Transport Secretary Andrew Adonis today announced the four companies who will begin supplying low carbon and all-electric vans to selected public sector organisations later this year.
This is part of a £20 million Department for Transport scheme to use public sector procurement to help demonstrate the potential of new technologies for decarbonising road transport.
Ashwoods, Allied Vehicles, Smith Electric Vehicles and Modec will initially supply the first 100 - 150 vans for use across the country later this year. The vehicles will be monitored closely to assess their carbon reduction potential in real world conditions. Successful initial trials may lead to financial support for further larger vehicle procurements in a second phase of the programme.
Transport Secretary Andrew Adonis said:
"Greener cars tend to grab all the headlines but emissions from vans have risen by around 40% since 1990. This is something we need to address as part of our carbon reduction strategy for transport. Electric and lower carbon vans have the potential to significantly reduce emissions so it is important that we test these new technologies in real world conditions. This new DfT programme enables the public sector to lead by example and I am delighted to see that a number of emerging UK companies have been successful in securing these contracts.”
The £20m Low Carbon Vehicle Procurement Programme helps participating public sector organisations meet the additional costs of buying or operating low carbon and all-electric vehicles.
The vans will be used by six local authority groups and six large public fleets:
· Liverpool City Council
· Leeds City Council
· Glasgow City Council
· Newcastle & Gateshead City Council
· Coventry Low Carbon Fleet Partnership
· Consortium of Central London councils
· Government Car & Despatch Agency
· Environment Agency
· HM Revenue & Customs
· Royal Mail
· Transport for London
· Metropolitan Police
CWU Safety Reps will notice that whilst Royal Mail is taking part in the trial, BT is not.
Derek Maylor, Chair of the NW BTU H&S Co-ord commented:
"Given that BT has one of the largest non governmental fleets in Europe, it is a pity they either didn't have or didn't take, the opportunity to get involved."
Initial vehicle trials will last a minimum of three years and the programme as a whole is managed for DfT by Cenex, the UK Centre of Excellence for Low Carbon Vehicle & Fuel Cell Technologies. The DfT programme is part of a wider Government strategy to position the UK as a leading centre for the development, demonstration and early adoption of lower carbon vehicles.
Together with yesterday's announcement of the winners of the Technology Strategy Board's ultra-low carbon vehicle demonstration competition, close to 500 additional innovative low and ultra low carbon vehicles will be in operation across the UK within the next year.
A EU wide procurement exercise for supply of lower carbon and all-electric large panel vans to the public sector was launched in the summer of last year. The procurement required that low carbon vans must demonstrate at least a 10% reduction in CO2 emissions and all-electric vans must have a driving range of at least 95 miles. Bids were assessed against a range of criteria covering van performance, CO2 savings, level of innovation and technology development, price and quality and risk management.
The Government's overall strategy document for Ultra-Low Carbon Vehicles is available from the E-Library Database, using the search word 'carbon' here
Source: Dept Transport
