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584 – Smart moves underground

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21 May 2011

smart cdi liveried in Transport for London logos is now being used by Tube Lines to help manage London

Smart lines: smart fortwo cdi is now part of the Tube Lines fleet – having replaced the previous vans because of its better suitability and low CO2 emissions

Editor’s Blog on Tube Lines’ choice of company cars

I RATHER like this story I came across – a maintenance company has ditched its vans for the smart car. Bizarre?

May be not, when the company in question is Tube Lines, which manages fleet vehicles for Transport for London.

Tube Lines considered a number of different vehicles, including some powered by electric, but went for a fleet of smarts to replace a number of its vans because the smart cdi qualifies for exemption from the London Congestion Charge – and low emissions and good fuel economy meant that Tube Lines could also reduce its carbon footprint and running costs.

Tube Lines now has 16 cars, all fully-liveried and equipped with a small repair kit to be used by Tube Lines’ engineers on site or station visits.

Philip Constable, general manager of specialist services for Tube Lines, explained the decision: “The smart cdi was by far the best vehicle for our needs, when it came to combining exemplary environmental credentials with the durability of running day and night as our engineers keep London moving.

“Using a smart cdi also means we are able to drastically reduce our CO2 emissions and fuel usage. It’s also better suited to urban driving, so our engineers can get around quicker.”

Philip says Tube Lines may even consider a smart electric car in the future – given the driving range required this could be a good decision, depending on the running costs. I drove an electrci smart recently – you can read about it in my blog Test driving an electric smart.

It was great fun – a bit like driving a dodgem car. But I think for a city based business, which wants to have its cars branded and get the eco halo from electric, then it could make sense. About the only time electric cars do make any sense for small businesses. Otherwise they are expensive, range-limited and without any proven operational track record – whatever the car makers might want you to believe.

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Ralph Morton

Ralph Morton

Ralph Morton is an award-winning journalist and the founder of Business Car Manager (now renamed Business Motoring). Ralph writes extensively about the car and van leasing industry as well as wider fleet and company car issues. A former editor of What Car?, Ralph is a vastly experienced writer and editor and has been writing about the automotive sector for over 35 years.

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