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The UK's largest private car park operators are joining forces to create a universal payment platform that means motorists no longer need a separate smartphone app for each provider.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has announced that the new 'one-app-fits-all' interface is being developed and operated by the British Parking Association at no cost to the taxpayer, following a series of government-backed trials.

It will be called the National Parking Platform, and will allow drivers to pay to leave their car at all participating car parks, including those run by RingGo, JustPark and PayByPhone – which currently each operate their own apps.

The move will encourage "a more flexible parking experience", said the DfT, following widespread criticism of the reliability and ease of use of certain parking apps – a particularly pertinent issue as councils are phasing out traditional coin and card  payment machines in the interests of reducing operating costs.

Autocar recently reported that the increasing use of apps in place of machines was frustrating motorists, who said connectivity problems and added complexity were causing delays to journeys and even forcing them to choose other parking locations.

One driver in Guildford – which has recently disabled two-thirds of its payment machines in favour of the RingGo smartphone app – said: “My phone can’t establish a connection [to the RingGo app]. I’m already late for an appointment and don’t have time to waste trying to buy a ticket. I expect I shall be fined.”

An elderly couple in the same town concurred: “We don’t like downloading and using apps and would much rather use coins or contactless payment. At least we have a smartphone. Many of our friends don’t. We will have to find another parking space.”

The new universal parking app is being designed to alleviate those concerns, said the DfT.

"Currently, drivers face inconsistent parking rules, clunky user experiences, and unnecessary barriers to something that should be simple," it said. 

"The National Parking Platform fixes this, connecting participating car parks to a shared platform, through which drivers can pay using any approved app – cutting confusion, reducing the chance of fines, and opening up the parking market to fairer competition."

The platform will be run by private parking companies, in partnership with councils, on a not-for-profit basis. The DfT promised that it will "operate under clear terms to ensure transparency, sustainability, and public value" – and said the government will monitor the platform to ensure compliance.

It has already been rolled out to 10 local authorities and handles more than 500,000 transactions per month, said the DfT. It has not yet confirmed a timeframe for a wider rollout.

Lilian Greenwood, minister for the future of roads, welcomed the development: "This government is on the side of drivers, and dedicated to giving everyone simpler, more flexible parking. I’m delighted that this fantastic project is being taken on by the parking sector with no extra cost to taxpayers. 

“This is public infrastructure done right: built by government, shaped with councils, and now delivered by the sector that knows it best, at a time when we’re investing a record £1.6bn through our Plan for Change, to mend our pothole-ridden roads which damage cars, and £4.8bn to deliver new road infrastructure that will better connect people.”

BYD is priming a range of new plug-in hybrids with some 200km (124 miles) of electric-only range and the ability to rapid-charge at speeds of more than 150kW.

Due within “the next one to two years”, this new generation of PHEVs from the Chinese giant (badged DM-i) will have substantially greater capacity to operate as EVs than their rivals. 

At present, the longest electric range of any PHEV on the UK market is 88 miles, offered by the Volkswagen Golf eHybrid, while the best from BYD is 77 miles, offered by the Seal U – which can be charged at only 18kW.

“Our target is really to have people in daily use using the EV [mode], but then if they want long distance, given a chance to charge, they have the freedom to go to anything,” said BYD’s executive vice-president, Stella Li.

The current DM-i system combines BYD's Blade Battery technology with its Xiaoyun petrol engine, which was designed specifically for PHEV use and is claimed to have world-leading thermal efficiency.

BYD's special advisor for Europe, Alfredo Altavilla, explained that the development is coming as “PHEV has become the new battleground” for manufacturers, “because everybody is shooting for a revision of the so-called green deal that will open up markets also beyond 2035”.

Altavilla believes the company is best positioned to capitalise on the widespread relaxation of EV legislation because “we truly don't see anybody having technology close to the DM-i”. 

“If you have just 35-45km [22-28 miles] of range as an EV, you're fundamentally an internal combustion engine with a plug,” he said. “That's the reason why a lot of manufacturers are now trying to come closer to our plug-in hybrid technology with the range-extender.”

