Wessex Water has deployed more Renault Kangoo vans, including trialling the electric Z.E. version, following its successful experiences with its existing Kangoo vehicles.
The water services business has used the Renault Kangoo for seven years and said it was impressed by the reliability and impressive whole-life costs of its previous examples.
Wessex Water has now taken delivery of 67 Renault Kangoo vans, meaning the van now accounts for around 60% of the company’s 450-strong small van fleet.
The latest Renault Kangoos will be used by Wessex Water’s scientists, water samplers and inspectors throughout Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Hampshire, and will be the company’s first vehicles to feature its brand-new livery.
All of the vans are powered by the dCi 75 1.5-litre diesel engine and were also chosen for their ability to meet the Euro 6 standard without the need for AdBlue.
Wessex Water has also equipped its vehicles with the factory-fitted additions of the R-Link multimedia system with built-in satellite navigation and a 68mph speed limiter, while the rear load areas have been tailored to meet requirements with bespoke racking systems and sanitation systems by QI Van Systems. Specialist converter Tevo has also equipped a number of vehicles with additional lighting and warning beacons.
As with Wessex Water’s previous Renault Kangoos, all its latest vans have been supplied by Fish Brothers Renault in Swindon.
Martin Crocker, head of fleet, Wessex Water, said: “The Kangoo continues to be perfect for our requirements, representing great value and being popular with our operatives. Our previous ones proved to have near bulletproof reliability, racking up 25,000 miles a year, and the residuals have stood up equally well. For us, there are very few other small vans that offer such an attractive package.
“Based on our experiences of the Kangoo we’ve now ordered a Z.E. version, which we’ll appraise with a view to adding more in the future, and also our first Renault Trafic, which compares very competitively against some of the larger vans we’ve chosen in the past.”
