Biffa to rollout its first electric skip loader after deal with Volvo Trucks

The electric skip loader forms part of an order for 104 new Biffa vehicles from Volvo Trucks, being deployed across the UK as part of a major fleet modernisation programme – with all trucks supplied through Abdi Ali, Key Account Manager, Volvo Trucks UK & Ireland.

The Volvo FE Electric has been mounted with Boughton Engineering skiploader bodywork and is powered by two electric motors.

Equipped with four batteries, it offers a range of approximately 190km and can be recharged in 2.3 hours with the use of a 150kW DC charger. The Biffa team can also take advantage of top-up charges mid-shift, as the battery can be charged more quickly up to 80% capacity.

‘Significant potential’

Anthony Holley, Biffa’s fleet and facilities director said: “As a business we have more than a century’s worth of experience in helping our customers keep their environment clean, and are committed to reducing our carbon footprint. Central to this is the transition of our fleet to alternative fuels and naturally we wanted to be amongst the first fleets to gain real-world experience of operating an electric truck.

“The support from Volvo Trucks has been fantastic: they’ve had the answers for us at every stage and the suitability and performance of the FE Electric for this application is already clear to see. It offers significant potential for us, as we look to transition more of the fleet to electric in line with our ‘Resourceful, Responsible’ sustainability strategy.”

Vehicle

Biffa operates a 4,000 strong commercial vehicle fleet spread across more than 100 depots in the UK. In addition to the new FE Electric, this order also comprises 48 Volvo FM 8×4 hook loaders, 34 Volvo FM 8×2 front-end loaders, 7 Volvo FH 6×2 tractor units, 3 Volvo FE 6×2 food and glass collection vehicles and an additional 11 Volvo FL 4×2 skip loaders.

Hannah Burgess, director of new vehicles sales at Volvo Trucks UK & Ireland said: “The Biffa team have incredibly high standards for what they require from any vehicle entering their fleet, and the FE Electric ticked all the boxes and is ideally suited to this application. It’s great to see another Volvo electric truck entering service with a major fleet.”

Biffa manages a fleet of 4,000 commercial vehicles across 100+ depots in the UK. Alongside the FE Electric, the order includes a variety of Volvo models, each equipped with Euro-6 Step E diesel engine technology.