Dawsongroup emc orders 100 new Volvos

The self-drive contract hire specialist Dawsongroup emc, will add more than 100 new Volvo units to its fleet this year. The order includes four Volvo FMX Electric 6x2 vacuum tankers, and three Volvo FE Electric 4x2 medium volume combinations (MVCs) as the company supports its customers in reducing their emissions. The vehicles will be used for gully, mainline sewerage and drain jobs and are bodied by Whale Tankers. 

The seven electric trucks are part of a huge order with Volvo which includes more than 90 diesel models. Various weights and configurations will be supplied covering sweeper, hotbox, skip loader, hook loader, MVC, and vacuum tanker units. Dawsongroup emc has a growing fleet of around 1,600 vehicles. 

Paul Beddows, director of sales at Dawsongroup emc, said: “We supply many fleets in this sector, and we know how important it is to keep one step ahead. Customers increasingly want to discuss carbon reduction targets for all areas of their business, no matter how specialist the kit they operate. We knew the right thing to do was show them what was possible with electric trucks today, by building these examples and making them available on contract hire.

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

Supplied by Ian Sharrock, key account manager for Volvo Truck and Bus Centre South & East, the electric vehicles can either be charged overnight or replenished in under 2.5 hours using a DC fast-charger. 

Beddows said: “These are highly-specialist vehicles, but that also makes them well-suited to electrification. Most operate on contracts covering a specific area, where they don’t need to cover huge distances every day – meaning the range is more than sufficient in many cases, even when factoring in the energy required for the various pumping systems.”

The FMX Electrics have the maximum six batteries while the FE Electric MCVs were specified with three batteries to optimise payload. As a result, the FMX units have 540kWh of battery capacity and gearbox-driven PTO and the FEs have 270kWh of capacity and an ePTO. 

To determine the best specification, Volvo Trucks worked with Dawsongroup emc to complete range and energy use simulations based on real customer data. 

Beddows added: “This was a crucial bit of prep work, because with the trucks entering our general contract hire fleet, they weren’t assigned to a particular customer operation at the point of being specified. However, thanks to our data and Volvo’s calculations, it means we know precisely the types of operations they’ll be best suited to, allowing us to ensure they are deployed with fleets where they can have the maximum impact on reducing carbon footprints.”