Working together to accelerate Change.
74 electric Speedy Hire vehicles fitted with solar technology from TRAILAR.
TRAILAR listed as Speedy Hires Preferred supplier for solar.
Speedy Hire is the UK’s leading provider of tool, equipment and plant hire services. From everyday essentials through to specialist power, surveys, lifting solutions and professional training - Speedy Hire does it all and have been delivering excellence for over 47 years to thousands of customers in the UK and Ireland.
With an impressive 300,000 assets itemised for hire, the business operates through an omni-channel approach including trading locations across the UK and Ireland and over 3,000 colleagues servicing a significant number of the UK’s largest contractors.
Speedy Hire’s vision to inspire and innovate the future of hire and their missions to accelerate sustainable growth sits at the centre of their sustainability strategy ‘Decade to Deliver’ (www.speedyservices.com/sustainability) and everything that they do.
In addition to investing in eco-technologies, switching to sustainable fuels, and closing the loop on circularity (plus much more) they’ve now teamed up with TRAILAR (www.trailar.co.uk) to add focus on low carbon solutions for its fleet network and to aid their operations resilience.
TRAILAR is the leader in solar transport technology, with a mission to make commercial vehicles ‘greener’. TRAILAR technology allows ultra – thin CIGS solar mats to be fitted to new and existing vehicles, diesel or electric. The solar energy generated actively powers all the onboard electrical equipment reducing fuel consumption, saving CO2 and maintaining vehicle range (EVs).
Operating more than 1000 commercial vehicles including LCV and 230 HGV, Speedy introduced 150 new electric vehicles into their commercial fleet in 2023. After an initial impressive trial with TRAILAR where battery health remained consistently at 100%, 74 electric vehicles have now been fitted with TRAILAR’s ‘Enhanced’ solar solution.
Following expert training from the engineers and technicians at TRAILAR the solar mats have been installed by third party supplier – A&M Auto Installations.
The vehicles fitted consisted of; 50 Ford eTransits Panel vans, 20 Ford eTransits Luton’s, and a further 4 Electra HGV Vehicles. The Enhanced solar solution provides energy to the vehicles 12v battery, which powers all on-board electrical equipment. The new source of power actively reduces the load on the drivetrain battery, whilst the vehicle is operational and in motion.
Since TRAILAR’s solution has been installed it has protected the range of Speedy Hire’s vehicles, maintained the battery at the optimum condition allowing the HV battery to maintain range for utilisation. This has provided additional maintenance benefits and cost savings with a reduced need for any call outs for non-starting vehicles and reduced requirements for additional battery replacements.
As a result, Speedy Hire has now named TRAILAR as their preferred supplier for solar with an additional 66 electric vehicles to be installed with TRAILAR Solar solutions in 2025.
‘Here at Speedy Hire, we’re focused on making hire an even more sustainable choice than it already is. When it comes to climate change, we are leading our industry on committing to reach net zero carbon by 2040, ten years ahead of the government’s target. The introduction of electric vehicles into our fleet is a key initiative– this combined with the TRAILAR enhanced solar solution has enabled us to not only reduce our carbon emissions but also improve our fleets resilience and maintain operational uptime.
From the initial trail we found that on average our vehicles require upwards of 300Wh during its run cycle. Thanks to TRAILAR 600 WH of solar was produced during the run cycle, reducing the energy required from the vehicle by 43%. Seeing the results meant collaboration with TRAILAR was a meaningful step towards sustainability whilst still delivering to our customers’. Aaron Powell, Fleet Director Speedy Hire.
‘We’re proud to be working alongside a business that has sustainability at the centre of everything they do. Our partnership reinforces their commitment to continue to lead their industry towards decarbonisation and were proud that our products also offer improved fleet resilience against a colossal issue we see industry providers facing (12-v batteries going flat). We look forward to seeing all the vehicles in operation throughout 2024/2025 and the benefits our technology will bring’. Denny Hulme Managing Director TRAILAR.
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