The recent disruption to European travel has meant that rail operators, coach companies and cross-channel ferry services have all been at full capacity recently.

We’ve certainly seen a boost in the level of interest in minibus hire over the last few days, with people realising that for groups of people (up to 15 or 17) travelling within the UK, hiring a minibus makes perfect sense and is cost effective, too.

You can find a minibus rental branch close to you and get an instant quote by using our minibus hire search facility – click here to get started.

The finalised design for the electric Renault Kangoo Z.E.,shown tethered to a charging point

Renault has finalised the designs of its first two electric models, the Fluence Z.E. and the Kangoo Z.E., which will be an electric version of the popular Kangoo van. Both models can now be pre-reserved on the Renault Z.E. website and are due to go on sale sometime around the middle of 2011, according to Renault.

The Kangoo Z.E. will have “the same practical functions as the internal combustion-engined vehicle”, according to Renault. This will include an identical payload, load space and cab configuration. In addition, Renault boasts that drivers will be able to enjoy the benefits of “a silent ride and responsive performance, the immediate availability of torque as soon as it starts, no gear changes, low running costs and, of course, the satisfaction of owning a zero-emissions* vehicle. “

*road use related CO2 emissions

Pre-reserving either the Fluence Z.E. or the Kangoo Z.E. will put prospective buyers at the top of the waiting lists for these vehicles and ensure that they are kept up to date on progress as production gets closer. Renault openly admits that the primary market for the Kangoo Z.E. will be fleets – such a van should make an ideal urban/semi-urban delivery vehicle, running a known mileage on fixed routes and able to be charged every night, on private premises.

The dashboard of the electric Kangoo - notice the charge meter instead of a fuel gauge

The Renault-Nissan Alliance has invested €4bn in its electric vehicle program and is lobbying governments all over the world to encourage them to create the infrastructure needed (such as charging points) to making using electric vehicles practical. They are obviously serious about electric power and believe that by 2020, 10% of the world market – a bold claim, but just about plausible to my ears, anyway.

If you are considering buying a new van this year, you might want to look for a Euro 5 model. New 2010/11 rates of road tax for vans mean that new vans that aren’t Euro 5 compliant will cost nearly twice as much to tax as Euro 5 models.

Euro 5-compliant vans will cost £125 to tax for a year in 2010/11, against a standard rate of £200 for other new vans. Although it’s not a huge amount when set against the cost of a new van, the lower rate is guaranted for the lifetime of the van and non-Euro 5 vans may be penalised further in years to come.

Owners of Euro 4 vans registered between 01/03/2003 and 31/12/2006 will also benefit from the £125 rate in 2010/11 – although owners of Euro 4 vans registered since this period have to pay the standard £200 rate of tax.

Owners of most other vans will pay around £200 for a year’s road tax if their van was registered after 01/03/2001 and £205 if it was registered before this date and has an engine larger than 1549cc.

For full details of current rates, click here for the 2010/11 DVLA fact sheet.

What Euro 5 Vans Are Available?

The bad news is that the range of Euro 5 vans available is limited at present. As far as I know, these are the only current models available with Euro 5 engines at present (remember that not all versions of each model may be Euro 5):

• Mercedes-Benz Sprinter
• Volkswagen Crafter
• Volkswagen Caddy & Caddy Maxi
• Volkswagen Transporter
• Ford Transit ECOnetic
• New Fiat Doblo Cargo
• New Renault Master
• New Vauxhall Movano
• Iveco Daily

What this list shows is that several major manufacturers have launched new versions of their largest vans recently, and that these larger models have been the first to get Euro 5 engines – although their heavier HGV cousins have had Euro 5 models available for some time now.

The choice of smaller vans with Euro 5 engines is pretty limited and Ford’s Transit currently seems to be lagging behind in the larger van category, too, with only the ECOnetic available in Euro 5 spec. The ECOnetic only comes in FWD/SWB/low roof spec so is not suitable for all Transit owners. The popular Renault Trafic/Vauxhall Vivaro is only available with Euro 4 engines at present, too – although I suspect this will be remedied fairly soon, given Renault’s excellent reputation for modern diesels.

