New electric tipper joins fleet

The largest all-electric vehicle ever used for highway maintenance in Essex is now helping to deliver road improvement in the county.   

A new 7.2-tonne tipper vehicle purchased by Ringway Jacobs for use by Essex Highways is in service in the south of the county following staff training and familiarisation.   

Specially adapted to include a third battery to give it a longer range, the new IVECO lorry with a Mackworth Vehicle Conversion Specialists body, will be helping crews deliver road repairs and emergency responses. Its battery power gives a range of around 120-miles between charges and, as it is all-electric, the vehicle is low noise as well as zero-emission. 

Staff have been really impressed with its performance. Because of the charging facilities available at our depots and the network throughout Essex, it will deliver all the functions of a diesel vehicle but in a far more sustainable way, which links into our recent PAS2080 accreditation. 

Ringway Jacobs currently has 80 all-electric vehicles across its highways contracts in Essex and Cheshire East Highways and in use corporately and it has recently placed an order for 30 new vans – almost a third of which will be all-electric.  

Ringway Jacobs was also the first UK highways company to deploy the Versalift Mobile Elevated Working Platform (MEWP (cherry pickers)) with a fully electric platform - and thereby greener - hoist.

While there remain some limitations with the technology that must be considered, the new tipper shows the technology is improving and Ringway Jacobs intends to be at the forefront of providing truly sustainable, as well as cost-effective, highways services.