LyrECO

As part of Lyreco’s commitment to the environment, our distribution department was given the task of identifying how we could reduce the environmental impact of our delivery fleet without breaking the bank and still keep within the required specifications of load space and weight capacity. We have already identified several alternatives such as LPG vehicles, Bio-diesel and retrofitted hybrid / electric drive units, but the most promising so far is an 100% electric, 0% emission vehicle known as ‘MODEC’, the name being an amalgamation of ‘Modern’ and ‘Electric’. This is a totally unique and exciting direction and Lyreco is one the first companies in the UK to evaluate and consider such a vehicle.

The vehicle is unique to the market, offering 60 & 100 mile ranges and importantly sufficient payload to rival our current delivery vehicle of choice, the Mercedes Sprinter 511. You may think that a 60 mile range would not be anywhere near sufficient, but in actual fact 30% of our delivery fleet do less than 60 miles per day and 65% do less than 100 miles per day! To put this into context, every Regional Distribution Centre that delivers into a major city in the UK has at least 1 vehicle that does less than 100 miles per day, making this a potentially viable option for the range of the electric van.

There are other electric vehicles available on the market, but are based on traditional ‘Transit’ type chassis. The Modec vehicle is a bespoke chassis which means you can configure the vehicle’s box section in a large variety of ways to suit our operation and is designed to take the weight of the batteries. Here are a few technical facts & figures:

• Max speed 50Mph
• 102 Bhp
• 10.2m turning circle
• 2 tonne weight capacity
• 0% Emissions
• £0 Congestion charge
• £0 Road Tax
• No tachograph required
• 8 hour charge cycle from empty

• Regenerative braking (braking recharges the battery)

The MODEC van was on an operational trial at our Distribution Centre in London during earlier this year to properly assess its suitability for use as a delivery vehicle. This trial should be seen as a major environmental initiative to help Lyreco’s environmental and Corporate Social Responsibilty policies.