Southern Water is rolling out new solar-powered vans as part of a major fleet replacement programme.
The water company, which serves almost five million people across Kent, Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, is replacing a third of its engineering vehicle fleet with more than 300 new vans – the majority of which will be partially powered by solar panels.
The solar panels, located on the roofs, will help drivers and engineers charge equipment while out and about – enhancing operational efficiency and reducing the need to travel back to base.
The new vehicles will also feature safety sensors for checking van weight, all season tyres and 70mph controlled speed limiters.
Martin Lock, fleet manager at Southern Water, said: “We are replacing around a third of our fleet with new vehicles. Vans such as the Vauxhall Combo, Vivaro and Movano, plus Ford 4×4 Ranger pickup will replace some of our older vehicles and include the new livery. There are some exciting new features that include solar panels on the van’s roofs to power on board batteries, reversing cameras and on board weighing.”
The new vans will be driven by operational, technical and customer teams across the South East and will help spotlight some of Southern Water’s innovative technologies and benefits on offer to customers.
These include using satellite technology to find hidden water leaks and deploying AI to find sewer blockages.
Southern Water also uses solar and sewage energy to run some of its sites.
Alongside the new vans, the business is also deploying more than 30 new 4×4 automatic trucks, which will be used at remotes sites and for offroad operational use.
