Carbon ignorance hitting fleet costs

Business drivers who do not understanding of the links between CO2, taxes and fuel costs could be hitting fleet budgets as well scuppering as their company’s attempts to reduce carbon emissions.

According to a recent survey of more than 2,000 drivers - most of whom were company car drivers - found that just 17% think that they will save on fuel costs if they change their driving habits to produce less carbon dioxide.

Carried out by a fleet management company, the survey also found that just 15% of drivers plan to drive a lower CO2 car in future to save on tax.

Equally alarming, 88% of drivers were still ignorant about how much CO2 their car emits and 76% do not know what Vehicle Excise Duty tax band their car falls into.

A spokesman for the company behind the survey said that the results suggests that fleets are unlikely to benefit from cost savings offered by running more efficient vehicles unless they have strict policy guidelines in place to ensure that employees drive greener cars.

He added that it is clear that much more needs to be done to make drivers aware of the links between CO2 and the costs of motoring - particularly the amount of fuel they use and the taxes they pay.