The Defence School of Transport Opts for a Sustainable Electric Task Fleet
The MOD Defence School of Transport opted for a fleet of sustainable off-road transportation task vehicles to rival the efficiency and cost of the Ford Ranger pickup truck. Why? Simply the driving school needed an environmentally sustainable transportation choice. The Beast and The HiSun Sector 5kW were up to the task.
With 100 different courses available and over 10,000 trainees passing through it every year, the Defence School of Transport at Leconfield in East Yorkshire is the largest residential driving school in the world.
Covering a vast area – 296 hectares, or 730 acres – the school’s 243 military and 555 civilian staff provide training on around 500 vehicles, ranging from trucks to civilian armoured vehicles, and a broad spectrum of specialist military vehicles.
With a training zone consisting of on-and off-road courses, as well as a barrack area, the support teams require robust vehicles to move around all areas and tackle all terrain, as well as carrying all the equipment and material needed for the maintenance of the training facilities and safety control and additional support tasks.
Until recently, a fleet of Ford Ranger pickup trucks was used, but with a large number of short journeys, this was neither efficient nor environmentally sustainable.
‘Performance was a Priority’
“Our ambition is to use more electric vehicles and looking at our fleet of support vehicles seemed the obvious place to start,” says Major Tom Barker, Quartermaster Technical at the school. “The cost of procuring and running large 4×4 pickups is very high and using diesel vehicles for multiple short journeys is certainly not optimal for the environment.”
When considering electric alternatives, performance was the priority. “Our main concern was: would electric utility vehicles be robust enough to do the job?” says Major Barker. “We needed to be sure that they could tackle all of the terrain on the site, and that they had the load carrying capacity we needed.”
The Two Electric UTVs Put to the Test… The Beast and The HiSun Sector 5kW
Two types of electric UTVs from Electric Wheels were put to the test, undergoing strenuous trials to make sure they would be up to the job. Happily, they passed with flying colours, and now six electric UTVs – two ‘Beasts’ and four ‘HiSun Sector 5kWs’ – are in daily use at the school.
The two Beasts, Electric Wheels’ most rugged and heavy-duty vehicle, are employed by the Quartermaster’s department for moving stores around the site, and by the Training Area Support (TAS) Team, who look after the training area itself. The ability of the Beast to pull a trailer with a 1.5 tonne payload was an important consideration in choosing this vehicle for the job.
Meanwhile, four HiSun Sectors – a powerful 4×4 all-terrain utility vehicle – are used by the school’s outstations for moving tools and equipment around the camp.
“We have been pleased with how the electric utility vehicles have been up to the task, and they have enabled us to take a big step towards reducing our environmental impact,” said Major Barker. “With a large solar farm within the training area, running the electric UTVs is both cost-effective and environmentally very sustainable.
“We would recommend them as an effective and rugged solution for supporting the logistics of an operation like ours.”
Thanks to Major Tom Barker for sharing the Defence School of Transport’s experience of the Electric Wheels UTVs. Book a test drive to put the UTVs to the test yourself, get in touch. Call us on 0333 3582175 or email us at enquiries@electric-wheels.co.uk.
