Home » 20% of Merthyr Tydfil council vehicle fleet now electric, report reveals

20% of Merthyr Tydfil council vehicle fleet now electric, report reveals

Merthyr Tydfil Council

A FIFTH of Merthyr Tydfil council’s vehicle fleet is made up of electric vehicles, figures show.

A report to the council’s neighbourhood services, countryside and planning scrutiny committee on Monday, January 20, says the council operates 19 electric vehicles under 3.5 tonnes, three electric vehicles of 12.5 tonnes and two electric vehicle tractors, which totals 24 out of 120 vehicles (20%).

The report said the council is in a good position as the lease on approximately 60 vehicles under 3.5 tonnes will end this year, so it could replace them with electric vehicles, taking the total to 97%.

But it said that may not be cost effective as electric vehicles are around 65% more expensive compared to diesel vehicles when the authority hires them.

The council has learned the vehicles under 7.5 tonnes can be replaced with electric vehicles without causing any operational issues and after they start using them, the feedback from the drivers is mainly positive.

The report said the council had also learned the vehicles over 7.5 tonnes operating in waste to collect recycling are not as efficient as the diesel vehicles and in future, the council should try them for longer periods before committing to buy them.

The report said the council has sufficient electric vehicle charging infrastructure to charge 74 vehicles at the same time without having to worry about power shortages or charging errors.

All of the chargers are connected to a back-office software which identifies errors and reports them directly to the supplier and they will arrange a site visit within 24 hours.

The report added Merthyr Tydfil council’s fleet is small compared to other councils and it will not be cost-effective long term to purchase all of the vehicles.

The report said the grants available from Welsh Government to change the fleet to electric vehicles are to purchase vehicles outright.

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The council currently hires about 75% of its fleet and is exploring solutions to hire electric vehicles at the same price as diesel ones in the future.

The report said: “Our ambition is to produce, store and use our own energy to power our vehicles, and we are exploring all the opportunities for realistic projects that will offer this option.”

It said in 2021 when the council started the fleet decarbonisation project, having a reliable electric vehicle charging infrastructure was a priority.

But it faced all of the challenges related to the transition to electric vehicles such as insufficient power on sites, no chargers, no knowledge of the vehicles suitable to replace the diesel vehicles, staff opposing the change and no financial reserve to support the transition.

The report said an application for a grant to the energy service in January 2024 was successful and the council was awarded £436,000 with eVoltcharging installing 22 electric vehicle chargers in the rear yard of Unit 5 and eight electric vehicle chargers in the civic centre at the underground car park.

It added the electric vehicle charging infrastructure at Unit 20, Unit 5 and the civic centre is recognised as one of the most successful fleet decarbonisation projects by Cardiff Capital Region and the Welsh Government energy service.

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