More electric vehicles have been bought by Bath & North East Somerset Council as it continues to seek to cut carbon emissions and save on fuel costs.
The eight fully electric Nissan Townstar vans will be the first to be added to its highway maintenance fleet and used by street works, public right of way and highway structure inspectors.
The council described the move as an example of action it is taking as part of a its strategy and action plan to tackle the climate emergency.
These include work at its highway maintenance depot in Clutton, where the new electric vehicles will be based.
The redevelopment included installing electric vehicle charging points as well as demolishing the existing office and building a new one with energy-efficient windows, lighting and a heating and cooling system that retains up to 70% of the building’s heat.
Other work included installing a 3,000-litre fuel tank and 10,000-litre water tank which refills overnight, so reducing the number of deliveries needed and increasing productivity of the council’s gritting and cleansing vehicle fleets.
In total the redevelopment has resulted in a 89% reduction in carbon emissions.
Transport is a priority area for the council in its aim to achieve carbon neutral status by 2030, including reducing emissions from its operational fleet of vehicles through staff training in fuel-efficient driving and replacing smaller vehicles with electric vehicles.
Council cabinet member for transport, Cllr Manda Rigby, said: “We’re excited to introduce our first electric vehicles into our highways fleet.
“These new vans will lower our fuel usage and carbon emissions significantly and support our action plan to tackle the climate emergency as we strive to become a net zero council.
“These new vehicles will help our inspectors service Bath & North East Somerset sustainably for the foreseeable future.”
The council hopes these vehicles will remain in service for 10 years, similar to the previous fleet of vehicles which were acquired in 2014.
Most of the vehicles now used by the council are electric Nissan Townstars, with the rest of the fleet being 4×4 Isuzu D-Max’s, pictured above.
