LPG Vans and Hybrid Vehicles

The Scottish Government has announced the Low Carbon Procurement Support Scheme (LCVPSS) on 16th June 2010. Originally the scheme was only open to all-electric vehicles but it has now been extended to cover hybrid commercial vehicles, such as the Ashwoods Hybrid Transit, as well. 

The scheme will make £3.6m avaialble to Community Planning Partnerships to provide financial support to the procurement of low carbon vehicle. The scheme will provide financial support to bridge the cost gap between a conventional vehicle and its low carbon counterparts.

Ashwoods Hybrid vehicles have proved a huge success in the Low Carbon Vehicle Procurement Programme (LCVPP) run by Cenex, where they make up 137 of the 200 vehicles supplied. Customer feedback has been excellent as the vehicles have an exemplary reliability record and no loss in performance or operational effectiveness to a standard Ford Transit.

Ashwoods are the UKs leading supplier of hybrid commercial vehicles.

Ashwoods has won the Technology Award in the 2010 Van Fleet World Honours. The trophy was presented at a special ceremony held at the Royal Automobile Club, Pall Mall on Tuesday 18^th May.

The Fleet World Honours are presented annually to those motor manufacturers, service companies and individuals who have, in the opinion of the judges, achieved the highest possible level of excellence in their sector.

The judging panel is chaired by Steve Moody, Editor of Fleet World, and includes Ken Rogers, Natalie Wallis, John Kendall and Ross Durkin from the Fleet World editorial team. Residual value, maintenance cost and reliability data is provided by ALD Automotive, Masterlease, Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions and ING Car Lease. Market value data is provided by EurotaxGlass and CDL Vehicle Information Services.

Submissions for the Fleet Manager Awards are received from the Energy Saving Trust, RoadSafe and the Institute for Car Fleet Management.

Van Fleet World Editor, John Kendall, said: ‘Four companies were named as approved suppliers to the first phase of the Department for Transport’s Low Carbon Vehicle Procurement Programme in mid 2009. The first phase involves a trial of more than 100 “low carbon” and electric vans. The only successful “low carbon” bidder was Ashwoods, whose bolt-on hybrid conversion recorded carbon dioxide reductions better than 14 per cent in independent tests.

‘At a time when organisations cannot afford to ignore either the cost of running a fleet – or its impact on the environment – innovations such as this represent a genuine step forward in vehicle technology and offer fleet managers the opportunity to make a real difference in their way of operating.’

Commenting on the high standard of entries to this year’s awards, Fleet World Managing Editor, Ross Durkin, said: ‘The fleet industry is emerging from a period of economic uncertainty in a very strong shape indeed. As well as the impressive list of new cars and vans that have recently come to market, we have also seen tremendous innovation and investment from the fleet services sector. Anyone looking in on the fleet industry from the outside world could not fail to be impressed with how well it has put its house in order, despite the recent economic downturn.’

1 APRIL 2010 – Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions is supporting Liverpool City Council (LCC) in a trial of hybrid technology by supplying four Ashwoods Hybrid Transit Vans under contract hire. LCC is trialling the vehicles through the Low Carbon Vehicle Procurement Programme (LCVPP), which enables chosen public sector organisations to test out environmental technologies in a real world setting.

Managed by Cenex on behalf of the Department for Transport, the LCVPP provides participating public sector organisations with access to a central fund of £20m to compensate for the extra cost of acquiring alternatively-fuelled vehicles. These are provided to LCVPP participants from a bank of preferred suppliers, of which Ashwoods is the only supplier of diesel/electric hybrid commercial vehicles.

Supplied as Hybrid Transit Vans, the Ashwoods vehicles will be supported over a three year period with funding from Hitachi Capital. The Ashwoods Hybrid Technology uses a system similar to a Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS), as seen in Formula 1, to recover the energy normally wasted through braking and deceleration to charge the battery. This energy is then used to assist the drive of the vehicle during acceleration. This reduces the engine load and therefore the fuel demand.  The system is very well suited to the needs of a local city council where vehicles will be operating in heavier traffic conditions. 

