EV Chargers at Motorway Service Areas: The Future

EV Chargers at Motorway Service Areas: The Future

May 11, 2022

For many motorists, motorway service stations offer a great deal of convenience, whether you are on a long journey with young children or using your vehicle for lengthy business journeys. The convenience of these locations providing food and coffee, toilet, and changing room facilities is invaluable, saving drivers the need to deviate off their route.

Ignoring the price of fuel, which is typically more expensive at these foecourts, they would naturally seem like an obvious place to be investing in electric vehicle charging stations. While many of them now have chargers installed, the variety of brands or CPOs (Charge Point Operators) available at motorway service stations has been somewhat limited.

What is a CPO?

A CPO is a customer-facing brand at the electric vechiole charging location. It is like the brand you see at the fuel forecourt and is the equivalent of saying you went to the “Esso” garage today.

The background of CPO motorway contracts

The Electric Highway was established in 2011 by the green energy provider Ecotricity, and whilst they sold their Electric Highway in June last year to GRIDSERVE, customer reviews and experiences of historic Ecotricity chargers were far from complimentary. Their app has an average rating of 1.5 stars, and a quick scan of the reviews will show you what early EV adopters thought of their chargers and network.

Whilst some motorway service stations have been investing in Tesla charger hubs, currently, in the UK, you cannot use a Tesla supercharger without driving a Tesla.

For non-Tesla EV drivers, the only other option for some time at most motorway locations has been the historic Ecotricity Electric Highway chargers. Whilst GRIDSERVE is upgrading a lot of the legacy chargers from Ecotricity, there has been criticism that the upgraded units no longer have Type 2 connectors, so cars like the popular Renault Zoe cannot utilise these new sites.

The Future of EV Chargers at Motorway Service Areas

Changes from the Competition Market Authority

There is, however, some good news as the UK transitions to more EV’s. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) unlocked the electric vehicle charging competition in March. The CMA has now secured commitments from GRIDSERVE not to enforce rights in contracts with Extra, MOTO, or Roadchef after 2026. In doing this, GRIDSERVE has committed to reducing the length of the exclusive rights in the current agreements with MOTO by around 2 years and Roadchef by around 4 years (the agreement with the third operator, Extra, is due to end in 2026).

Equally, they have agreed not to enforce exclusive rights at any Extra, MOTO, or Roadchef sites that are granted funding under the UK government’s Rapid Charging Fund (RCF). In such cases, competitor chargepoint operators will be allowed to install charge points regardless of the exclusivity in The Electric Highway’s contracts.

You can read more about these changes here.

Motorists lose money when selling their cars.

Motorists lose money when selling their cars.

May 4, 2022

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Many motorists say that they are daunted by the thought of selling their car on the second-hand market. Consequently, many appear to be willing to sell their car for less than it is worth to get the deal done and get on with other things.

Research commissioned by the online used-car marketplace Motorway has shown that despite prices for used cars reaching record highs, just over three-quarters of British motorists find selling their car intimidating, and seven out of ten knowingly compromise on the price to get a faster sale.

Around one in four of those surveyed admitted accepting the first offer for their car, with many saying that the priority when selling a car is to get rid of it as quickly as possible. According to Motorway, this leads to an average loss of almost a thousand pounds (£977) when selling.

Several things can ensure the sale price is higher. Not undertaking simple tasks, like buying new floor mats, changing the oil and making minor repairs, can mean that the car sells for less than its potential. Other common oversights and issues among those polled include not having an up-to-date service history, not having their car valued before the sale and struggling with paperwork.

More than seven out of ten surveyed said they found the process of selling their car daunting, with many saying they felt out of depth when selling their vehicle leading to the feeling that they had been ripped off. When selling, the main aims were getting the highest price, a speedy sale, and minimising the effort required.

A spokesperson for Motorway said: “Selling your vehicle can be a headache for many, particularly if you don’t feel confident or knowledgeable about cars.”

    Which fuel station brand loyalty scheme is the best for me?

    Which fuel station brand loyalty scheme is the best for me?

