The UK’s Department for Transport wants to see fully autonomous vehicles in use on UK roads in just two years from now. Given the vast amounts of technology that’s required to make a driverless car actually work safely, that’s a big challenge. LiDAR, car to car communication, infrastructure to support autonomous vehicles on our roads and even the legislation pertaining to who’s responsible if a driverless car has an accident are all still being developed.

Yet, driverless cars or autonomous vehicles are already being tested on UK roads. The streets of London, Oxford, Milton Keynes and other areas have seen driverless cars from Jaguar Land Rover, Volvo and University of Oxford’s Oxbotica, moving along them over past months in order to test how various elements of their autonomous vehicle tech responds in live situations. While car manufacturers work on the hardware and software needed to make the driverless car dream a reality, the UK’s parliament is still getting to grips with the laws that will govern their use, and misuse.

Autonomous Vehicles on UK Roads

Given the will of the government to have autonomous vehicles in use commercially by 2021, it would be reasonable to think that much of the infrastructure, legislation and technology needed for this to be achieved were already in place. The fact is, much of the existing legislation for product liability, negligence and statutory negligence will be relied upon for apportioning blame if something goes awry with an autonomous vehicle and causes harm or damage – at least in the early stages. Legislation specific to the safe use of driverless cars isn’t expected to be ready before autonomous cars are using our roads.

At present, if you have an accident on the road, you stop the car, turn on your hazard lights, check for injuries and call the appropriate authorities. Then of course, you’ll exchange details with the parties involved, tell your insurer and give details of how the accident occurred.

For an autonomous car, the process will have to be different. The above system simply wouldn’t work if a driverless car was involved in an accident while transporting goods, children or returning to your place of work or other pre-programmed destination without any passengers at all. Even if you were in the car and not driving, would you be to blame?

Current Autonomous Vehicle Legislation

To date, the legislation pertaining to driverless vehicles is pretty sparse and there are more questions than answers. However, liability of insurers, accidents resulting from software alterations and missed updates, as well as the insurance company’s right to claim against the responsible party are covered in the Automated and Electric Vehicles Act 2018.

Details on how to apportion blame for an accident are still fairly sketchy and it’s assumed will be covered in the legislation we can expect to come into effect on or after 2021.

Questions such as ‘How long will owners of driverless cars legally have to install their car’s software updates? If an autonomous vehicle crashes as a result of a cyber-attack, malware or an undetected virus picked up by the infotainment system, who should be held liable? Will driverless car owners need third-party insurance and be required to install software protection programs for their car?’ are still being worked on by the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles, and the Department for Transport.

While these bodies work on the legal points of driverless vehicles, drivers are getting used to semi-autonomous driving with optional extras like Mercedes-Benz’s Driving Assistance and Drive Pilot packages. It’s thought that these developments will extend the pool of just 27% of people who are actually willing to ride in a driverless car.

According to advertising and marketers, fuel additives for petrol and diesel engines can work magic on your car’s performance and emissions. For around £5 a bottle you can add the magic elixir and enjoy greater efficiency and power from your vehicle’s engine.

There are multiple petrol and diesel additives on the market too – concoctions that will increase the octane rating, inhibit corrosion in the car’s engine, provide additional lubrication or remove water from the fuel system. But do they work and will you really notice any difference to the performance or fuel consumption for your car?

The Best Fuel Additives

Before picking up a bottle from your local car care store or petrol station, it’s important to understand what each type is intended for – some are designed to clean your carburettor or improve performance, while fuel additives for diesel engines can prevent congealing in freezing temperatures. Other additives are specifically designed for petrol cars manufactured prior to 1992 to replace the lead that hasn’t been available at petrol pumps since 2000 and still others may be used if a vehicle is going into storage for an extended period.

While many of the above-mentioned fuel additives have a specific purpose, fuel additives claiming to increase fuel- efficiency and performance for any kind of vehicle are bold at best and completely unproven at worst. In fact, independent tests have shown many petrol or diesel fuel additives that claim to remove built-up carbon and dirt deposits from the engine’s moving parts or boost the amount of octane in the fuel, are simply untrue and can even decrease performance and power output.

