Lothian and Borders Police Buys Electric Van

Scotland’s Lothian and Borders Police force has purchased an Ford Connect Electric van to replace a conventional diesel-powered van.

The van will primarily be used for urban work in central Edinburgh and has a range of 80 miles and a payload of 500kg.

The Ford Connect Electric is a Ford Transit Connect with an electric conversion by Azure Dynamics, a company that has partnered with Ford to product these vans, which are being marketed in Europe and the USA.

Lothian and Borders Police won’t be the first organisation in its area to be operating an Electric Transit Connect – East Lothian Council has already taken delivery of one to use as an internal mail delivery van.

Renault Kangoo Van Z.E. Voted International Van of the Year

The Renault Kangoo Van Z.E. has been voted International Van of the Year 2012

Renault’s all-electric Kangoo Van Z.E. has been voted International Van of the Year 2012. The winner was selected by a jury of 22 European journalists who specialise in the light commercial vehicle market.

Jury chairman Pieter Wieman explained: “With the Kangoo Van Z.E. Renault brings the electric van within the reach of the normal European van user,” he said, “thereby delivering a major contribution to environmental sustainability, one of the most important issues of the transport of goods by road nowadays.”

The Kangoo Van Z.E. launches in the UK on the 1st December and it probably is fair to say that it offers comparable running costs for urban use once diesel costs are taken into account.

As I discussed recently, the van will be sold but the batteries will be rented, enabling Renault to tailor battery pricing according to the van’s annual mileage and to ensure that battery care and life expectancy are not an issue for the operator of the van and do not impact its expected residual value.