Ringway has hailed the impact of its first fully electric highways maintenance vehicle, six months after reaching UK’s first agreement with leading UK manufacturer Econ Engineering.
The E-QCB (Electric Quick Change Body) was purchased at the start of this year following a successful trial and evaluation period, and has been put to work across the different Districts in the County of Hertfordshire.
Responsible for managing over 43,300kms of the UKs highways network, Ringway is the first within its sector to pilot and then put into fleet fully electric vehicles, where viable, and has praised both the performance and reliability of its new Econ acquisition.
Mitesh Solanki, Managing Director at Ringway, comments: “Given the growing importance of the Environment in our sector, we are keen to promote the adoption of electric vehicles within our business where we can. After evaluating available options, we determined that the E-QCB solution on a Volvo 19.0t chassis, would provide the greatest flexibility and emerged as an ideal platform, allowing us to pioneer a unique vehicle in the UK, further advance our learning in zero tail pipe emission commercial vehicles and transition away from diesel fuel.”
The first completely electric vehicle of its kind on the market, the E-QCB utilises the very latest in sustainable technology without diminishing performance, and with no exhaust gases produced, can be utilised in zero emission zones and where there is appropriate depot HGV EV charging.
Its QCB technology enables the bodywork to be switched between gritter, tipper or caged body modes, with easy transformation taking no longer than 15 minutes by a single operative, delivering flexibility as well as sustainability to any highways fleet.
The vehicle comes with alternative battery configurations to allow optimisation of range and payload, it can be fully charged in less than two hours (subject to infrastructure), runs near-silent with a range of up to 170 miles (depending on load and road conditions).
Delivering more than 85% of the UKs winter maintenance and highways vehicles, Yorkshire-based Econ Engineering supplies gritters, hot boxes and tippers to hundreds of local councils and contractors, spanning the length and breadth of the UK.
Managing Director, Jonathan Lupton comments: “Econ has enjoyed a long-term strategic fleet partnership with Ringway and we were delighted when they took the bold decision to go electric with delivery of the very first E-QCB.
“Having been thoroughly tested and trialled over the last 18 months, we were confident that it would stand up to the every-day rigours of being put to use out on the UKs highways, but to receive such a ringing endorsement from Ringway is testament to the hard work and skill that our team has put into this project.”
Ringway also announced last week how its Hounslow Highways team had taken delivery of the UK’s first 26-tonne Volvo FE Electric 6×2 rigid, featuring a tipper grab body and low entry cab developed by The Thompsons Group.
The Ringway Volvo FE Electric directly replaces a similarly sized diesel vehicle in the Hounslow fleet, ensuring an immediate sustainability benefit, and will be deployed on various highway and street service works across the urban London Borough.
