UK LCV Manufacturer of the Year for Ireland’s Harris Group

One of Ireland’s most established vehicle distributors, the Harris Group, picked up a prestigious ‘LCV Manufacturer of the Year’ award as this week’s Green Fleet Awards 2018 in the UK. The company was recognised for its zero-emission LDV EV80 range. LDV was relaunched in the UK and Irish markets in 2016 by The Harris Group.

The UK’s Green Fleet Awards, now in their 14th year, recognise the efforts of the automotive industry towards fleet sustainability and the drive towards ultra-low emission transport.

The company celebrated the win at the awards ceremony at Leeds United’s home ground Elland Road Stadium this month where LDV emerged as overall winner in a stiffly-contested category with other brands shortlisted including Renault, Nissan, Ford, Iveco and Peugeot.

LDV’s EV80 is the first of a new generation of cleaner, alternative fuel vehicles. Manufactured by SAIC, the largest automotive company in China, the EV80 is ideal for both city driving and short journeys and is the first of LDV’s zero emissions models boasting a 192 KM range on a single charge.

Mark Barrett, General Manager, LDV UK & Ireland said, “We are proud to be among those leading the charge with a range of vehicles that is revolutionising the market and this award reinforces for us that we are one of the first to bring an electric vehicle of such calibre to the Irish market.

“The EV80 has already become the van of choice for many environmentally-conscious drivers.”

LDV’s EV80 is being trialled by market-leading companies including IKEA, Royal Mail in the UK, Northern Gas Networks and National Grid.

“Their choice of the EV80 is testament to the power, range, value-for-money, spec and comfort of our flagship EV,” Mark added.

This is one of many recent awards for the EV80 in both Ireland and the UK.

The future is exciting for LDV as the company plans to launch a new model or variant every three months through to 2020, with a commitment and focus to introducing more EVs to the market offering more choice in this category. This includes an all-new version of the flagship V80 with an all-electric variant, up to 5-tonne GVW.

The company is also planning for the launch of a plug-in hybrid, hybrid and hydrogen fuel cell propelled EV80 variant.