BRENTWOOD, Essex, July 9, 2009 – Ford has reached a new agreement to add Ford Transit all-wheel-drive models to the National Grid's fleet of over 3,000 Ford vehicles.
The deal confirms the continued supply of Ford commercial vehicles to the gas and electricity business over the next three years.
One of the world's biggest utilities, National Grid has been running Ford vehicles for nine years. It has around 900 long- and short-wheelbase Transit Connect models and, evenly split, 2,000 Transit 280s and 350s.
“The new Transit is more refined and car-like,” said National Grid fleet operations manager Gary Foster. “It’s a very diverse range that offers well-proven reliability, with improved ergonomics and driveability.”
A number of Ford Transit LWB 460s have recently been added to the fleet – along with five of the new all-wheel-drive Transit models, in chassis-cab dropside configuration.
“The AWD Transits have recently entered service,” said Gary. “I have tried them off-road in fairly tough conditions, and they performed very well. The AWD option in the line-up is a great addition for semi-off-road users like National Grid.”
National Grid’s renewed agreement with Ford follows a tendering process that included all European manufacturers covering the utility’s area. National Grid operates the Gas Distribution networks in the central region of England and the Electricity and Gas Transmission systems for the whole of the UK.
Each year its engineers attend 600,000 emergencies and 80,000 gas escapes. Ford Connects and Transit 280s provide a first-response service for gas-leak calls, and are also used for meter-maintenance. The bigger Transits are used for follow-up work involving excavations, mains replacement and electricity maintenance.
The National Grid vehicles, which are purchased outright, are expected to cover up to 18,000 miles a year.