Those manufacturers include Ford, Leapmotor, Lotus and Volkswagen. Increasingly popular in China, range-extender (REx) cars are essentially EVs with an on-board energy generator in the form of a small petrol combustion engine.

Leapmotor’s overseas boss recently told Autocar that REx cars are a “good interim solution” for Europe and better than PHEVs because, as the propulsion is always handled by an electric motor, “the engine is always operating in the most efficient way”.

Altavilla countered that PHEVs are “definitely superior” than REx cars because “you can have three different ways of using the car; it's your decision, depending on how much power you need from the engine, [whereas] the REx is always behaving in one way”.

The UK is expected to receive the Seal 06 saloon and estate as its second and third BYD PHEV models in the coming months.

The head of the UK’s largest tyre trade body has called on the Labour government to take urgent action to close legal loopholes that enable millions of exported used tyres to be burnt in India.

Darren Lindsey, who leads the British Tyre Manufacturers’ Association (BTMA) – a trade body that represents tyre manufacturers and retreaders – warns that politicians need to end the so-called T8 exemption and “introduce stricter controls and traceability measures”.

This, he said, would bring to an end the environmental and human harm when end-of-life tyres are sent for disposal to countries where regulatory and environmental standards do not align with the UK’s. According to official figures, of the 50 million tyres sent to waste every year, around half are exported.

It is the T8 exemption that allows these tyres to be sent abroad. The exemption is easy to apply for and approved without the need for a site inspection, and it was originally put in place for low-risk sectors, such as agricultural and recyclers, to allow them to process up to 40 tonnes of waste passenger car tyres per week without having to apply for a stricter environmental permit.

For example, they could process tyres into ‘bales’ – huge, compressed rubber cubes – and send them to be shredded and granulated in countries such as India. While this would be done in a similar manner to how they would be disposed of in the UK, it is a much cheaper alternative.

However, Lindsey said the loophole is instead being exploited by a growing minority of waste tyre collectors. He has called on the government to remove the exemption and introduce stricter controls and traceability measures to monitor the movement and disposal of these tyres.

A recent BBC investigation claimed that while these bales were being sent under a pretence of being correctly recycled, they were in fact being burnt by firms connected to India’s black market.

Burning tyres is illegal in the UK because, according to the Environment Agency, they emit hazardous smoke and pollutants. Instead, in the UK, end-of-life tyres must be handled by registered waste or recycling fi rms, which allows them to be tracked.

Lindsey said: “When you consider that the UK operates an unregulated free market system, and that the world is being hit with high energy prices, it creates the perfect storm for waste tyres, which have a high calorific value, to be shipped around the world. If the government, however, ends the T8 exemption, the trade in the 1000 tonnes of waste tyres that leave our shores every day would drastically reduce.”

It is a view largely shared by Peter Taylor, secretary general of the Tyre Recovery Association (TRA). However, he was keen to stress that “although tyre recovery in the UK is market-based, it is certainly not unregulated”.

“Sadly, the current regulatory regime is failing us,” he said. “T8 exemptions must end, and tyres exported for recycling should be shredded [instead of baled] to minimise poor practices in countries like India.”

Taylor has been campaigning to end the T8 exemption since 2018. He says those in breach are “a sizeable and still growing minority of collectors that are wilfully breaking the law”.

But there is much more at stake. Both the BTMA and the TRA are concerned the government’s apparent reluctance to act will cause irreparable damage to the UK’s tyre recycling industry.

“The UK has the capacity to recycle all of its waste tyres, or at least recycle 80% of them,” explained Taylor. “However, as long as the T8 exemptions exist, few will invest in the tyre recycling sector. The government needs to pass legislation quickly before the recycling infrastructure, and the supply chains that support it, are gone.”

In response, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said ministers are currently considering priorities for waste and resources, with proposed reforms including the removal of the T8 exemption.

James Gordon