Highways maintenance company Ringway Hounslow operates the industry’s first 26-tonne Volvo FE Electric 6×2 rigid truck with a tipper and low-entry cab.

The DVS compliant truck replaces a diesel vehicle in the Hounslow fleet and will be used for highway and street servicing, covering 30,000km a year in the urban London borough.

Ringway undertakes routine, reactive and cyclical highway maintenance on Hounslow’s streets, 45 bridges and highway structures, 16,000 streetlights, 16,000 drainage features and 11,000 trees, as well as emergency response, street cleaning and winter and winter maintenance services. difficult weather conditions.

Mitesh Solanki, CEO of Ringway, said: “As sustainability becomes increasingly important in our sector, we want to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles across our company.

“After evaluating options available on the market, we quickly concluded that custom construction would provide us with the greatest flexibility. The Volvo FE Electric provided the perfect platform to create a first-of-its-kind vehicle in the UK and once again paved the way for us to continue our transition away from diesel.”

Ringway has become the first company in the UK to place an order for a right-hand drive version of the all-new, fully electric Volvo FM Low Entry truck – the first ever manufacturer of a pure electric vehicle – which has already received a five-star DVS rating.

“We have been using low-entry cabs for several years and our drivers appreciate the safety and visibility benefits,” added Solanki.

“While the upcoming DVS scheme will enable the use of three-star vehicles in London for a minimum of 10 years from October 2024, we believe we will only offer five-star vehicles in the future.”