Councils begin to decarbonise Fleet with delivery of new Electric Vans

South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse district councils have taken delivery of two new electric vans as they start to decarbonise their fleet of maintenance vehicles.

The all-electric Renault Kangoo vans, which were delivered at the start of autumn, will be used by the parks team and the public toilet cleaning team to travel throughout both districts, as the teams conduct inspections, perform cleaning and maintenance work, and make deliveries to various sites.

These electric vehicles (EVs) will replace petrol and diesel vans, making a significant impact on reducing the councils’ carbon emissions – it is estimated each van has saved 475.25kg of carbon dioxide equivalent in the first two months of use.

Their arrival is the beginning of a broader plan by the councils to fully convert the 12-strong fleet of maintenance vehicles used by the facilities, toilet cleaning, and parks teams to electric vans within the next three years.

Cllr David Rouane, leader of South Oxfordshire District Council and climate lead, said: “Our staff cover a large part of Oxfordshire, from Faringdon in the west to Thame in the east, and from Wheatley in the north down to Henley in the south. This results in a significant amount of mileage, which can have a considerable environmental impact.

“With the introduction of these new electric vehicles, we’re taking an important step towards reducing that impact. They’ll help reduce emissions and give our staff a cleaner, greener way to get around, which is great for everyone – the staff, the environment, and the community.”

Cllr Bethia Thomas, leader of Vale of White Horse District Council and climate lead, said: “These new electric vehicles are just the beginning of a much larger commitment to sustainability. Over the next two years, we plan to electrify the remainder of the maintenance fleet.

“Additionally, the work we’re doing to decarbonise our leisure centres will result in a significant reduction in the greenhouse gases the council produces. We are also proud to be using 100 per cent renewable electricity for the majority of our buildings. Together, these actions will greatly reduce the council’s carbon emissions.”

Parks officer, Richard Embling, who uses one of the new EVs every day, said: “I have been driving it for around two months and have already covered more than 1,800 miles.

“Having an EV is not as difficult as I imagined, in fact, it’s easy to drive since it’s just like an automatic. I just have to remember to use the clutch when driving my own car!

“Charging is straightforward, as most of the areas I visit are in towns where we’ve installed chargers in council car parks*. I tend to top up when I can, during a lunchbreak or when a work visit is nearby, rather than waiting until I have only 50 miles left, as that would mean a much longer charging time.

“The range is decent, between 130 to 160 miles on a full ‘tank’ depending on the weather and the load I have onboard. This means I could go about three days without charging and still have some range left.”

Notes to editors

*There are 10 council-run car parks across both districts which have more than 120 EV charging points. See Park and Charge page.