    Apr 27, 2022

    Whether you only buy fuel at the petrol station or often add some grocery shopping or get your car washed there, we’ve reviewed their fuel station brand loyalty schemes so you can see which one is best for your car and your driving habits.

    Gulf Oomph Rewards

    An award-winning loyalty scheme, Oomph would be one of the newer loyalty schemes available to drivers offering a points-based system.

    What do I get for joining Gulf Oomph Rewards?

    • 1 point for every litre of Gulf unleaded/diesel

    • 2 points for every litre of Endurance Super Premium fuel

    • 10 points for selected car washed

    • 20 points for any Gulf branded lubricant

    • 1 point for every £1 spent in-store

    Oomph is more generous in what you can collect points doing than others, and offers monthly prize draws as the means to redeem them. Previous competitions have included prizes such as F1 Bundles, Apple Tech Bundles and a Fiat 500. You can read about previous winners here.

    Shell Go +

    Shell Go + replaced their previous loyalty scheme called Driver’s Club with Shell Go +. Beforehand you earned points when you went to a Shell station, you now earn visits instead although it includes shop visits. This means Shell rewards your loyalty even if you don’t buy fuel.

    A visit is deemed by the below:

    • Spend £10 or more on fuel, or

    • £2 or more in the shop

    As part of Shell Go + you’ll get access to things such as:

    • 10% off all hot drinks, deli2go, and Jamie Oliver deli by Shell food ranges

    • Money off fuel every 10 visits

    • 10% off all Shell Helix Motor Oils

    • 10% off Shell car wash’s

    Based on a motorist filling up once a week and qualifying for the £10 minimum spend, you’ll get money off fuel 5 times a year*. If you regularly visit Shell and spend at least £2 in the shop, you could receive more discounts a year by increasing your ‘qualifying visits.’

    • Good if you don’t just want loyalty for fuel purchases

    • Good if regularly buy a hot drink with your fill-up

    • Good if you wash your car at the fuel station

    *Shell doesn’t specify what discount they may offer on your 10th visit, but typically we’ve seen £2 off a fill. Based on a Ford Focus with a 50 litre tank capacity and a motorist filling a fuel tank once a week, you’d get 5 qualifying visits a year. Based on the typical discount we’ve seen of £2 a fill, that’s £10 a year; however, if you regularly visit Shell and spend money in the shop, at their car washes or on Helix Motor Oils, you could receive more points a year and increase your money off.

    Read more about Shell Go+ here.

    Which fuel loyalty scheme is best for you?

    BPme Rewards

    After leaving Nectar in 2019, BP launched its own direct loyalty scheme. Like Shell, BP will reward you when you don’t just buy fuel, but it is still a point-based system.

    What do you get for joining BPme?

    • 1 point for every 1litre Regular fuel

    • 2 points for every 1litre Ultimate fuel

    • 1 point for each pound spent in the shop

    As it is a points-based loyalty scheme, you control how you ‘redeem’ your points: 200 points = £1, and you can redeem them in-store on fuel or shop products. Otherwise, you can redeem them from selected BP partners (Amazon, Cineworld, and M&S, for example) or their rewards catalogue. 

    BPme has the lowest qualifying points to redeem, only needing 25 points to start redeeming however 25 doesn’t stretch very far as 200points = £1.

    Earlier this year BP also announced that you can convert your BPme Reward points into Avios. Simply link your BPme Rewards account to your British Airways Executive Club account.

    Based on a Ford Focus with a 50 litre tank capacity and a motorist filling a fuel tank once a week, you’d collect 2,600 points a year. As 200 points equal £1, that’s £13 a year in points from BPme. However, if you regularly visit BP and spend money in the shop, you could receive more points a year and increase your money off.

    • Good if you don’t just want loyalty for fuel purchases

    • Good if you like the choice on how to redeem your loyalty

    • Good if you’re an Avios member

    Read more about BPme here.

    Texaco Star Rewards

    Texaco Star Rewards has been around for a while, and like BP it is a points-based system. It has consistently been hailed as the best value fuel loyalty scheme.

    What do you get for joining Texaco Star Rewards?

    • 1 point for every 1litre of fuel

    You can redeem your points when you have collected 500 as a minimum which you can then cash in for a £5 voucher. You need more points than other schemes to benefit from Star Rewards but 1 point is worth double BP’s.

