The very first Fiat E-Ducato van supplied to an end-user in UK has gone into use on the roads of Islington.

The electric Fiat Ducato has been pressed into use within the caretaking operations at the London borough of Islington

The electric van joins the caretaking operations at the London borough and has been specified as a long wheelbase model with the 47kWh battery. This gives it 13m3 of load capacity along with a 139-mile range on the WLTP city cycle.

It’s been supplied through dealer group Motus Commercials, which has been working with the borough for the past three years following a tender exercise, and supports Islington’s ongoing commitment to electric vehicles to combat air pollution.

Other electric vehicles are already in the pipeline, with a number of 4.25t tippers scheduled for delivery by Motus early in the second quarter of 2022. The tippers are being converted by Mackworth, the body building and conversions operations within the Motus Vehicle Solutions business.

Cllr Rowena Champion, Islington Council’s executive member for environment and transport, said: “We’re committed to creating a cleaner, greener, healthier Islington, where toxic air pollution can be a thing of the past.

“Air pollution remains a major public health emergency across London, and the ongoing electrification of Islington’s fleet is a key element of our efforts to make our borough more environmentally-friendly.

“By working with Motus, we have been able to bring in our first electric Ducato van for use by our caretakers which further increases our electric fleet. We will continue to work with Motus to bring more electric, greener, and zero exhaust emissions vehicles to Islington, and we look forward to seeing these vehicles being used in the borough.”

The Fiat E-Ducato has a parallel battery architecture that’s said to be unique and allows the vehicle to continue its journey even in the event of a module failure. The 47kWh and 79kWh batteries come with three and five modules respectively, which are connected in parallel, supporting a ‘Recovery Mode’ as standard.

Other E-Ducato features include the ability to precondition the vehicle to decrease the air conditioning’s impact on the battery, and schedule daily charging to take advantage of lower energy costs.