Carillion contract hires Smith Edison Electric Vehicle to Office2Office

Carillion Fleet Management has supplied the first electric vehicle on contract hire to its customer - leading office supplies company Office2Office.

Office2Office has opted to use the Smith Edison electric van at its Beckton depot, London for deliveries of office products to customers in and around the city.

The Edison Transit is 100% battery powered and designed for urban operations, where it can significantly improve city air quality and reduce CO2 emissions.

The van has a restricted top speed of 50mph, with a range of 80 miles on a single charge. Exempt from the London Congestion Charge it is also zero rated on road fund licence. Smith estimates that day to day running costs are around 3p per mile, while the maintenance-free drive line means maintenance is reduced to standard low cost items such as lights, brakes and tyres.

Carillion bought the van from Smith Electric Vehicles and is contract hiring it to Office2Office on a long term agreement. The monthly contract hire cost includes batteries, making Carillion one of the very few suppliers to provide electric vehicles on contract hire.

Most of Carillion’s rivals avoid the new technology as they are unwilling to take the risk on vehicle and battery disposal at the end of the contract hire agreement.

The new vehicle forms part of Office2Office’s strategy to reduce its vehicle carbon footprint and retain its already strong environmental credentials. Recently it was one of the first UK companies to take delivery of 18 Mercedes Sprinter ECO-Start vans whose ignition cuts out when the vehicle is stationary in traffic, thus reducing fuel use, emissions and engine noise in urban areas.

Mike Weston, Office2Office Operations Director said: “We are working with Carillion to reduce our carbon vehicle footprint and the Smith Edison is a very cost-effective way of achieving CO2 reductions. Together with our Mercedes Sprinters we are making good progress in reducing our CO2 emission output in urban areas.”

Carillion’s Pat Brown has been at the forefront of evaluating new environmental technology to help reduce Office2Office’s environmental fleet impact.

“We have evaluated many vehicles and both the Smith Edison and Mercedes Sprinters fitted with ECO-start will make a big impact on reducing fuel use, emissions and noise in urban areas,” he said.

“However, to keep up with our customer’s green aims, van and truck manufacturers must continue to develop new green technologies as they are doing for cars. Our customer’s commercial vehicles cover more miles annually and so have a bigger environmental impact.”