Council's 'disappointment' as EV trial fails

A council has announced plans to replace its "ageing" bin lorries with a new fleet of diesel vehicles after attempts to go electric were unsuccessful.

Wakefield Council began trialling an electric rubbish collection vehicle four years ago as part of efforts to become a carbon neutral authority.

But Lou Redpath, the council's service director for environmental services, told a meeting that manufacturers had been unable to find "anything sustainable enough" to allow the council to switch to an electric fleet long-term.

Members of the council's environment scrutiny committee described the move as "disappointing", especially during the ongoing global fuel shortage.

The council declared a climate emergency in May 2019 and pledged to be fully carbon neutral by 2030.

In 2022, senior councillors agreed to spend £4.9m to introduce zero-emission battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and an additional £1m on charging infrastructure.

At the time, a report said about 12% of the authority's greenhouse gas emissions were produced by its fleet of 1,100 cars, vans and other equipment.

The document also said bin wagons and gritters would continue to use diesel due to "uncertainties with technology and performance" of larger vehicles, but pledged to keep trialling an electric refuse vehicle.

Ms Redpath added that current depot infrastructure also made it difficult to install charging points for electric vehicles.

She said: "We haven't found anything successful yet but we aren't going to give up on this."

Committee member Catherine Porritt said it was "a disappointment" that the new fleet of vehicles would be run on diesel.

"Given the fuel crisis that we have now, that is a big concern."

But Mr Redpath said it was important to replace the current refuse collection vehicles as soon as possible.

Ms Redpath said: "We now have a very ageing fleet of refuse collection vehicles that causes us lots of issues in terms of trying to source parts for them, as well as keeping them on the road."

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