|
|
|
|
|
30/01/2012
 Email to a friend
 Comment on this article
|
A fleet of 10 3.5-tonne Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Luton vans, equipped with streamlined Bevan bodies, is helping retirement homes builder McCarthy & Stone with its dedicated removals service.
 The Bournemouth-based company uses removals specialist House to Home UK, which chose the vehicles for their "high levels of productivity, user-friendly-practicality and safety, with excellent environmental credentials".
House to Home UK parent company Vogue Group's managing director James Sandbrook also states that Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 313CDIs are fuel-efficient, and adds that the Icon bodies offer market-leading payloads of more than 1,200kg.
He points, for example, to the Mercedes-Benz vans' active and passive safety features, including the Adaptive ESP anti-skid program, which monitors the vehicle's changing load status and intervenes in critical situations.
"To contain costs, we're naturally keen to make maximum use of the available loadspace," comments Sandbrook.
"The ICON offers impressive volume and payload capacities, while its aerodynamic design contributes to improved fuel economy. It also has a fantastic on-road presence, allowing our vans to double as highly visible mobile advertising spaces, reinforcing consumer awareness of the McCarthy & Stone brand."
The Euro 5 Sprinter 313CDIs, which were supplied by Birmingham dealer Midlands Truck & Van, are 15% more efficient than their Euro 4 equivalent – equating to an extra 4.5mpg, while CO2 emissions are down by 13%.
As for the Icon body, which was launched by Bevan Group at the 2011 Commercial Vehicle Show, this was developed by in partnership with aerodynamics experts from Cranfield University, along with Hatcher Components.
Its modular panels – moulded cab deflector and collar, side walls and roof – were created using three-dimensional CFD (computational fluid dynamics) software. Panels were also subject to wind tunnel testing, and are manufactured in a lightweight and recyclable composite GRP material.
|
|
| |
Author
Brian Tinham
|
| |
| |
This material is protected by SOE copyright 2012.
See Terms and Conditions.
One-off usage is permitted but bulk copying is not.
For multiple copies contact the sales team.
|
| |
|
|
| |
|