How to Improve Vehicle Performance

If you’re driving a new vehicle or leasing one of the latest models, a fuel additive is unlikely to make any difference to your car’s performance. If you’re behind the wheel of a highly tuned sports car, like the Mercedes AMG GT Coupe, a higher octane forecourt fuel is a necessity to get the most from your ride.

It’s important to note that car manufacturers don’t recommend fuel additives for a good reason – cars are manufactured with electronic and fuel systems that are optimised to deliver the best mix of performance and efficiency anyway; if your car is under 10 years old a fuel additive won’t make a jot of difference. If it’s older you might notice a small difference, but nothing can ensure performance better than regular servicing and maintenance. Rather than tipping money away with a fuel additive, if you’d like to give your car a boost, try a higher octane fuel from the petrol station’s forecourt and take regular care of your vehicle.

If you’re in the market for a new car, you’ll be faced with a number of options; from which car to choose to the best payment option for your circumstances. In recent years more drivers have been electing to go with some sort of finance deal. Hire-purchase agreements, leasing and an in-between option – personal credit purchase (PCP) – are all proving popular, thanks to the reasonably low monthly payments that enable drivers to get behind the wheel of a luxury car they may otherwise be unable to afford.

The Different Car Finance Options Explained

Purchasing a car outright is pretty self-explanatory. You find the car you want and dip into your savings, or access funds from your pension, to pay up-front for the deal you have negotiated. All maintenance fees, tax, roadside assistance cover and insurance costs are yours. Depreciation costs and selling the vehicle when you’re ready for a change are your problem too – but the car belongs to you. Obviously, not everyone is able or wants, to purchase the car of their dreams outright, and this is one of the reasons why over 80% of new cars are driven away under  PCP finance or lease deal agreements.

Hire-purchase agreements are a type of borrowing. You don’t own the vehicle until you have paid in full and while you’re making payments you aren’t allowed to sell the vehicle without the lender’s permission. Once you’ve made all the payments for the vehicle, you’ll become the owner.

Leasing a car, sometimes called contract hire, involves paying an initial deposit and then regular monthly payments over an agreed term. Over the lease period for a new car, you’ll be covered by the manufacturer’s warranty, and if you lease from Mercedes on Lease you’ll be covered for road tax and roadside assistance too; you can even elect to include maintenance in your agreement to cover the cost of regular servicing. The car will remain the property of the finance company and at the end of the leasing period, you’ll have to return the car.

PCP finance is a kind of combination of hire-purchase agreements and long-term car leasing. Drivers pay an up-front deposit and make monthly payments. At the end of the agreed term, they have the choice of making a ‘balloon payment’ to purchase the car outright or returning the car.

The Pros and Cons of Leasing a Car

Obviously, leasing a vehicle means parting with less cash than an outright purchase. If you’re considering a new car for business, there are other benefits of leasing but will cover these in a later post.

Leasing a vehicle is generally going to be cheaper than a PCP or hire-purchase agreement as there is no requirement to own the vehicle. Additionally, you won’t be tied into the same car for the long term, meaning you’ll be able to take advantage of the latest developments and technological advancements in the automotive industry much more readily. Selling the vehicle when you want to upgrade and depreciation costs aren’t your worry, but the car will never actually be yours.

PCP and hire-purchase agreements can mean you own the car at the end of the agreement – along with all the maintenance costs, resale hassle and depreciation charges. While this is fine if you plan to drive the same vehicle for over five years, Cartelligent – an American car buying company – did some in-depth analysis on leasing a Mercedes-Benz C-Class and found that if you’re likely to update your car after five years, leasing is always the cheaper option.

Ultimately, whichever you choose – leasing a car or purchasing one – the decision should include a thorough analysis of your finances and include depreciation as this is often the biggest cost of owning a car. When making your choice, it’s worth keeping the words of oil baron billionaire, J Paul Getty in mind; “If it appreciates, buy it. If it depreciates, lease it.”