As part of a fleet refresh programme, Biffa’s first electric skiploader is now in service.
The 18-tonne Volvo FE Electric 4x2 rigid will be based on the Isle of Wight.
In total Biffa has 104 vehicles on order from Volvo, supplied by Abdi Ali, key account manager at Volvo Trucks UK & Ireland.
Anthony Holley, fleet and facilities director at Biffa, said: “As a business we have more than a century’s worth of experience in helping our customers keep their environment clean, and are committed to reducing our carbon footprint. Central to this is the transition of our fleet to alternative fuels and naturally we wanted to be amongst the first fleets to gain real-world experience of operating an electric truck.
“The support from Volvo Trucks has been fantastic: they’ve had the answers for us at every stage and the suitability and performance of the FE Electric for this application is already clear to see. It offers significant potential for us, as we look to transition more of the fleet to electric in line with our ‘Resourceful, Responsible’ sustainability strategy.”
The FE Electric features Boughton Engineering skiploader bodywork and has two electric motors with a peak torque of 850Nm. Power delivery is managed to optimise traction over slippery surfaces and the truck has different drive modes for performance, comfort and energy efficiency. Four batteries in the vehicle supply a range of around 190km and charging with a 150kW DC charger takes 2.3 hours.
Hannah Burgess, director of new vehicles sales at Volvo Trucks UK & Ireland, said: “The Biffa team have incredibly high standards for what they require from any vehicle entering their fleet, and the FE Electric ticked all the boxes and is ideally suited to this application. It’s great to see another Volvo electric truck entering service with a major fleet.”
Alongside the new electric skiploader Biffa’s order includes 48 Volvo FM 8x4 hookloaders, 34 Volvo FM 8x2 front-end loaders, seven Volvo FH 6x2 tractor units, three Volvo FE 6x2 food and glass collection vehicles and 11 Volvo FL 4x2 skiploaders.