Argos pioneers dedicated Euro 6 natural gas Scania trucks in the UK

The United Kingdom’s first dedicated natural gas powered Scania tractor unit has now entered service with leading UK digital retailer Argos and with four more being commissioned later this month. In addition to meeting the Euro 6 exhaust emissions standard when operated on biomethane, reductions of up to 70 per cent can be achieved.  The vehicles are also extremely quiet, meaning they are particularly suitable for use in rural areas.

David Landy, Argos Fleet Manager, said: “The ultra-low emissions and environmental benefits of these trucks makes them an extremely attractive proposition. The trucks are a unique manufacturer’s offer, opposed to an aftermarket adaption, which made our purchasing decision easy.  The research and development process Scania has undertaken in the product, along with a ten year duty-differential promise from the government,  gives us a great deal of confidence in natural gas powered operation”.

These trucks will be based at Argos’ Magna Park, Lutterworth distribution centre, just a few miles from the Gasrec refueling station at the DIRFT in Daventry.  With an expected range of up to 450 kilometers, the vehicles will run initially on daily return-to-base operations, but in the future this could change as the UK natural gas refueling infrastructure continues to develop and grow, reported the executive.

According to Martin Hay, UK Truck Sales Director for Scania (Great Britain) Limited, today there are approaching 4,000 natural gas powered Scania vehicles in service around the world. The introduction of the new vehicles also represents a major milestone in a project created by Innovate UK (formerly Technology Strategy Board) to assess the benefits of gas to the UK haulage industry.

“A key aim of the project has been to introduce gas-powered vehicles into service at Magna Park in the run-up to a publicly-accessible gas refueling station scheduled to open on site later this year,” says John Baldwin, Managing Director of CNG Services, which leads the project in collaboration with Gasrec, Argos, DHL Supply Chain, Culina Logistics and Eddie Stobart.

https://www.ngvjournal.com/argos-pioneers-dedicated-euro-6-natural-gas-scania-trucks-in-the-uk/