    Based on Ford Focus with a 50 litre tank capacity and a motorist filling a fuel tank once a week, you’d collect 2,600 points a year. As 500 points equal £5, that’s £26 a year in points from Texaco Star Rewards.

    A nice feature of Texaco Star Rewards is the ability to choose to give back. With Texaco’s chosen charities (Action For Children, Age UK, East End Community Foundation, FareShare, and The Trussell Trust), you can donate £5 for every 250 points when redeeming your points for a charity.

    However, there is no loyalty for the shop purchases or car washes, so if you regularly add some shopping when you visit a Texaco forecourt or get the car washed there, this may not be the scheme for you.

    • Best value loyalty scheme based on the points value

    • Good if you want to give back to selected charities

    Read more about Texaco Star Rewards here.

    Esso Nectar

    After separating from BP, Nectar moved to Esso replacing Esso’s previous tie-up with Tesco Clubcard.

    What do you get for joining Esso Nectar?

    • 1 point for every 1litre of fuel

    • 2 points for every £1 spent in the shop

    • 2 points for every £1 spent in the car wash

    For every 300 Nectar points, you get 5p off per litre.

    Based on Ford Focus with a 50 litre tank capacity and a motorist filling a fuel tank once a week, you’d collect 2,600 points a year. As 300 points equal 5p off per litre, you’d get 9 fill-ups a year where you can claim your 5p per litre off; that’s £22 a year discount in points from Esso Nectar.

    • Good if you don’t just want loyalty for fuel purchases

    • Good if you are already a Nectar member

    Read more about Esso Nectar here.

    Smart Motorways in the UK

    Smart Motorways in the UK

    Apr 20, 2022

    Since late 2018 a smart motorway has been under construction on the M4 between Reading and the outskirts of London. This section of the M4 has joined stretches of 13 other motorways as part of the UK’s roll-out of smart motorways.

    Under this scheme, traffic management systems manage traffic flow and speed limits, and overhead signage governs the use of the inside lane or hard shoulder. Smart motorways were introduced in 2006 and seemed like a viable solution for managing ever-increasing traffic volumes through technology.

    However, earlier this year, the Transport Secretary paused the roll-out to allow for more in-depth data analysis on the safety and efficiency of existing smart motorways.

    What is a smart motorway?

    There are three types of smart motorway currently in use:

    Controlled motorway, where the hard shoulder is still available for use in an emergency and speed limits are variable and controlled via a regional traffic centre.

    Dynamic hard shoulder, where vehicles can use the hard shoulder at peak times and speed limits and lane use is controlled by the regional control centre. Emergency breakdown areas are available at intervals on these stretches of motorway.

    All lane running, where there is no hard shoulder. The regional traffic centres control speed limits, and there are emergency breakdown areas available, and lanes are marked as closed if a car breaks down in the inside lane.

    The story so far

    Since the introduction of smart motorways, there has been an increasing concern about the safety of using the hard shoulder as a driving lane. The government recently launched an enquiry into the rising number of fatalities on smart motorways. In 2016 the Transport Select Committee expressed “deep scepticism” about the design and implementation of all lane running motorways.

    The government proposed several safety improvements. In November 2020, the Transport Select Committee followed up with another report asking for a pause in the roll-out of new all lane running smart motorway projects whilst safety data was reviewed. The government has agreed to do this.

    The committee also recommended emergency refuge safety areas be a maximum of one mile apart and called for a review of improved stopped vehicle technology.  

    Smart Motorways in the UK Since late 2018 a smart motorway has been under construction on the M4 between Reading and the outskirts of London. This section of the M4 has joined stretches of 13 other motorways as part of the UK's roll-out of smart motorways.

    The benefits of smart motorways

    The introduction of smart motorways in 2006 was primarily to tackle stop-start congestion through variable speed limits and the introduction, where possible, of an additional lane.

    Broadly speaking, there has been an improvement in traffic flow. Additionally, the reduction in stop-start congestion has reduced emissions and kept traffic moving. There have also been cost savings in utilising the existing motorway footprint by converting the hard shoulder.

