Dawsongroup EMC Selects Volvo FMX Electric & FE Electric Trucks For Hire Fleet

Dawsongroup EMC, a contract hire vehicle supplier for the environmental, municipal, and civil sectors, is acquiring seven new electric Volvo trucks this year as part of a much larger Volvo order for specific local and regional applications.

The group comprises four Volvo FMX Electric 6x2 vacuum tank trucks and three Volvo FE Electric 4x2 medium volume combination vehicles (MVCs) for use in gully, mainline sewerage, and drain work. The electric vehicles can be recharged in less than 2.5 hours on a DC fast charger or overnight on an AC charger.

“We supply many fleets in this sector, and we know how important it is to keep one step ahead,” says Paul Beddows, director of sales at Dawsongroup EMC. “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.”

Electric Trucks Tailored To The Job

Volvo Truck and Bus Centre South & East supplied the seven electric Volvos with bodywork by Whale Tankers. “These are highly specialist vehicles, but that also makes them well-suited to electrification,” says Beddows. “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.”

Dawsongroup EMC and Volvo Trucks worked together on range and energy simulations for the trucks as part of the specification process. The buyer supplied real daily mileage figures and ancillary equipment usage data it had collected to ensure that the new electric trucks would perform as expected in their specific roles.

“We worked incredibly hard to get the specification just right,” says Beddows. “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,” Beddows says.

The Volvo FMX Electric

Volvo’s FMX Electric is available in tractor form with 4x2 to 6x4 configurations and rigid models in 4x2 to 8x4 formats. The truck’s six cabin options range from a low day cab to a Globetrotter sleeper cab. Its maximum gross combination weight is 44 tonnes (48.5 U.S. tons).

The FMX Electric is available with two or three electric motors in power levels from 246 to 403 kilowatts (330 to 540 horsepower). Its fuel-saving I-Shift automated transmission applies smooth power to the drive wheels, and traction control reasserts the tyres’ grip when the surface is slippery.

Volvo Truck Batteries & Range

Volvo offers the FMX Electric with two to six battery packs, a maximum of 540 kilowatt-hours of battery power, and a range of up to 300 kilometres (186 miles). The manufacturer says that buyers may specify fewer batteries to get a shorter wheelbase that can manoeuvre more adroitly on city streets.

Dawsongroup EMC’s new FMX Electrics each have the 6-battery maximum and 540 kWh of battery capacity. A gearbox-driven PTO powers the equipment for the FMX units’ vacuum tanks.

The smaller Volvo FE Electric MVCs carry three batteries with 270 kWh of capacity, which affords them more payload capacity. The medium-duty FE Electrics run their ancillary equipment with an electric power take-off (ePTO).

Find The Right Volvo Truck For Sale

Explore TruckLocator.ie to find new and used Volvo trucks for sale, including Volvo FMX and Volvo FE trucks in various specifications and configurations.

Source: Volvo