Low Cost Vans

Fleet World has released the results of the 2013 ALD Automotive / Shell FuelSave MPG Marathon which took place on October 9th and 10th near Sheffield. This year’s event, now in its thirteenth year, had 46 competitors all aiming to demonstrate eco-driving skills and achieve the best outright MPG by improving on the official fuel consumption figures issued for their vehicle. For those not familiar with the event, “ the MPG Marathon, organised by Fleet World, is the UK’s longest-running and best-known economy driving event. Featuring a wide range of cars and vans, the MPG Marathon is a demonstration of how both the vehicle itself, and the person behind the wheel, can make a massive difference to an organisation’s fuel costs and carbon emissions.” The big winner of the “percentage improvement” award for cars went to the Peugeot 208 GTi, driven by John Kendall and Paul Nieuwenhuis. These veteran marathon drivers managed to clock up 59.39mpg, which was a respectable 23.99% increase over t...

Ford is building up more excitement for the all-new Ford Transit Connect, which launches later this year. I couldn’t help getting a little bit caught up in the moment too. In a recent press release, Ford is highlighting the fact that it will now offer best-in-class fuel efficiency, with the Transit Connect ECOnetic model delivering a 34% improvement versus the current model and can also offer owners a higher residual value. Without a doubt, we all know how popular Ford vans are and with good reason. Fuel economy is a big concern for all of us and has now become an all-important factor when purchasing a new van. Ford point out that the all-new Transit Connect is the first Ford van to offer customers the highly fuel-efficient 1.0-litre EcoBoost petrol engine. Ford says, “The Transit Connect ECOnetic has been carefully optimised to achieve the lowest possible fuel consumption, featuring a comprehensive range of Ford’s latest ultra-low CO 2 technologies, including Auto-Start-Stop, Active...

What Car? True MPG turns a year old this month. Happy Birthday! It’s been a fantastic year for the web tool, as they have just reported that more than one million motorists have used it to check the fuel economy in the vehicle they currently own or one they are looking to buy. The free to use web tool, in association with Tesco Petrol Filling Stations, tests cars on real roads in the conditions that every motorist faces each day. What Car? editor-in-chief Chas Hallett said: “We launched What Car? True MPG last April as a direct answer to the countless readers who had contacted us to say how disappointed they were with their car’s economy figure. Expecting high fuel economy and getting the opposite can double a household’s fuel expense. What Car? True MPG is a solution to this problem – the online tool gives Britain’s car buyers the most realistic fuel economy information possible – and it’s free to use.” Interestingly, yet not surprising, the True MPG programme found discrepancies in...

TheGreenCarWebsite.co.uk has posted an informative article titled, " What are stop/start cars ?" written by Faye Sunderland, that explains in simple terms what is and which cars use stop/start technology. Basically, a start-stop system automatically shuts down and restarts the internal combustion engine to reduce the amount of time the engine spends idling. This aids in reducing fuel consumption and emissions, especially if you are stuck in traffic or spend significant amounts of time waiting at traffic lights. It was mostly present in hybrid electric vehicles, but can now be found in many new vehicles. The post does a great job of describing how it works, why you may want to chose a van/car with this technology, and gives a list of current vehicles in the market that already have it installed. To read the article, please click here .

Which green vehicles, currently on the road, are the most economical? With fuel prices recently in the news again and the higher costs of living ever mounting, our vehicles today whether green or standard need to be as economical as possible, yet still provide us with the features we all want. Green cars can give more than just the moral implications of owning one; you can save more on running costs and cars that emit less than 100g/km don’t pay any road tax. Basically, the more fuel efficient the car is, the less tax you will pay. TheGreenCarWebsite.co.uk provides a complete list of their choices for best green economic vehicles. In the top ten, you’ll find cars like the Chevrolet Volt which came out on top of the leader board, just ahead of the much talked about Vauxhall Ampera. What I liked most about the list, is that it also provides details on; fuel type, CO2 output, which Tax Band the vehicle falls into, what MPG you should get, and offers estimations on what the Fuel cost of dr...

Ever wondered if you are getting the true miles per gallon (MPG) expected from your new car? I read a very informative article in What Car? Magazine online, discussing what cars offer the best fuel economy and what figure you can realistically expect to achieve on UK roads from your new car. The What Car? True MPG web test was launched back in April of this year, to help buyers find out what fuel economy their new car will really do per gallon. They have partnered with Tesco fuel to help you determine your true MPG. According to the article online; "There's never been a greater demand to discover which cars have the best mpg, and What Car? True MPG uses state-of-the-art testing equipment, on real roads, to give you a realistic figure." I was curious to see what the tool had to offer so I had a bit of a go using it, and although not all makes and models are included yet, it did provide some handy tips on how to save on fuel. The article is a great read with details on h...

From the  1 st of November 2012, European rules require that all new tyres sold are to be labelled with a grading system. These new labels will rate tyre fuel efficiency, wet grip performance, and the exterior rolling noise. This is meant to allow consumers and companies to increase and better control safety and fuel economy. Fuel-efficiency and wet grip performance will be rated using a letter grading system. The grades will range from A down to G. Grade A being the highest efficiency and G the least efficient, while tyre noise will be rated on a decibel system. Starting in July, tyre companies should begin the transition by adding the grading label to all tyres sold.  To see the new labels and for more details, view them on the Michelin tyre website here