    On-going concerns about safety

    However, these benefits are challenged by safety concerns. If you break down on a smart motorway, you could be a considerable distance from an emergency breakdown area. If you are in a car with a child or older person, getting to safety may not be straightforward and may be downright scary, especially if, as was admitted by Highways England in 2016, it takes 17 minutes before you are noticed and warning signs appear on the overhead gantries.

    The AA has stopped sending crews to smart motorway incidents. Dealing with a breakdown on the hard shoulder is scary enough in normal circumstances; imagine if that is on an all lane running stretch of smart motorway. Between 2014 and 2019, 38 people died either due to the lack of a hard shoulder or being on the hard shoulder when it was a live lane.

    In addition to the safety issues, many drivers admit to being confused by the variable lanes and speed limits on smart motorways.

    The future of smart motorways

    The promise of smart motorways was one where technology would make road travel more dynamic and data-driven. In reality, safety concerns have made this promise more difficult to achieve than imagined. Whilst National Highways mulls over the data and looks at ways of using technology to ensure improved safety for broken down vehicles, the initial promise of smart motorways seems a long way off.

    How has COVID-19 affected UK driving habits?

    How has COVID-19 affected UK driving habits?

    Apr 20, 2022

    There was a time, at the height of COVID-19, where the roads were quietened by travel restrictions. Cycling and walking became popular national pastimes in Britain, traffic volumes nearly halved, and reductions in air pollution meant that the environment could rebound.

    And yet, despite an unsurprising decrease in the average annual mileage for a UK car owner in 2020, the effects of the global pandemic on our driving habits and behaviours have remained somewhat contested. 

    For a while now, predictions about driving behaviours in the UK during COVID-19 seemed unfavourable, as if the pandemic was the perfect distraction that would enable an increase in driving offences.

    Instead, as recent data from convicted car insurance specialists, Keith Michaels, reveals that COVID-19 mainly encouraged bad driving habits, and spurred drivers who were uninsured, unlicensed, or disqualified to take to the road. Optimistically, there were reportedly fewer deaths due to careless or inconsiderate driving during the same time.

    Reported deaths resulting from inebriated or careless driving are far lower than predicted

    Between 2020 and 2021, forecasted deaths as a result from reckless driving, whether that’s from drink or drug use or general carelessness, was less common than initially predicted.

    In 2020, there were 212 forecasted deaths, where 160 actual deaths resulted from reckless driving (that’s down -24.5% from what was predicted using data from 2010-2019). Comparatively, 2021 saw a similar lag of actual vs predicted deaths from cases of reckless driving. There were 220 forecasted deaths during this time, where 145 actual deaths occurred (-34%).

    The impact of COVID-19 on drink and drug driving offences

    According to the data, the number of deaths caused by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs was fewer than predicted.

    In 2020, 14 actual deaths were reported against a prediction of 27 cases. In 2021, similar numbers were reported: actual compared to forecasted deaths came down to a difference of 15 to 27.

    What happened with inconsiderate driving offences?

    Overall, the number of deaths caused by careless or inconsiderate driving was 65 less than forecasted.

    Travel restrictions partly explain why there were fewer cases of inconsiderate driving. During this time, UK roads were more tightly regulated, and driving became less essential or regular in everyday life. In fact, it’s widely accepted that national transportation patterns had top evolve to cope with changing demands and Government restrictions – driving was one area that felt that impact.

    Unlicensed, uninsured, or disqualified drivers committed the most offences during COVID-19

    Evaluating figures of driving offences during the height of the pandemic in the UK reveals increases in the number of drivers fouled for being unlicensed, uninsured, or disqualified.

    While in 2020, deaths from this type of crime were higher than predicted (a total of 7 deaths); in 2021, drivers without a licence, insurance or who were disqualified were responsible for 8 deaths above the predicted number.

    Predicted deaths from driving offences seemed, in many cases, to be higher than actual cases, while certain types of crime encouraged bad behaviour. Unlicenced, uninsured, or disqualified drivers, likely braving the empty roads and using COVID-19 as a distraction, were caught most often on the wrong side of the law.