NHS fleet takes delivery of electric vans

A fleet of all-electric Nissan Townstar vans has joined a busy NHS trust in Yorkshire, with range a deciding factor in their adoption.

York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has taken delivery of nine of the environmentally-friendly light commercial vehicles (LCVs), with another five expected to arrive shortly.

The vehicles are being used by the trust’s security and estates teams, as well as transporting blood samples and delivering furniture and other bulky items to hospitals and surgeries in and around North Yorkshire.

Philip Bland, transport manager at York Teaching Hospital Facilities Management, said range was the most important factor for the Trust when considering which electric vehicles to go for.

The Nissan Townstar has combined range of up to 183 miles. 

‘‘Townstar ticks every box for us, in the same way that e-NV200 did,’’ continued Bland. ‘‘Aside from purely practical considerations, it’s a super vehicle and we get plenty of positive feedback from our drivers – they say it’s just like driving a car.”

He added: ‘‘The vans are put to all sorts of uses – our skilled tradespeople such as joiners, plumbers and painters use them, as well as our CCTV teams and other colleagues.

“They need to be able to adapt to all kinds of uses – and they are excellent at doing that. We’re delighted with them.’’

The Townstars are replacing a number of Nissan e-NV200s, the new van’s predecessor.

Available with either a petrol or electric powertrain, the vehicle has been designed to future-proof business operations and accelerate the transition towards electrification, says Nissan.

York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust provides a range of hospital and specialist healthcare services for approximately 800,000 people living in and around York, North Yorkshire and Ryedale – an area covering 3,400 square miles.

With eight hospital sites, the Trust has a workforce of around 10,000 staff.