First fleet confirmed for Ford’s ‘Cleaner Air for London’ trial

The first wave of fleets participating in the Ford Transit plug-in hybrid van (PHEV) London trial, starting this autumn, have been confirmed.

The multi-million-pound project is designed to explore how lower-emission plug-in hybrid electric vans could support cleaner air targets, whilst boosting productivity for operators in urban conditions.

So far, Transport for London, Metropolitan police, Clancy Plant, Addison Lee, and British Gas have all been confirmed to take part.

The project, supported by Transport for London, features a 12-month trial of 20 new Ford Transit PHEVs that reduce local emissions by running solely on electric power for the majority of inner-city trips.

The participating fleets represent a cross-section of city-based businesses which will integrate the Ford Transit PHEV vans into their day-to-day operations.

Using a Ford telematics system, each Transit PHEV will collect data on the vehicles’ financial, operational and environmental performance to help understand how the benefits of electrified vehicles could be maximised.