The UK’s first dedicated Euro 6 gas-powered Scania tractor unit has now entered service with leading UK digital retailer, Argos, with four more being commissioned later this month.
In addition to meeting the Euro 6 exhaust emissions standard when operated on biomethane carbon dioxide, reductions of up to 70 per cent can be achieved. The vehicles are also extremely quiet, meaning they are particularly suitable for use in rural areas.
David Landy, Argos Fleet Manager, said: “The ultra-low emissions and environmental benefits of these trucks makes them an extremely attractive proposition.
“The trucks are a unique manufacturer’s offer, opposed to an aftermarket adaption, which made our purchasing decision easy. The research and development process Scania has undertaken in the product, along with a ten year duty-differential promise from the government, gives us a great deal of confidence in gas powered operation.
“The final part of the equation is the growing gas filling station infrastructure. These trucks will be based at our Magna Park, Lutterworth distribution centre, just a few miles from the Gasrec refuelling station at the DIRFT in Daventry. With an expected range of up to 450 kilometres, the vehicles will run initially on daily return-to-base operations, but in the future this could change as the UK gas refuelling infrastructure continues to develop and grow.”
Plated at 40-tonnes gross train weight, each vehicle will be equipped with Scania’s OC09 102, nine-litre, Euro 6 engine. Delivering 340hp (250kW) at 1,900 rpm and 1,600Nm of torque between 1,100 and 1,400 rpm, this engine is designed to operate solely on gas (compressed or liquified) and offers a high thermal efficiency of 40 percent.
Martin Hay, UK Truck Sales Director for Scania (Great Britain) Limited comments, “We are delighted that Argos has become the first UK operator to put our dedicated gas-powered trucks into operation. Today, there are approaching 4,000 gas-powered Scania vehicles in service around the world. This, together with an ever-developing fuel-supply infrastructure, represents a major step forward in terms of combating emissions of greenhouse gas.”
The introduction into service of these vehicles also represents a major milestone in a project created by Innovate UK (formerly Technology Strategy Board) to assess the benefits of gas to the UK haulage industry.
“A key aim of the project has been to introduce gas-powered vehicles into service at Magna Park in the run-up to a publicly-accessible gas refuelling station scheduled to open on site later this year,” says John Baldwin, Managing Director of CNG Services, which leads the project in collaboration with Gasrec, Argos, DHL Supply Chain, Culina Logistics and Eddie Stobart.
“In our view, the introduction of Argos’s new gas-powered Scania trucks will be transformational in terms of carbon dioxide emissions and their impact upon air quality in the coming years.”
