Everyday thousands of vehicles pump thousand tons of CO2 in the air which caused pollution. Just sitting in the vehicle while engine idling is more costly than time. Therefor Ford had joined hands with city of London to cut down the pollution caused by commercial vehicles in traffic. A fleet of 20 hybrid vans have been lodged to tackle short-hop deliveries and maintenance.
The local businesses will use 20 plug-in hybrid vans to handle short-hop deliveries and maintenance as a trial for one year. These vans are suited for pure electric power. When the underfloor batteries run flat, or if the trip involves more strenuous motorway running, a small internal combustion engine kicks in to extend range.
Its not a new idea as Audi and Volvo already offering 4WD drives sedans with small pure electric range however use of plug-in hybrid is not widespread where the technology could be of huge benefit. Use of only 20 plug-in hybrid vehicle will not have a huge impact on environmental however widespread use of plug-in hybrid vehicles are more beneficial specially for traffic-choked cities. According to Ford, commercial vehicles make 280,000 trips on a typical London weekday, with vans making up around 75 percent of commercial traffic.
“The freight sector’s transition to ultra-low emission vehicles is central to cleaning up London’s toxic air,” says Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London. “Transport for London continues to lead by example by increasing the number of its own vehicles that are electric and will find the data from these trials an invaluable resource for the LoCITY program, which encourages the uptake of low-emission commercial transport.”
No words at the moment for all-electric transit plug-in hybrid which will hit the market in 2019. However it will be one of 13 electrified car to be launched by ford in next 5 year.
