Dawsongroup emc, a leading supplier of contract autonomous vehicles to the environmental, municipal and civil sectors, is investing heavily with more than 100 new Volvos joining its fleet this year, including seven electric trucks, giving customers direct experience of zero-emission trucks.

Volvo FMX Electric 6×2 vacuum tanker. Image: Volvo Trucks

The lead fleet is led by four Volvo FMX Electric 6×2 vacuum tankers and three Volvo FE Electric 4×2 medium volume combinations (MVCs) for gully, main sewer and drainage work – all with bodies from Whale Tankers.

They form a key part of an order for more than 100 new Volvo trucks to be delivered this year, including more than 90 diesel models with a mix of sweeper, hotbox, skip loader, hook loader, MVC, vacuum tanker and Kilo-Whale bodies in various weights and configurations. They will join the customer’s growing fleet of around 1,600 commercial vehicles.

Paul Beddows, Sales Director at Dawsongroup emcsays: “We supply many fleets in this sector and we know how important it is to stay ahead. Customers are increasingly keen to discuss carbon reduction targets across all areas of their business, no matter how specialist the kit they are using. We knew the right thing to do was to show them what was possible with electric trucks today, by building these examples and making them available for contract hire.

“We’ve worked incredibly hard to get the specification just right. It started with a trip to Gothenburg with Volvo last year to see and drive the product, before sitting down with the dealer team to refine the specification.”

Volvo FE Electric 4×2 medium volume combinations (MVC). Image: Volvo Trucks

The new vehicles, delivered by Ian Sharrock, Key Account Manager for Volvo Truck and Bus Centre South & East, are ideally suited to local and regional operations. The trucks can be charged at base using an AC night charger or a DC rapid charger, with the batteries fully charged in less than 2.5 hours.

Beddows adds: “These are very specialised vehicles, but that also makes them very suitable for electrification. Most operate on contracts that cover a specific area, where they don’t have to cover large distances every day – meaning the range is more than adequate in many cases, even when you factor in the energy required to run the various pumping systems.”

The FMX Electrics are each specified with up to six batteries, giving a battery capacity of 540 kWh, with a gearbox-driven power take-off to power equipment on the vacuum tanks. To maximise charging capacity, the smaller Volvo FE Electric MVCs benefit from three batteries, giving a capacity of 270 kWh, and with auxiliary equipment powered by an ePTO.

As part of the specification process, Volvo Trucks conducted a series of range and energy simulations with Dawsongroup’s EMC team, taking into account typical daily mileage and use of auxiliary equipment for trucks operating in this sector. These simulations are based on real customer data collected by Dawsongroup EMC.

Beddows explains: “This was a crucial piece of preparatory work because when the trucks entered our general contract rental fleet, they were not allocated to a specific customer operation at the time they were specified. However, thanks to our data and Volvo’s calculations, we know exactly which types of operations they are best suited to, so we can ensure they are deployed to fleets where they can have the maximum impact on reducing carbon footprint.”