Vauxhall Vivaro

Vauxhall launched the Vauxhall Vivaro back in the summer of 2011 and since then, half a million vans have rolled off the Luton production line. The Vivaro comes in many variants including panel van, double cab, chassis cab, drop side plus combi and bus passenger vehicles. The Vivaro second-generation production also starts in 2014 in Luton and the Vivaro’s popularity in the commercial van sector is reflected by an 18% market share in the UK.

Mark Stein, Vauxhall’s Luton plant director, said,”The Vivaro enjoys a huge success not only in the UK but also in Europe. The van is built to high quality standards and ensures an economical and comfortable ride whilst offering an impressive and practical loading space”. Vauxhall Vivaro contract hire is on the site now for all van configurations.

EcoDaily Electric van

Iveco has launched a new EcoDaily Electric van and chassis cab in the UK and Ireland which now combines the robustness of its popular commercial vehicle, with a model that has zero tailpipe emissions. They will now offer a 3.5 tonne single rear wheel (Daily 35S) and 5.2 tonne twin rear wheel (Daily 50C) model in van or chassis cab, with special applications (crew cab, MPV etc) available on request.

This electric van is ideally suited to short distance journeys and door-to-door deliveries in an urban environment and of course qualifies for a 100 per cent discount on the London Congestion Charge. Depending on how many batteries you have fitted, the range varies from 55 miles to 80 miles and each vehicle has their speed limited to 45mph.

National Grid

The National Grid has been running Ford vehicles for over nine years and has around 900 long-and-short wheelbase Transit Connect models and, evenly split, 2,000 Transit 280s and 350s. Ford has now agreed to supply a number of the Transit LWB 460s along with five of the all-wheel-drive Transit models, in chassis-cab dropside configuration.

Gary Foster, the National Grid fleet operations manager said,” The new Transit is more refined and car-like. It’s a very diverse range that offers well -proven reliability, with improved ergonomics and driveability. The AWD Transits have recently entered service. I have tried them in fairly tough conditions and they performed very well”.

The National Grid attends around 600,000 emergencies and 80,000 gas escapes every year and the Ford Transit Connects and Transit 280s are used as a “first response” service for gas leaks and meter maintenance. The larger Transits are used for any follow-up work that might include excavations or mains replacement for example.