Head-on Electrical charges ahead with zero-emission vans

Hull-based Head-on Electrical has taken a positive stride towards switching its entire van fleet to clean, green battery power – courtesy of Mercedes-Benz specialist Northside Truck & Van Ltd.

The successful contractor runs a fleet of 12 vans, each racked to carry tools, cabling and other components used by its electricians to take on assignments for a wide range of commercial and domestic clients across the city and beyond – including the installation of electric vehicle recharging points.

Head-on Electrical was established in 2009 by brothers Tony and James Fethon and now employs a team of 35 colleagues, who work across Hull and the East of Yorkshire. The company boasts accreditation from the National Inspection Council for Electrical Installation Contracting (NICEIC) and offers a range of services, from issuing Electrical Safety Certificates to partial and full rewires for domestic and commercial properties of any size, and providing electric vehicle charging points as an approved installer for the EV Chargers UK brand. Head-on is proud to be ‘big enough to cope, small enough to care’, and places top-quality customer service at the heart of its business.

Tony Fethon said: “Given that an increasing amount of our work is in the provision of charging infrastructure to help customers switch over to electric vehicles, it makes obvious sense for us to be running batterypowered vans on our own fleet.

“This Mercedes-Benz eVito is the first of many, and is already proving to be a great mobile advertisement for our company as well as a highly effective and efficient performer.”

Tony added: “Moving to electric transportation will be a major step forward in our strategic goal to reduce the impact of our activities on the local environment as much as possible and make the company as sustainable as it can be – we see this as part of our responsibility to care for the community in which we all live and work.”

The keys to the first eVito were handed to Senior Electrician Paul Sinclair. “I’d never driven an electric vehicle before but making the transition was no problem at all,” he observed. “Our local retailer gave me a thorough introduction to all the controls and functions, and it felt like second nature in no time at all. Now I love driving the eVito – it’s much smoother and quieter than a diesel van, and with full torque available from a standstill the performance feels effortless.”

The L2 long-bodied eVito was supplied in showroom condition, was actually a used vehicle – albeit with just 500 miles on the clock.

“The availability of a used model made this green option even more accessible,” recalled Tony Fethon. “Like any operator we’re keen to keep our total cost of vehicle operation as low as possible. The two-year ServiceCare package means running costs will be easily predictable, and our own charging point supported by a solar panel helps to minimise topping-up costs – all of which means the eVito makes financial as well as environmental sense. Now we’re looking forward to adding more, as soon as possible.”