Peugeot Expert van cops it at Wroughton show

Peugeot showed off the flexibility of its new Expert van at the recent National Association of Police Fleet Managers (NAPFM) exhibition.

Three versions of the new Expert van were unveiled, all of which have been specially designed to carry out support roles for UK police forces.

A Peugeot Expert Dog Van, Incident Unit complete with telescopic Lighting mast, and a Cell Van that can house two prisoners and five police officers showed what can be done to the panel or Tepee variants.

The new model Expert is now Peugeot’s best selling police vehicle based on the new vehicle’s larger, longer load area, the addition of a higher power HDi 136 diesel engine and its responsive car-like dynamic handling.

“The new Expert is a great proposition for police forces. The overall larger capacity of the vehicle combined with a choice of wheelbases gives forces a chance to be specific with the conversion that meets their needs, and there is a whole host of new modifications with the new Expert that help reduce operational running costs,” said Jon Morton, Fleet Sales Manager, Peugeot Specialist Fleets.

“The new Expert range is more fuel efficient, has a lower insurance group rating and maintenance intervals have been increased to two years and 20,000 miles for all models which also reduces vehicle down time, important when a vehicle is on call 24 hours a day,” he added.

The new Expert has a load volume of 7m3, giving it a longer load area than the Ford Transit Connect LWB model and a greater load volume than both the Ford and Mercedes-Benz Vito LWB models.

“We have received numerous enquiries from the show and the West Midlands force recently ordered 26 Expert Cell vehicles,” said Jon.

The new Expert range is available in 10 versions of panel van and the Tepee, and for the first time in the UK, also available are window vans and floor cabs, aimed specifically at vehicle converters. Powered by three accomplished HDi diesel engines that can also operate on up to 30% biodiesel, the new range includes for the first time on a Peugeot LCV the fitment of a Diesel Particulate Filter System (DPFS), to eradicate particle (soot) emissions.