AA, one of the largest roadside assistance companies in the UK is launching a whole new fleet of electric vehicles, including a Volvo recovery truck, Iveco eDaily vans and more. The company has targets to have net-zero emissions and it means it needs to start evaluating how EVs can work in real-life settings. For the AA, it is very early doors, so it is only deploying three vehicles at the moment, all of which are essentially concepts.
The headlining truck and the one pictured above is the Volvo FE Boniface Slidebed recovery truck, which has a very low angle sided to get as low to the ground as possible. This truck is based on the diesel version and can carry 6000kg on its main bed and then 2000kg on the secondary car lift. This truck can do around 170 miles on one charge, which the AA says is enough as it'll be mainly based in London and Birmingham. Battery specs have not yet been revealed, but it can charge at 150kW and a full charge takes 135 minutes.
The second vehicle is the Iveco eDaily 7.2T Dyson Powerload, which uses Dyson technology to deploy the ramps. This one has a minimum range of 100 miles and the AA intends it to be used in ULEZ zones, in London, Bristol and Oxford. Charging is at 80kW, which will take it from 20% to 80% in 48 minutes, which is the length of an HGV tachograph break, as the AA mentions.
The last one the AA is planning on using is the Iveco eDaily CRT Van, a six person crew van which has been modified to use the CRT (Compact Recovery Trailers) which allows towing of up to 3250kg. This one like the other Iveco charges at up to 80kW, but has a range of 160 miles.
Source: AA
