Green EEV Sprinters clean up in Southwark10 August 2010

A fleet of clean 'green' Mercedes-Benz Sprinter vans is helping to clean the streets and reduce air pollution in Southwark.

The London borough carried out "an extensive evaluation" before choosing 47 new Sprinters with the latest Euro 5 engines that also meet the voluntary EEV (enhanced environmentally-friendly vehicle) standard.

All are also fitted with Mercedes-Benz ECO-Start system, which further cuts fuel consumption and exhaust emissions by automatically cutting the engine after two seconds when the vehicle is stationary and in neutral.

"Choosing vehicles that would cause the lowest possible impact on the local and global environment was right at the top of our list of priorities when we made this decision," comments Southwark Council business unit manager Matthew Trott.

"We looked at several options and not many could offer Euro 5 engines, even fewer could provide vehicles to EEV specification, and only Mercedes-Benz could combine those two features with the ECO-Start system," he adds.

The fleet comprises: 35 310CDI cage tippers, with factory-built bodies, for street cleansing and parks maintenance duties; 10 Sprinter 310CDI welfare vehicles, for transporting elderly or disabled residents to and from day centres; and a pair of 210CDI panel vans for community sports projects.

All the vans have been supplied to Southwark on five-year contract hire by London Hire, which bought the Sprinters from Heathrow Mercedes-Benz dealer Rygor Commercials and will provide maintenance cover in partnership with the firm.

Since taking delivery, the council has returned to Rygor Commercials with an order for a further 10 Sprinters –nine as a mix of 3.5-tonne and 5.0-tonne dropsiders and access platform vehicles for the Highways Department, and one 316CDI panel van for the Enforcement Department.

Author
Brian Tinham

Related Companies
Mercedes-Benz UK Ltd

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