changes set by the Government give us all a minimum benchmark to work towards.  Some environmental changes are often practical, beneficial, cost-effective and enhance our reputations to adopt early. Use your Environmental Management System to its full effect to help to make your decisions based on facts and your usage data and keep your eyes open for more environmental changes.

To start with, research into electric vehicles for your business – you will be able to find loads of resources online and the following external links may be a good starting point:

• Introduction and review of commercial vehicles
• Fleet News, electric news hub
• Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo EV review
• VW ID.3 First Drive & Review
• Could a charge point in your car park attract trade?
• Rapid EV charger installation
• Car charging at home
• EAV – Can these electric-assisted vehicles change urban deliveries? (Featuring one of our 14001 clients)

If you don’t already have an Environmental Management System in place, I recommend taking a look at our beginner’s guide to ISO 14001. It tells you everything you need to know about the environmental management standard and how it can help your organisation prepare for changes just like this one.