Auto Express – August 20, 2019

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk

DRIVERS

20 SpecialIssue

ICE-CREAMvansmightbeintrinsicallylinkedto
thetraditionalBritishsummer,buttheyposeavery
modernissue.Almostallthemarepoweredbydiesel
enginesandmanyareyears,ifnotdecades,old.
Withanewicecreamvancostingupwardsof
£60,000,it’snosurprisethatmanyoperatorschoose
tobuysecond-hand.Unfortunately,thismeanssome
oftheestimated5,000ice-creamvansdoingthe
roundsattheparks,summerfairsandbeachesin
theUKarefittedwithenginesthataresomeway
offwhatyoucoulddescribeasclean.
Howpollutingarethey?Theansweristhatinmany
cases,wesimplydon’tknow.Plentyofice-creamvans
predateemission-cuttingtechnologysuchasselective
catalyticreduction,whichsquirtsAdBlueintotheir
exhaustsystemtocutnitrogenoxideemissions.And
fewwillfeaturelonger-standingsystemslikediesel
particulatefilters,whichcatchmicroscopicpiecesofsoot
andpreventthesefrombeinginhaled.Indeed,manyof
thesevansaresooldtheycomefromatimewhenthere
werenorequirementstoevenrecordtheparticulate,
NOxandcarbondioxide(CO 2 )emissionstheyproduce.
Andit’snotjustwhenthey’reontheroadthatthese
oldervanspresentaproblem.Unlesstheywerebuilt
(orretrofitted)withspecialisttech,vansmustkeep
theirenginesrunningtopowerthefreezercompressors,
sothefrozendelightsdon’tmeltandthesoft-scoop
machinecanplyitstrade.Queuingcustomers,therefore,
areoftentreatedtoanextratoppingofolddieselfumes
alongwiththeirstrawberrysauceandsprinkles.
Withchildrenespeciallypartialtoa99Flake,and
unfiltereddieselemissionsknowntohaveasignificant
impactonyoungpeople’slungs,thesevansmaybe
symbolsoffunandchildhood,buttheyhavealess
obvious–andlesspalatable–sidetotheirnature.

NissanservesupaFeast
Fortunately,oneofthebiggestplayersintheelectriccar
gamehasapossiblesolutiontothishiddenproblem
Nissanhascreatedaconceptice-creamvanversion
ofitsprovenelectrice-NV200,onsalesince2014.
CreatedwithicecreamproducerMackie’sof
Scotland,Nissan’screationlookslikeastandard
e-NV200oninitialinspection,butthisissomething
ofatricked-outvan.Aswellasthegiveawayside
hatchforserving,Nissanhasaddedwhatitcallsan
‘EnergyRoam’system.Thiscomprisesasetofsolar
panelsthatchargea1.4kWlithium-ionbatterythat
runsthesoft-serveicecreammachine,fridgeand
freezerthatarefundamentaltoanicecreamvan’slife.
Thecellsattheheartofthesystemarerecovered
fromoldNissanLeafs,andtheyrunindependentlyfrom
themainbatterythatpowersthevan’selectricmotorfor
arangeof124miles.TheEnergyRoamcanberecharged
quickly,too:afullchargefromtheroof-mountedsolar
panelstakesaroundtwotofourhours,whileastandard
230vplugshrinksthattimetoonehour.Oncecharged,
thebatterieswillrunthevanforuptothreehours.
TheRoampackagewillgointoproductionlaterin
theyear,offeringanall-in-one,weatherproofpower
packforbusinessesandprivatecustomers.
Aswellasbeingzero-emission,theconcepte-NV200
isdifferentfromatraditionalicecreamvaninanumber
ofways.First,thevendorstandsoutsideratherthan
insidetoservecustomers,withpaymentsbeingmade
bycashorviacontactlessbankcardandsmartphones.
Second,theicecreamvanjinglehasbeenreplaced
withasmartbuttonthatsendsoutnotificationson

INSIDE STORY

Tackling the motoring issues that matter

BenHodges

[email protected]

@BenSVHodges

The average icecreamvanusesadiesel

engine thatkicksout fumes asfamilies

queue fortheir lollies.We tried out Nissan’s

solution, which has the problem licked