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The role of vehicle workshops in supporting sustainable motoring

Supporting sustainability can feel like a complex challenge for workshops. As previous Fit for the Future winner Mill Lane Garage put it:

“...We're in a trade which by its nature is a hostile environment for the planet and nature.”

But garages like Mill Lane are taking brave steps forward, and the trade more widely has an important role to play in supporting the ongoing shift to cleaner motoring.

On this journey, we see three key sustainability challenges facing the industry:

Published on 22/10/2024

1 min reading time

There are more than 41 million vehicles on the UK’s roads, the vast majority of which have petrol or diesel engines.

Further, drivers are keeping their vehicles for longer as cost of living increases continue to affect household spending. As an example, used car sales grew for the sixth successive quarter in Q2 2024.

The make up of the UK vehicle parc means that workshops have an essential role to play in helping to improve the sustainability and climate impact of motoring today, while also readying both themselves and drivers to transition to alternative fuelled vehicles over the medium to long term.

Put simply, a high standard of maintenance is required to keep older vehicles on the road safely, with lower emissions and with a longer lifespan.

The sale of new petrol, diesel, liquefied petroleum gas and hybrid vehicles will be banned from 2035, although this is likely to be rowed back to 2030. There are already more than 1 million fully electric vehicles on UK roads, with the infrastructure to both charge and maintain these vehicles becoming increasingly widespread.

Workshops are adapting to these new market dynamics, even as they continue to serve the current UK fleet.

But a shortage of skills affecting the industry, particularly qualified EV technicians, alongside the required investments in new equipment, is a challenge. The latest TechSafe data from the IMI suggest there will be an EV technician shortfall of 16,000 by 2035.

But it’s not just vehicles that are changing. Businesses are having to adapt to meet both new energy regulations, and to manage the costs of energy supply – which have faced inflationary pressures in recent years.

Workshops are seeking new ways to reduce energy bills, and move to a more sustainable footing – ranging from incorporation of on-site renewable generation to improved insulation and energy efficiency.

How TotalEnergies is supporting cleaner mobility through waste reduction and high performance engine lubricants

Even as the vehicle parc continues to be dominated by ICE vehicles, consumers are increasingly wanting to make more sustainable and climate-conscious decisions, including with regard to vehicle maintenance.

In a TotalEnergies survey, 65% of UK car or van owners said they would accept paying a higher price for vehicle maintenance products if they delivered environmental or sustainability benefits.

Respondents stated that their preferred environmental factors include providing recommendations for improving the environmental impact of motoring (21%) and a visible commitment by the service provider to the environment (20%).

There are various ways that workshops can demonstrate this visible commitment to the environment, ranging from on-site renewable energy generation (such as solar panels) to recycling.

Click here to find out more.

These principles will also affect the decisions workshops make about the products and partners they choose to work with.

For example, workshops might boost sustainability by selecting products which come in recyclable/recycled packaging and minimise wastage.

While quality engine oil enhances engine cleanliness, cuts costs and reduces emissions, eco-efficient packaging can help to cut workshop waste and lowers the overall carbon cost of doing business.

An example of such a combined solution is TotalEnergies’ eco-efficient Quartz Box.

Using 86% less plastic and recyclable cardboard it helps workshops reduce waste, improve efficiency and minimise the overall environmental and carbon footprint of essential lubricant products – all while delivering 20% more volume per pallet. This means fewer high-emitting trucks on the road.

Implementing simple product switches in this way can bring incremental and impactful results, contributing to collective sustainable change in the motoring sector.

Fit for the Future

In its second year, the TotalEnergies Fit for the Future Award is looking to celebrate independent workshops who are taking steps to adapt and make their businesses more sustainable.

We have developed the Fit for the Future prize packages to specifically address these three sustainability challenges facing the industry, leveraging our range of innovative solutions and services to support workshops on their sustainability journey.

The winning garage will have a choice between three prize packages worth £5000, enabling them to either:

Benefit from our Quartz range and contribute to the regeneration of waste oil
Undertake EV training and setup charging point hardware
Carry out an energy efficiency audit, with a voucher to help fund the cost of recommended changes

Discover more about Fit for the Future, and how our 2023 winner, Mill Lane Garage, recognised by judges for its impressive tree planting and solar power initiatives, was able to benefit from the Quartz Prize Package, here.

Enter our Fit for the Future Award here.

The role of vehicle workshops in supporting sustainable motoring

Reducing the emissions of the current petrol and diesel fleet

Preparing for the phase out of petrol and diesel vehicles

Energy efficiency and the cost of doing business

How TotalEnergies is supporting cleaner mobility through waste reduction and high performance engine lubricants

Fit for the Future