The streets of Bradford will be that little bit cleaner and greener from today as the city has been chosen to host the UK's largest fleet of electric, zero emission delivery vehicles.
The two 7.5-tonne trucks, part of express delivery giant TNT's fleet of non-polluting vehicles, have just been delivered to TNT's Bradford depot at Cross Lane, Birkenshaw, where they will be charged at the end of its working day, ready for them to reach speeds of up to 50mph and travel up to 70 miles the next day - perfect for delivery operations around Bradford and the West Yorkshire region.
Nearby Leeds has three trucks, making the electric trucks the biggest zero emission fleet operating in the region.
Suzy Bailey Hawke, Bradford Depot General Manager said: "We're absolutely delighted to have these electric trucks as part of our fleet of vehicles at the depot. Not only do our drivers really appreciate how easy they are to drive - they really are 'push and go' - over time they really are going to make a difference to the environment.
"Wherever practicable, we'll be looking to add more electric vehicles in Bradford. TNT is often known at the 'big orange' around the world, but we're certainly becoming a shade greener as time goes by."
The launch in Bradford is part of TNT's roll-out programme of the world's largest fleet of electric trucks, enabling it to reduce its carbon footprint by 1.3 million kg of CO² a year.
The vehicles in Bradford form part of a £7m 100-strong fleet of unique battery-powered trucks that will replace their diesel equivalents in 24 locations in England and Scotland over the next 18 months. The amount of CO² saved by the environmentally-friendly lorries will be enough to fill Wembley Stadium.
The vehicles are manufactured by Smith Electric Vehicles, based in the North-East, and are the first ever pure electric vehicles in their class that can compete in performance terms with diesel equivalents and, at the same time, deliver a 100% reduction in CO² emissions and exhaust air pollutants at the point of use.
Costing just 7p per mile in electricity to run, the 7.5-tonne Newton also represents a significant saving in fuel costs and, as the most powerful electric truck ever built. It is designed to replace diesel trucks that operate exclusively in urban areas, thereby helping improve air quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Powered by four large sodium nickel chloride 278v batteries located underneath the vehicle, each Newton can be fully charged from flat in approxima
Bradford blazes a trail with a zero emission first
posted: Thursday, 27 August 200927th August 2009