We’ve ignored it for too long but cannot do so anymore  – My Local Van Hire can now be found on Facebook! To become a fan of MyLocalVanHire.co.uk on Facebook or simply to keep up with the latest news without having to visit the site, check out our new Facebook page or follow us on Twitter by clicking on one of the buttons below:

Here at MyLocalVanHire.co.uk HQ, we’re firm believers in the benefits of using good quality, appropriate packaging. (Check out our Packaging Guide for tips on packing your stuff when moving house.)

As if to illustrate how important this is, I’ve recently had a spare part delivered for a piece of kitchen equipment. It was a flexible piece of metal that was easily bent but came wrapped in just a single sheet of bubble wrap and then put in one of those floppy plastic envelopes.

Needless to say, the first one I received was bent. I complained and was sent a second one – that was even more bent. I’ve now emailed the company concerned and told them to stop wasting their time and money – if they won’t package things properly, there isn’t much point in sending them to people. I’ll have to straighten out one of the ones I’ve got as best I can and make do with that.

Anyway, back to the point of this post. Our favoured packaging supplier is The Packaging Store, who make good quality packaging to suit all requirements – including packaging kits to suit house moves. The Packaging Store is currently running a series of discount codes that might be on interest to you if you need any packaging (remember, all orders qualify for free UK mainland delivery):

Spend £70 ex VAT & Save £5 – CODE: VANMAN (valid until 30/06/2010)
Spend £100 Ex VAT & Save £10 – CODE: MARCH10
Spend £150 Ex VAT & Save £15 – CODE: MARCH15
Spend £200 Ex VAT & Save £20 – CODE: MARCH20

As an additional bonus, The Packaging Store now provides free furniture bags with 2 bedroom house moving kit and 3-4 bedroom house moving kit.

Click here to visit The Packaging Store

I’m pleased to announce that long-time MyLocalVanHire.co.uk advertiser Practical Car & Van Rental has just opened a new branch in Hounslow. It’s conveniently located just off the A4 and is only a mile from Heathrow Airport. Practical is happy to arrange pickups from Heathrow Airport as well as other nearby locations.

The Hounslow branch offers the usual comprehensive selection of hire vans, including:

• Small vans (e.g. Vauxhall Combo)
• Short, medium and long wheelbase panel vans
• Luton vans (with or without tail lift)
• 7.5 tonne box vans
• Refrigerated vans

One-way and long-term rental deals are also a possibility – contact the branch direct for rates.

To find out more, click here to visit Practical’s website or call direct on 0208 577 4460.

If you’re planning on booking a ferry crossing to take a van across the Channel to France (or Spain, Ireland or even Denmark) then you’ll need to remember certain things when booking it.

1. Size does matter. You’ll need to specify the length and height of your van when booking a ferry and may be charged an additional cost per metre (length) if you are found to have understated the length of your van.
2. Don’t forget to include the dimensions of any towbar, roof rack, bicycle rack or other attachment in the total length and height of your van.
3. The cheapest ferry crossings are normally on the shortest routes – in other words, Dover-Calais.
4. Ferry prices vary enormously - you will find that changing the day and the time will affect the price. Travelling in the early hours of the morning can work out cheaper, but don’t go without sleep to do it.
5. Larger vans may have to be booked as freight vehicles – different ferry companies have different policies on this. If you are transporting goods for money then you should do this anyway. If you are simply moving house (for example) then you may be able to book at normal rates.

To get the latest ferry prices from all the major ferry operators, visit our Ferry Booking page now.

Save £5 when you spend £70 (ex VAT) – Discount code: VANMAN (valid until 30/06/2010)

If you are planning to move house soon, then you will be in need of a large amount of packaging (unless you’re paying removal company prices for someone else to do it all).

