Dairy goes greener as first UK foodservice firm to purchase Tevva’s Electric delivery truck

Dairy and chilled food distributor, West Horsley Dairy (WHD), will be the first UK foodservice business to run an electric truck fitted with Tevva Motors Ltd’s pioneering commercial vehicle technology.

The family-run business, based in Surrey, delivers a full range of dairy products and other high-quality foods to London and the home counties to a range of private and corporate companies; the EV truck will focus on deliveries to Central London.

The company will take delivery of a new 11-tonne truck, fitted with an electric eutectic refrigeration system in the body. Thanks to Tevva’s unique package of electrification technologies, including bespoke battery packs and management system, electric motor and optional range extender, WHD will be able to deliver its products with zero emissions in urban areas controlled by air quality regulations.

Already using a different manufacturer’s hybrid delivery trucks, WHD believes Tevva’s solution is a more impactful way forwards and will look to bolster its 42-strong fleet of vehicles with more of Tevva’s range extended electric vehicles in future as it strives for greater sustainability.

It is the only foodservice business in the UK to hold the Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme (FORS) Gold Standard accreditation. The FORS scheme was started by Transport for London (TfL) to encourage sustainable best practice for freight operators that deliver in and service the Capital.

Transport Refrigeration Units – coolers that chill and freeze food in vans and lorries – are among some of the most heavily polluting vehicles on the UK’s roads, with diesel-powered refrigeration trucks accounting for annual emissions equivalent to 1.8 million cars.*

WHD Managing Director, Philip Colton, said: “Although not driven by customer requests, there has been a constant demand to know what extra dimension to our own sustainability WHD could add to that of our customers, and a zero-emission vehicle fits that perfectly.

“We are looking to reduce our carbon footprint but also drive down the cost per mile of running our vehicles. The USP of the Tevva solution is its delivery range over other entrants to the EV market, even from mainline manufacturers. That has been a key factor for us because our main depot is outside London in Surrey.”

Tevva has developed a range of technologies that enable the immediate electrification of medium duty trucks (7.5t – 14t).

Its package of precision engineering solutions focus on its four core pillars of technology – Tevva Power (battery pack and bespoke management system), Tevva Drive (intuitive drive system), Tevva Link (telematics and diagnostics software) and Tevva ReX (optional range extender which is autonomously controlled to maximise battery capacity for any duty cycle without range anxiety).

David Thackray, Tevva Sales & Marketing Director, said: “West Horsley Dairy was one of our earliest adopters at Tevva so I am personally delighted to see the team there become the first foodservice company in the UK to take delivery of their eTruck.

“Philip and his team at WHD recognised early on that the only way to meet increasingly stringent existing and future emissions regulations and lower the total cost of ownership of fleet vehicles at the same time was to go all electric.”

*Article Source www.performancecomms.com