During the first phase of the trial, LCC will be required to provide qualitative and quantitative feedback on the operation of the Ashwoods Hybrid Transits. Each time the fuel cap is opened, drivers will need to enter data into an emissions meter fitted in the vehicle which will enable analysis and reporting on the fuel costs, mileage and mpg of each vehicle. Ashwoods Hybrid Transits are expected to report an estimated 15 per cent saving on standard vehicle emissions.

John Carrington, Fleet & Transport Services Manager, Liverpool City Council, says: “It has always been a priority for the city council to find ways of reducing the carbon output of the fleet, but the cost of adopting new technologies can be prohibitive. Access to the LCVPP fund, in addition to the leasing support from Hitachi Capital, has given us an unprecedented opportunity to pioneer this new sustainable technology with minimal financial risk.”

“Leasing companies are traditionally wary of largely unproven technologies like hybrid-power, but we were very keen to partner with Ashwoods to offer leasing as a funding alternative,” explains Jon Lawes, Divisional Managing Director, Hitachi Capital Commercial Vehicle Services. “Innovation is vital in the development of low carbon vehicles, and we are very pleased to be a part of the LCVPP programme.”

There is potential for the LCVPP to receive a further £30m worth of funding for phase two of the trials, should the early results prove successful.

About Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions

Based in Newbury, Berkshire, with over 27 years’ experience, Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions is a division of Hitachi Capital (UK) PLC, part of Hitachi Ltd, one of the world’s largest and most respected groups. We combine technology with market leading customer service to offer the full spectrum of tailor-made fleet finance and fleet management services including all forms of funding, maintenance management, accident management and daily rental management. The company operates a specialist commercial vehicle services division from Trowbridge and the Driving Instructor Centre from Leicester, the UK’s leading supplier of contract hire to the driving instruction market. Hitachi Capital Vehicle Service’s 46,000 vehicles range from cars, small, medium and large vans to HGVs with specialist ancillary equipment such as cranes and tail lifts. In the industry’s Landmark Survey, Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions has achieved the highest Customer Satisfaction Index score overall since 1998. http://www.hitachicapitalvehiclesolutions.co.uk/. www.drivinginstructorcentre.com.

About Ashwoods

Ashwoods Automotive Ltd is a unique low emission technology development company with over 10 years experience in the industry. Ashwoods pride themselves on developing innovative technologies that have a place in the market and that are in line with customer needs. Ashwoods’ selection as the supplier of over 100 hybrid vehicles to the LCVPP clearly demonstrates their respected position within the industry.

Due to strong market demand, Ashwoods are offering a limited run of 150 hybrid vans, outside of the LCVPP, for sale to major Private Sector fleets over the course of 2010.

Ashwoods continue to invest in more advanced Hybrid and Electric vehicle technology development and in January 2010 started work on a 3 year collaborative Research and Development project funded by the Technology Strategy Board.

http://ashwoods.org           0845 641 0716

About Liverpool City Council

Liverpool City Council is a three star authority which employs around 16,000 people.  It serves more than 450,000 residents and 14,000 businesses with an average council tax of £1,519.14 at band D.  The city council, which delivered the most successful European Capital of Culture programme in 2008, is now working with various organisations to promote the city at the Shanghai World Expo 2010 from May until October.

For more information, go to http://www.liverpool.gov.uk/.

Ashwoods has been selected as the sole supplier of over 100 hybrid vans to the Department for Transport’s Low Carbon Vehicles Procurement Programme (LCVPP), run by Cenex. These vehicles are being supplied to the largest Public Sector fleets throughout the UK, including Royal Mail, the Environment Agency, UK Border Agency and a number of large council fleets.

LPG has long been the standard requirement for Light Commercial Vehicles operating in London. Based around a Petrol vehicle the benefits of a LPG are that it is less than half the price of diesel, which provides a saving of up to 40% and exemption from the congestion charge which can equate to over £2000 per vehicle per year.

It has become apparent over the last 12 months that the interest in Hybrid technology is increasing, these system’s can be retro fitted to a large number of Manufacturers Light Commercial Vehicle’s and are helping to significantly reduce Carbon Emissions.