You could be forgiven for thinking that booking a classic car tour of London would be detrimental to the environment. Think again… This is our Sustainability Promise.
We are determined to show off the greatest city in the world, in one of the most iconic cars ever created, without negatively affecting our planet. Not only do we want to neutralise our carbon footprint, we aim to be an overwhelming force for good. Our aim is to put back more than we use and implement environmental preservation into every facet of the business. Here’s how:
Our goal is to operate the first-ever fleet of electric classic cars in the United Kingdom. We have commissioned electric conversion specialists Electrogenic to convert our fleet to 100% electric – zero-emission classic cars. Our 1994 Mini Cooper, Rosie, to be the first E-Mini on the road. We are working closely with TFL in order to have her licensed and ready to take passengers by 2023. Follow us on social media to track our progress throughout the conversion.
We have employed Long Life Carshalton Centre of Excellence to replace and upgrade the entire exhaust system on all of our remaining combustion-engined vehicles. This involves installing modern uprated catalytic converters and back boxes, which means lower emissions than they would have come out of the factory with. Our fleet is now the quietest and cleanest fleet of classics on the road.
Our petrol-powered journeys create approximately 15 tons of CO2. This can be offset by planting 125m2 of native woodland each year, so we work with the Woodland Trust to plant 250m2. The Woodland Carbon project is certified under the Woodland Carbon Code which is the UK’s first government-approved carbon certification scheme.
We use Stripe as our payment provider. They have created Stripe Climate which is a community of businesses that pledge a percentage of their annual turnover to contribute to the removal of carbon from the atmosphere. More than 25,000 companies across 39 countries have signed up so far and we are one of them. Read more here.
We use Shell V-Power Unleaded Petrol in our combustion-engined cars. This is the highest quality fuel you can buy, which allows the engine to run more efficiently and generates greater miles per gallon. We buy our petrol through the Shell UK Go+ App. This also generates carbon offsetting credits under the same Woodland Carbon Code mentioned above. Read more.
Most chauffeur companies will valet their vehicles daily with a wet wash. This involves jet washing that uses thousands of liters of water a week and includes the use of chemicals during the process. We employ Dropless Mobile Car Valeters to keep our fleet spick and span. They are the leaders in the UK in waterless washing.
We do not use single-use plastic wherever possible. The complimentary water we provide for our clients is in fully recyclable cartons from Radnor Hills.
We operate a paperless office. We use digital business cards provided by V1ce; not only does this reduce the amount of paper/water/ink used in the conventional process, V1ce also plants a tree with every card purchased. All of our legal documentation, accounts and contracts are all stored online via DropBox and Google Drive. The only paper we print are copies of our insurance, MOT and TFL licensing certificates. We are legally obligated to keep physical copies of these in each car.
In the office, we have switched from Google to Ecosia as our main search engine provider. Their profits go towards planting trees in the parts of the world where they need it most.
In our office space and car park we have recycling bins, so what little waste we do produce, all cardboard, plastic, glass and foil is recycled.
The emissions produced by a classic car will never be cleaner than a modern or electric car. However, the carbon footprint created by the building process of a new vehicle should also be considered. For example, the average Tesla will need to cover more than 100,000 miles before the build process from mining the lithium required for the batteries is offset. The average taxi or minicab will do 40,000 miles per year, so it is very important that the emissions produced are as low as possible to improve local air pollution. We are a niche tourism service provider that conversely, covers less than 5,000 miles per car per year. We also do not have any additional build footprint, as our cars have already been built and have now been repurposed.
The future is bright and it is electric! As we mentioned above, it is our aim to operate the first fleet of electric classic cars for hire and reward in the UK. We are working closely with electric conversion specialists such as Electrogenic and London Electric Classic Cars to convert our fleet to electric. We are applying for funding via the Government’s Innovation Fund and approaching private investors that may be interested in the project. The new MINI E Hatch is now in the marketplace, so the goal would be to operate a fleet of new and classic all-electric Minis in London and provide eco-tours of the capital.
This is our Sustainability Promise. We are constantly innovating our business to be as ethical as possible. We want to align ourselves with forward-thinking, progressive, local brands that feel the same. If you are a hotelier, agent, service provider or manufacturer and you are playing your part in combating climate change, we would love to work with you. Please do get in touch.