Ernie, long since felled by one of Two-Tonne Ted of Teddington’s rock cakes, may once have driven the fastest milk cart in the west, but even he would have had difficulty keeping up with Ian Beardwell.
A milkman for 28 years, he has just taken delivery of what must surely be the world’s fastest production milk float: the DHL StreetScooter. Weighing 2600kg fully laden, it has a top speed of 53mph compared with his old, 4500kg Unigate float’s 10mph.
“Those old SEV Cabac floats were so slow,” Ian says when I join him early one morning on his south-west London round. “Uncomfortable, too. You’d end your shift with knackered knees and ankles.” His StreetScooter must feel like a Rolls-Royce in comparison. It’s powerful – there’s a Boost mode for extra grunt – and has light but direct power steering. It’s smooth-riding, crossing speed humps without disturbing the bottles stacked behind, and safe, with a rear-view camera for urban U-turns. In short, it’s transformed Ian’s working life.
He’s a big lad but thanks to his driver-friendly StreetScooter Ian can move like a gazelle, leaping from the driver’s seat (conveniently, the StreetScooter is a left-hooker) to slide open the van’s lightweight side door, grab the next order, hurry to the customer’s front door to make the drop and collect the empties and hop back in. It’s a high-energy routine he repeats 300 times a day (he has 650 customers but not everyone has a daily delivery), starting at one in the morning and finishing at seven. “I’m one very happy milkman,” he says, his eyes shining.
It’s the little things that excite him. Such as the fact that the StreetScooter’s figure-hugging driver’s seat is heated but the squab has no raised edge on the pavement side, so he can slide in and out easily. Or the way the vehicle locks automatically when he’s more than five metres away from it with the remote fob (there’s no key) in his pocket, and unlocks as he returns. And the way that if he forgets to put the handbrake on, parking pins shoot out automatically to lock the wheels. And the windscreen not only has washer jets but is also heated. “When we had the Beast from the East, temperatures were down to minus 15deg C but my windscreen was clear in a couple of minutes,” he says.
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I don't see them claiming it
I don't see them claiming it was their idea - I just see them getting on with it while we whine about the past.
Why has it taken 50 years to prove electric milkfloats were best
Its taken over 50 years only to prove that the original electric milk float was simply a great vehicle for inner cities & short runs.
But again it's another German company that's trying to convince us that it was there idea first.
I'm Birmingham born and bred
(I'm assuming you're British.) I've seen Rover and Leyland DAF go belly up, and now I get to watch as my fellow Brits run the risk of Jaguar Land Rover going under due to the idiotic pursuit of "taking back control". The privatisation of Royal Mail is a bizarre joke in comparison with the privatisation of Deutsche Post. Our current opposition party, the only party that could possibly change the status quo due to our idiotic FPTP electoral system, seem to think that giving lots more power to our industry destroying unions will somehow save the economy. Against this background of utter embarrassment for my country, I read your impotent unhinged potshot alleging that Germany is trying to convince people the electric milkfloat was their idea first...that's the key thing you took from this piece?
Jaguar Land Rover going under, again?
I saw Rover and Leyland DAF go belly up too, was that due to BREXIT?
" idiotic FPTP electoral system" :- you lost that people's vote too
Nothing to do with Brexit
From a historical Rover/LDV perspective, we're perfectly capable of decimating our car industry even with JIT supply chains enabled by frictionless trade at the borders.
I see the warm feeling you get from from your referendum "wins" allows you to happily block out the warnings from JLR (don't forget the iPace is being built in Slovakia) and the fact that the German postal service appears to be better at manufacturing vehicles than the British owned motor industry.
The most important this is that you keep winning though, so well done.
When
When you included the famous line " idiotic pursuit of "taking back control"".
Read the sentence again
You appear to find it difficult to understand sentences that include commas. Brexit poses a risk to JLR. Brexit does not pose a risk to Rover or LDV because both of those companies went belly up years ago. I raised these concepts in respect of an article about a vehicle company owned by Deutsche Post and an irrational below-the-line comment from somebody complaining that Germany was somehow passing of the electric milkfloat as their own idea. I responded with some broader opinions about the past, present and future state of British owned vehicle manufacturers. These concepts are not complicated.
Nothing to do with Brexit
From a historical Rover/LDV perspective, we're perfectly capable of decimating our car industry even with JIT supply chains enabled by frictionless trade at the borders.
I see the warm feeling you get from from your referendum "wins" allows you to happily block out the warnings from JLR (don't forget the iPace is being built in Slovakia) and the fact that the German postal service appears to be better at manufacturing vehicles than the British owned motor industry.
The most important this is that you keep winning though, so well done.
Why has it taken 50 years to prove electric milkfloats were best
Its taken over 50 years only to prove that the original electric milk float was simply a great vehicle for inner cities & short runs.
But again it's another German company that's trying to convince us that it was there idea first.
jagdavey wrote:
Where did you read in the article that they were trying to convince us of anything of the sort? I certainly can't see it anywhere.