Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions is supporting Liverpool City Council (LCC) in a hybrid trial by supplying four Ashwoods Hybrid Transit Vans on contract hire.

The vehicles have been obtained through the Low Carbon Vehicle Procurement Programme (LCVPP), which enables the public sector to test environmental technologies in a real world setting.

“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,” explained John Carrington, fleet and transport services manager at LCC.

Managed by Cenex on behalf of the Department for Transport, the programme provides the public sector with access to funding of £20 million to compensate for the extra cost of acquiring alternatively-fuelled vehicles.

“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,” added Carrington.

The vehicles are provided from a bank of preferred suppliers, of which Ashwoods is the only supplier of diesel/electric hybrid commercial vehicles.

They use a system similar to a kinetic energy recovery system 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, reducing the engine load and therefore the fuel demand.

During the first phase of the trial, LCC will be required to provide qualitative and quantitative feedback.

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% saving on standard vehicle emissions.

“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,” explained 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.”

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