Supercharging net zero: the critical role of electrification in local authority fleets
By Warren Engall, Public Sector Marketing Lead
As the new government settles in at Westminster, emissions-reduction objectives remain firmly at the core of the national agenda. More than 300 local councils in England have declared a climate emergency – perhaps an unsurprising fact, given that local authorities can impact more than 80% of carbon emissions produced in their area.
Government figures in October 2023 found that fleet emissions in the UK constitute 10% of the entire nation’s carbon output. And according to CDP research, transport is responsible for up to 20% of scope 3 emissions.
The message is clear: UK public sector fleets have a critical role to play in reducing emissions and meeting net zero targets.
With large vehicle fleets often in urban areas and centres of population, the transition to electric fleets will improve community wellbeing through improved air quality and reduced noise pollution.
Local Authorities are bringing about change with the introduction of local clean air zones and they have a role to play in leading by example with reducing their own emissions.
Local authority fleets
Local authority fleets can include a variety of vehicle types: buses, refuse collection vehicles (RCVs), street cleaning vehicles, community mini-buses, park maintenance and cars used by employees.
Councils have typically already transitioned pool car fleets with EV or hybrid vehicles utilising municipal car park, office site and home charging. This is often followed by smaller electric vans using a few overnight chargers at depots.
The challenges come when scaling to electrify larger vehicles which are typically the highest contributors to emissions, requiring greater vehicle storage space and placing a higher demand on the depot power capacity.
Under constant budgetary pressure to reduce operating costs, local councils have to navigate and prioritise their investments with the cycle of central and local government changes. This can hinder long term multi-year investment planning.
93% of councils surveyed by the Local Government Association in 2023 highlighted insufficient funding or financing packages as the most significant blocker to transition, while 21% specified lack of data as a barrier.
Our VP Finance, Will Evans, says the business-case for fleets stacks up now, with EV fleets delivering better energy efficiency – mile for mile, £ for £ – despite the recent disconnect between electricity- and diesel-prices off the back of geopolitical events.
Electrified bus fleets leading the way
Government funding, such as the ZEBRA scheme, and available vehicle technology have driven bus electrification in the UK. ZEBRA donated £270 million to 16 councils in phase one with an additional £143 million allocated in March of this year, helping to roll-out 955 new zero-emission buses in England.
Bus Case Study – Kent County Council (KCC)
Having declared a climate emergency in 2019, Kent County Council has committed to net zero for its own activities by 2030 and is investing in projects to achieve that goal.
KCC is electrifying its Fastrack Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) supported by £9.5 million of ZEBRA 1 funding. Manufactured by Irizar and operated by Go-Ahead, a 28-strong EV fleet will replace current diesel-powered vehicles. The shift will cover the route encompassing Dartford and Gravesham between November 2024 and April next year.
VEV was appointed to build, manage and maintain the necessary EV fleet charging infrastructure, namely six huge and powerful pantograph chargers which provide opportunity-charging.
This innovative technology enables the buses to charge while out on routes, instead of having to return to depot to charge. Rated at 450kW, the pantographs provide opportunity charging in six minutes while the passengers are boarding.
Read the press release here.
Best practice in the private sector – tourism case study – Tootbus
Since 2021, leading operator of hop-on hop-off bus tours in Bath, London, Paris, and Brussels, Tootbus, has been investing in its green strategy and now prides itself on being the world’s first clean energy sightseeing bus company.
Owned by RATP Dev, Tootbus asked VEV to develop its overall plan for fleet electrification. The initiative includes fully renewable power supply, charging infrastructure, solar-power generation, and smart energy management.
Solar panels at Tootbus’ Wandsworth depot are set to generate 65,000kWh, reducing the demand on the National Grid. Powering 60,000km of bus travel, this will keep one bus on the streets for a full year.
Read the case study here.
Pioneering electrification of refuse & recycling collection-vehicles – eRCVs
Classed as heavy goods vehicles (HGVs), RCVs can emit up to 600g of CO2/km when fully loaded – making them, debatably, among the leading carbon-emitters in council fleets. This makes them prime candidates for fleet electrification, and doing so will be critical for successfully achieving 2030 carbon-reduction objectives.
VEV conducted an eight-week pilot scheme with Serco Group and refuse-vehicle solution provider RVS, to prove the case for eRCVs to reduce the carbon emissions of recycling and refuse collection. The pilot supported the climate emergency objectives of three Hampshire councils.
Two diesel RCVs were refurbished and repowered as electric units by RVS – not only removing diesel vehicles from the fleet, but also facilitating a lower manufacturing carbon output than producing a new EV.
The project saved nearly nine tonnes of emissions just in 8 weeks – the equivalent of removing two cars from the road for an entire year.
Crucially, the pilot successfully proved the business and operational case for the electrification of refuse-collection fleets as a cost-effective solution without additional financial burden on the local population.
The vehicles completed their collection rounds and drivers reported that the electric vehicles performed better. Our modelling showed that the total cost of ownership (TCO) of an eRCV fleet could be up to 14% lower than diesel RCVs with effective optimisation.
Read the report here.
Only one capital cycle away: the urgency of fleets’ zero-emission deadlines
VEV CEO, Mike Nakrani wrote about the urgency that ZEV has injected into the fleet industry. With a typical service-life of seven years, there’s only one capital cycle left before net zero deadlines begin to hit. So procurement decisions need to be made now.
I regularly speak to local councils about their fleet electrification plans and hear that the expertise for transition at scale is not typically available in-house.
This is where VEV comes in – robust and detailed planning at an early stage will reap rewards during implementation and operations. Running an electric fleet requires a digital-first approach to avoid over-investment or inefficiency. Gone are the days of fuel cards and spreadsheets!
Please feel free to contact me for information or to discuss your fleet electrification plans.