Reducing environmental impact

Environment impact of vehicles

The environmental impact each vehicle that we build is something that we’re increasing asked about. It’s of concern to many, and particularly so to Local Authorities who have a statutory duty to monitor and minimise both air and noise pollution.  Whilst our manufacturing team make every effort to reduce our own carbon footprint the environmental impact of our vehicles can only be reduced by working in co-operation with our customers…..vehicle owners and operators.

You will no doubt have already guessed that to reduce environment impact various investments, all incurring costs, are required. That is the bad news!  But here’s the good news; any such investment does reduce operational costs with the result that medium to long term any such investments will be recouped. The possibly over simplistic explanation for this is that environmental impact is best achieved through the reduction of fuel consumption (the key factor at the heart of all environment issues) and by reducing our fuel consumption we automatically reduce our costs. So creating a win-win environmental scenario for the community and a financial benefit for the operator.

What factors therefore influences fuel efficiency?

Fuel efficiency is influenced by a number of factors that we as the vehicle manufacturer along with the vehicle operator have the ability to control and influence:

Cab and side fairings

Tyre selection

Pollution abatement devices

Telematics

Eco driver training

Cab and side fairings

Improving vehicle dynamics by the installation of aerodynamic aids has long been standard practice to reduce fuel consumption, as it has been estimated that around 20% of fuel is used to push against wind resistance. At MVTech we always aim to select the right, most effective, kit for each vehicle configuration and include these as an integral part of our standard specifications unless asked not to do so.

Tyre Selection

Choice of tyre can so easily be overlooked but as the tyres can account for up to 30% of a vehicles fuel consumption, they are rather influencial when it comes to environmental impact.

Most improvements in fuel efficiency are obtained from the crown area of the tyre which contributes around 75% of the tyre rolling resistance.  The factors that influence this rolling resistance include the tyre weight, tread compound and depth of tread so we take all of these into account when recommending tyres that offer a good fuel efficiency rating, as the right selection will lower a vehicles running costs and reduce emissions at the same time.

Pollution abatement devices

It is often possible to fit “Approved” https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/low-emission-zone/manufacturers-and-fitters  pollution abatement equipment to reduce a vehicles particulate matter emissions, which can be an essential, rather than a luxury, for those who need to enter and satisfy areas with low emissions standards such as in London  https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/low-emission-zone

Telematics

We see Telematics, a combination of the sciences of telecommunications and informatics that records and provides data on innumerable aspects of a vehicle in real time as the new essential in any vehicle specification.  Not only does it enable a fleet manager to reduce fuel consumption via journey planning, idling time by traffic prediction to avoid congested roads, speeding, acceleration and more, but simultaneously, these reduce environmental impact.

Telematics can monitor the health of the vehicles engine and highlight engine errors that lead to increased carbon emissions.  Automatic idling cut out technology along with and vehicles being directed to taking the most efficient routes combine to reduce the environmental footprint.

At MVTech we consider Telematics to be the way forward by offering improvements to both profitability and the environment that we now offer a full telematics service covering advice on the best system for each individual vehicle plus a full hardware/software installation.

Eco driver training

Driver training too can significantly reduce the impact of a vehicle on the environment which we have outlined in greater detail in one of our other Blogs which can be seen at https://www.multivehicletechnology.co.uk/blog/reducing-the-environmental-impact-of-a-vehicle/

Summary

In a blog we can only just scratch the surface of an issue so if you require any more “flesh on the bones” of this most important subject, be you a large fleet or single vehicle operator do please contact us and ask for Steve Stones on 0116 326 0980 or write to stevestones@multivehicletechnology.co.uk