September/October Issue 63 - Flipbook - Page 14
NEWS
WHAT IS THE FUTURE FOR THE RECOVE
In order to approach this subject
we should look at both sides of
the coin; not just recovering
EV’s but also owning EV
recovery trucks and how that
will affect the dynamics of our
industry.
As well as forecasting an increase
of costs, I’ll present an argument
that could predict the demise of
the synonymous 3.5t beavertail
brigade.
Over the last 18 months, AVRO
have been contributing to top level
discussions with Government
Agencies,
The
Emergency
Services and The Faraday
Institute in our role to represent
the recovery industry.
Baroness Vere, The Parliamentary
Under Secretary of State at the
Department for Transport ‘was
absolutely astonished’ when she
learned that EV’s stop relatively
quickly when broken down,
presenting another problem on our
roadways. We corresponded with
Baroness Vere and she acted as a
tonic to move the EV conversation
along, but in real terms, amongst
Brexit and Covid, we haven’t really
progressed much in that time.
More recently, at the behest of
recovery industry stakeholders,
Highways
England
have
inaugurated an EV sub committee
to focus on all things EV. This is a
step in the right direction so it was
applauded by AVRO, however
we are well behind the game
already as I’ll explain below. To
put it bluntly, the recovery industry
needs
financial
assistance
to invest in equipment and
specific training. We need help
to establish general policy and
procedure that deals with Electric
14
Vehicles (EV). The core recovery
industry is already distressed so
this help needs to come from our
richer partners, such as The HE,
various management, motoring
organisations or direct subsidence
from the government to ensure the
recovery network remains intact.
Alternatively, and my preference,
is for our partners to increase their
support for their recovery partners
and factor in a raise across the
board to help sustain the ailing
network.
The transition to EV’s, and
challenges that come with it, has
already gathered pace, problems
are already ahead of us. Sales
of EV’s are already 1 in 10 of
every car purchased in The UK
and this is expected to increase
exponentially year on year. This
change from combustion to
electric drive is not dissimilar to
the changes experienced over
a century ago, when, over less
than a generation, horsepower
and steam were replaced by the
combustion engine.
This dynamic shift will change how
we operate, what we buy and how
we plan, this transition is epoch
changing.
Let’s first look at the physical
attributes of EV’s and how they
change what we, as recovery
operators, need to consider in the
not too distant future.
WHAT WE PURCHASE
Some of you may be thinking this
conversation doesn’t affect you at
this time. But if you have been in
London recently and consider that
what happens in London generally
reverberates across the country,
then you would understand that
EV’s are becoming common
place, not just with e-cars and
e-bikes, but e-vans and e-trucks
also.
I would ask you to consider the
challenges that we may anticipate
with our purchasing regime.
Presently, unloaded e-trucks
weigh more than unloaded diesel
trucks (due to the presence
of battery packs), an e-truck’s
maximum payload can in turn be
less than an equivalent diesel
model.
By way of an example the Renault
Master diesel can take 1,536kg,
which is 436kg more than the
Renault Master Z.E. electric model.
The Volkswagen e-Transporter,