Fully electric gritter joins Ringway fleet

Econ Engineering is supplying a fully electric-powered gritter – the Electric Quick Change Body (E-QCB) – for Ringway’s fleet.

Ringway, responsible for looking after more than 30,000 miles of the UKs highways network, has a long-term strategic fleet partnership with Econ and is the first contractor to sign up to a deal for the E-QCB.

The E-QCB 19-tonne Volvo FE Electric, comes with a range of demountable body options including gritter, tipper and caged body, which can be switched within just 15 minutes.

The vehicle comes with alternative battery configurations to allow optimisation of range and payload, it can be fully charged in less than two hours (subject to infrastructure) and has a range of up to 170 miles (depending on load and road conditions).

Dave Olley, operations manager at Ringway, said: “Ringway Hertfordshire is committed to delivering a sustainable service. Working with Econ Engineering we trialled the fully electric E-QCB multi-purpose vehicle and are now looking forward to adding it to our fleet and putting it to use on the UK’s road network.”

The vehicle has been put through its paces by different fleets. North Yorkshire Council said that the E-QCB was tested to the limit on a cold, snowy day at Sutton Bank which has a hill gradient of 1 in 4, and includes plenty of tight bends, with the vehicle completing two 40-mile gritting runs.

A council spokesperson said: “The vehicle impressed us especially coping with the hills and had excellent range for an electric vehicle.”

Glasgow City Council said it deployed the vehicle on a 90-mile gritting route in urban Glasgow, carrying an eight-ton non-diminishing payload.

It returned with an impressive 13% battery life remaining, while a 50-mile gritting route saw it return to the depot with 47% battery usage.

A council spokesperson said: “Vehicle exceeded expectations, excellent build quality, cannot fault the vehicle at all.”

Jonathan Lupton, managing director of Econ Engineering, explained that the Yorkshire-based business had spent a long time developing the E-QCB, undertaking redesigns and trials across the UK, to ensure that it can offer a fully electric solution for its customers that can be used 52 weeks a year.

“We are delighted to extend what is already a strong relationship with Ringway by adding the E-QCB to its fleet,” he said.

“We are confident the vehicle will continue to impress and that its benefits will soon result in more deals of this kind.”

Christian Coolsaet, managing director of Volvo Trucks UK and Ireland, added: “Every part of the transport sector needs to have its sights set on achieving net zero, and gritting and snowploughing is no exception.

“The team at Econ has developed an exceptional new product with our FE Electric chassis at its heart; this is going to allow gritter fleets to reap the benefits of operating cleaner, quieter and more efficient trucks.”