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The Government promised cash back for running greener trucks. It's now law but to gain from the legislation to the tune of £500, it could cost around £3,000. Sharon Clancy reports.
The Government's long-awaited £500 Vehicle Excise Duty rebate scheme for lower-emissions trucks finally became law in December when the Vehicle Excise Duty (Reduced Pollution) Regulations and the Motor Vehicles (Type Approval of Reduced Pollution Adaptations) Regulations were passed by Parliament.
However, unless you have at least ..£3,000 to spare, or plan to run a gas-fuelled truck, its unlikely that any steps you take to reduce emissions will qualify for a VED rebate. The required emission levels are so low that they could have been devised by the Treasury to avoid a drop in vehicle taxation revenue.
Also, operators will still have to pay a minimum VED rate (expected to be £150) which reduces the incentive to clean up smaller trucks.
PM target
Rather than going for a reduction in overall emissions, the Government is targeting particulate matter (PM). To qualify for the rebate a Reduced Pollution Certificate (RPC) must be obtained for each vehicle, showing that it meets the relevant PM target.
The Vehicle Certification Agency is responsible for checking test results and approving vehicles and engines fitted with particulate traps. It issues RPCs which operators take to their local licensing offices to claim the VED refund. Particulate traps will be inspected during the annual test and vehicles will need to demonstrate "no visible smoke".
Exhaust manufacturer Eminox points out that some Euro-2 engines running on City Diesel can already manage this without a particulate trap: it predicts that a smoke meter reading of 0.3 will be required.
To earn its rebate a truck's PM level must be two steps below the legal requirement. This means that pre-Euro-1 and Euro-I vehicles must have a Euro-3 PM level, while Euro2 vehicles have to meet the just-announced Euro-4 level.
For a diesel this will entail the use of a particulate trap in the exhaust; alternatively, operators can buy a new Clean Fuel Vehicle (CFV) running on alternative fuels such as gas, which automatically qualify for an RPC.
Particulate traps are not cheap technology: expect to pay around £3,000. Exhaust oxidation catalysts are a third of the price of PM traps and remove up to 70% of the particulates in the exhaust—but this is not enough to qualify for an RPC.
There is a feeling of exasperation in the industry that a Government so determined to reduce CV pollution levels has ignored this effective method of achieving its aims. "A flow-through particulate reduction catalyst will remove between 50 and 70% of particulate matter at a third of the cost of a particulate filter," says Bob Cawdwell, commercial
manager at Warrington-based Wasey Exhausts. For the same money as fitting a single truck fitted with a particulate trap you can fit three vehicles with catalysts and achieve a greater reduction in particulate emissions."
Buying a truck with the latest Euro-2 engine won't help either. "The 380 and 430hp versions of the Euro-2 XF engine achieve 0.05g/kW," says Tony Pain, marketing director at Leyland Daf. "That's one of the lowest, but still not close enough to the concession target of 0.04g/kWh. And even when they become available, there's no incentive for operators to adopt Euro-3 engines earlier than 2001 because they then have to meet Euro-4 targets."