An innovation by Staffordshire-based Bri-Stor Systems Ltd could save one of its clients an estimated £500,000 of fuel consumption annually.

The UK’s largest converter of lightweight commercial vehicles, Bri-stor is constantly innovating to meet its customers’ bespoke needs.

Based in Hixon, near Stafford, the company has around 250 employees and is part of the Hex Group that was founded more than 40 years ago.

The company’s latest development is a result of a client setting the challenge of powering tyre machines with high energy demands whilst reducing the impact on the environment.

A custom-built prototype vehicle is now delivering the results the customer needs to make significant change across the fleet.

This prototype has been tested and developed over a two-year period with the most recent iteration completing trials to the highest standards in demanding city centre locations including Birmingham and London.

Bri-Stor Systems invested more than £50,000 in purchasing a new vehicle, tyre and air compressor equipment and lithium batteries and then converting the interior to the exact customer specification.

Its pioneering lithium-based solution provides a 10x increase in renewable energy available when compared to the first prototype deployed 18 months earlier, empowering the vehicle to operate all onboard equipment for an entire working day without the engine running.

The prototype was able to deliver a 45% reduction in fuel consumption and CO2, successfully changing more than 200 tyres in a single month without the need to run the engine. This vehicle has now proven the business case for change and, as a result, a number of other large corporate fleet operators in the mobile tyre sector are looking to place orders.

The savings for this particular customer, when averaged across their fleet of almost 300 vehicles, amounts to around £500,000 of fuel consumption and more than 1,000,000 kg of CO2 annually.

A Bri-Stor Systems spokesman said: “Our innovative solution for sustainable energy in the tyre industry is more than a technological leap it’s a testament to our relentless pursuit of excellence.”

Bri-Stor Systems Ltd has entered the Innovation Award category of the Staffordshire University Business Awards.