Although some people take the DIY/recycling approach to packaging, building up supplies of used cardboard boxes and old sheets of bubble wrap and newspaper, this is a frustrating a time-consuming way to go about it and, more importantly, may leave you with packaging that simply isn’t up to the job.

Not all cardboard boxes are create equal and some are much stronger than others. This is particularly important if you want to be able to stack them in your hire van when moving house – a bit like this:

Boxes need to be strong to be stacked safely - especially if they're heavy

We’ve teamed up with The Packaging Store to offer a great deal to all MyLocalVanHire.co.uk visitors – simply enter the discount code VANMAN when making your purchase and you will save £5 on purchases over £70 (ex. VAT). All UK delivery is free and they offer complete house-moving kits for different-sized houses – including boxes, bubble wrap and parcel tape.

Click here to visit The Packaging Store now

Renault has announced the launch of a new, extended-wheelbase variant of the Kangoo van – the Kangoo Van Maxi. It’s nearly 40cm longer than the current Kangoo van and complements the other variant of the Kangoo, the Kangoo Compact, which is shorter than the regular Kangoo.

Smallest, small and not so small - the Renault Kangoo range

All of this Kangoo goodness comes in a low roof (1.82m), short wheelbase package that ensures that the Kangoo Van Maxi remains well suited for urban use and won’t have its progress impeded by car park height barriers, unlike slightly larger alternatives. It has an overall length of 4.6m with a load length of 2.1m (2.9m with the passenger seat folded down), a payload of 800kg and a load volume of 4.6 cubic metres – a full cubic metre more than the regular Kangoo van.

The Kangoo Van Maxi will go on sale in the UK on 4th June – more details nearer the time.

Trafic Phase III

The Trafic has sold more than 1.1 million units since its introduction in 2001 and remains very popular. It should be no surprise, therefore, that the Trafic Phase III is a definite case of evolution, not revolution. That said, it contains a number of desirable updates to the existing model that should appeal to Renault’s target market for these vans, described by the company as “tradesmen and traders”.

On the outside, it looks pretty much identical. Most of the updates seem to have been inside the cab and under the bonnet. Here’s a comparison of the new Trafic dashboard area with that of the outgoing model:

The updated cab in the phase III Trafic - replacing the one below

The dashboard layout of the outgoing phase II Renault Trafic

Changes to the updated Trafic include:

• In-dash Carminat TomTom satellite navigation, including TomTom’s IQ Routes software, which aims to use real-world traffic data (recorded by other TomTom users) to calculate the best route for your journey at that time of day.
• Automatic climate control
• Improved dashboard storage facilities plus a redesigned instrument console to improve “visibility and legibility of the information display”
• A new range of audio systems including USB and Bluetooth connectivity
• Cruise control and speed limiter with steering wheel controls
• Improved fuel consumption and lower CO2 emissions

Renault claim to have improved both fuel consumption and emissions on the Trafic, while leaving the range of engine and power choices unchanged. The same two engines will be available, a 2.0dCi (90hp or 115hp) and a 2.5dCi (150hp). Both 2.0 litre models now boast CO2 emissions of less than 200g/km and Renault claims that it has improved the fuel consumption of the 115hp model by 4.2mpg and reduced its CO2 emissions by 19g/km, to just 195g/km for the manual gearbox.

All have six-speed manual gearboxes as standard but both the 115hp and 150hp models are both available with Renault’s automated manual transmission, Quickshift. In both cases, this promises both lower fuel consumption and lower CO2 emissions than the equivalent manual models – in keeping with the promises made for this type of gearbox.

From today, UK and Irish drivers who are banned from driving in each others’ countries will also be banned from driving in their home countries. For example, a UK driver who receives a ban in Ireland will now also be banned from driving in the UK.

The move is the first stage of a deal to implement the terms of the 1998 European Convention on Driving Disqualifications and should, in theory, eventually extend across the EU. I suspect that might take quite a few more years…

Source: Simple Motoring