LPG Vans and Hybrid Vehicles

The 11th Michelin Challenge Bibendum, which took place in Berlin, has proved the most popular to date with a record breaking 16,000 plus people attending the five-day event.

Organised by Michelin, this global ‘rally for sustainable mobility’ saw Berlin’s Templehof airport transformed into an exhibition centre, round-table conference rooms and test tracks to highlight the latest sustainable transport innovations and technologies. UK companies leading the way in innovative engine development and vehicle design were to the fore at Challenge Bibendum, with five Shell Springboard Award winning firms forming a UK Eco-Innovation Zone in the exhibition hall. Among them was Exeter-based Ashwoods, a hybrid and low carbon vehicle company whose hybrid van helped them claim a Challenge Bibendum Design Recognition Award – the only UK company to receive such an accolade at this year’s event.
Mark Roberts, Managing Director of Ashwoods Automotive, said: “We are extremely proud to be the only British company honoured in these awards. This further underlines the financial and environmental benefits that our fuel-saving technology is delivering across the UK today.”

On the first day, a parade of all the participating vehicles in front of the Brandenburg Gate was one of the highlights of this year’s event. This was in addition to the traditional series of rallies – the Intercity Passenger Car Rally, the Urban Vehicle Rally and the Battery Electric Rally – which are designed to test vehicles on various performance criteria including energy consumption, manoeuvrability and noise levels.

Indoors, 72 exhibitors displayed cutting-edge products and innovations in the Technological Exhibition Centre and conference rooms hosted 50 events including forums, round-tables and workshops, and first-time features such as the Leaders’ Forum. There was also a UK Eco-Innovation Zone, which showcased some of the best in British vehicle and engine design and manufacturing.

During the five days of Challenge Bibendum, over 16,000 people visited the event with 10,000 members of the public attending the first ever open day on the Sunday. One thousand students from all across Europe attended the Student Day – another first at this year’s event.

Eric Le Corre, Michelin UK’s Managing Director, said: “It gave me great pleasure to see such a strong UK presence at this year’s Challenge Bibendum, the biggest and best attended event to date. We had UK representatives from industry, public affairs, the press and universities; all of whom were extremely impressed with the exhibitions, debates, vehicles and the many new innovations on show.”

Innovation and technological advancement are key themes for every Challenge Bibendum event and 2011 was no exception as Michelin showcased some of its latest developments. These included a puncture-proof concept tyre which uses an inner material that distorts and stretches around the penetrating object preventing air-loss – an innovation which could make punctures a thing of the past.

Other concepts were small tyres for electric urban vehicles, large narrow tyres for improved aerodynamics and rolling resistance, and a high capacity truck tyre making twin-axle trailers a possibility in place of the three-axles currently used.

Michelin’s Active Wheel technology was also on display. Integrating all of an electric vehicle’s drive, suspension and braking components into the wheel itself, the Active Wheel offers the prospect of excellent handling, driving comfort and efficiency.
Out on the test tracks, 280 vehicles – including everything from a fuel-cell powered London black cab to the latest electric Formula One-style car – took to the tarmac, providing visitors with a first-hand vision of the green, clean motoring opportunities of the future.

The Ford Transit LPG is available from Ashwoods in the following specifications, SWB, MWB, LWB with roof heights Low, Medium and High, Single and Double Chassis Cabs are also available all can be converted to LPG at one of our state of the art conversion centres. Ashwoods can also arrange anything from Fridge Units and Drop Sides, to Bluetooth and Ply Linning to be fitted to your Transit LPG.

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.

The Department of Health statistics suggest that particulates are responsible for several thousand advanced deaths each year and many thousands of instances of illness and reduced activity. Road transport is the largest single source for particulates and LP Gas can reduce these emissions by 90% compared to diesel.

The other pollutant highlighted by the Governments NAQS report as causing significant problems and requiring further measures to meet the set targets is Oxides of Nitrogen. As shown above, substantial reductions in Oxides of Nitrogen emissions can be made by using LP Gas.

Noise is another pollution causing increasing concern as stated in the Government’s “New Deal for Transport” White Paper. LP Gas engines are 50% quieter than diesel engines and marginally quieter than petrol engines.

Although the UK has one of the highest concentrations of vehicles per mile of road in the world it is amongst the lowest in using LP gas-powered vehicles. Other countries have recognised its environmental advantages and encouraged its development with over 4 million vehicles now in operation worldwide. In the UK we currently have only around 100,000 vehicles running on LP Gas but with suitable fiscal incentives from the Government it is forecast that this number will increase substantially over the next few years.

In Japan which has specific congestion and pollution problems, virtually all the taxis run on LP Gas and the country has the highest usage of automotive LP Gas in the world. Italy has the highest number of vehicles running on the fuel with around 1,100,000 followed by Australia with 490,000, North America with 400,000 and the Netherlands with 360,000.

The World’s known reserves of gas are far greater than those of crude oil from which petrol is derived. LPG will therefore remain readily available well into the future.

Ashwoods have been the leading supplier of congestion charge exempt LPG commercial vehicles to London customers since 2005. More recently, due to the ever increasing price of oil, a large number of companies and individuals are shifting away from diesel towards LPG vans nation wide and the overall cost of motoring.

LPG is less than half the price of diesel and provides the customer with fuel cost savings of up to 40% (plus exemption from the London congestion charge, which can equate to over £2000 per year per vehicle). More and more fleets are turning to LPG to combat carbon emissions, spiralling fuel costs and the congestion charge.

Ashwoods can supply the complete LPG vehicle solution to your business. We have terms with all the major manufacturers including Ford, Renault, Citroen and Peugeot so can offer market leading discounts. Alternatively, we recognise that you may prefer to provide your own vehicles, in this case we can supply the LPG conversion before delivering the vehicle to you with the accompanying warranty and after sales service.

In the current environment, it is critical for any business to be able to operate a full range of low cost, low emission alternative vehicles.

Ashwoods are the only company capable of supplying a range of low carbon, low cost vehicles to suit all customer requirements. Individual solutions are outlined below and we are happy to arrange a meeting to demonstrate the vehicles and provide you with information.

Ashwoods is has the backing of the UK Government and has been selected as a supplier to the Department for Transports Low Carbon Van Procurement Programme.

Our core products include low emission vans, both LPG Vans and Hybrid. All our low emission, low Co2 technologies are accompanied by full warranties and ensure manufacturer warranties remain unaffected. Below is some additional information that might be of interest to your business.