LPG Vans and Hybrid 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.’

Ashwoods Automotive has been awarded a 3-year Technology Strategy Board (TSB) funded £1.8 million Research and Development project. The high-profile consortium will be lead by Ashwoods and joined by Citroen UK, Sevcon and LifeBATT, with the purpose of developing advanced scalable hybrid and electric power train systems. Read about Ashwoods hybrid development projects here

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.

Official emissions testing by the Department for Transport at Mira Emissions Laboratories confirms that the Ashwoods Hybrid Transit reduces CO2 and fuel costs by over 20% on the European Drive Cycle (NEDC).Read more about our hybrid vans emissions

Ashwoods were announced yesterday as the sole supplier of hybrid vans to the Low Carbon Vehicle Procurement Programme (LCVPP).

The LCVPP is a Department for Transport funded scheme to accelerate the take up of low carbon vans through public sector fleets throughout the UK.

The LCVPP will see Ashwoods Hybrid vans purchased by a selection of leading public sector fleets in the UK, including Royal Mail, Metropolitan Police, TFL, the Environment Agency and several Local Authorities. Cenex (Centre of Excellence for Low Carbon and Fuel Cell Technologies) will be managing the Programme with the DfT subsidising the additional cost to public sector organisations of purchasing the low carbon vehicles.

Ashwoods will be suppling hybrid vans in high volumes to the participants of the LCVPP. This will firmly establish the company as the leading supplier of hybrid vans and retro-fit hybrid systems in the UK.