East Devon council fleet gets greener

Electric vans contribute to carbon-reduction targets

Seven new environmentally friendly electric vans, each with a custom-made caged tipping body, have joined  East Devon District Council's fleet in a drive towards reducing its carbon footprint.

The council is one of the first in the country to use the lower emission Nissan ENV200 vehicles with the modification, which means that the vans can be used to keep parks and public areas in East Devon clean and green. The vans have a range of between 124 and 187 miles.

The council has plans to convert more vehicles to electric in future as it his to be carbon neutral by 2040.

Cllr Marianne Rixson, the district council’s portfolio holder for climate action, said: “I am very encouraged by our greener fleet and I’m excited to see how this area of our work will progress in the future. Each and every one of us faces an enormous environmental challenge and any changes that we can make to reduce our footprint is a positive step forward.”

The council has been using electric vehicles since 2012. Since signing up to the Devon climate change emergency declaration last year and adopting its climate change action plan, all opportunities are now being explored by the council to find ways of converting more of its fleet to lower carbon electric alternatives.

This has included earmarking a fund of more than £100,000 from its climate change budget towards electric vehicles and their associated infrastructure. Over their lifetime the electric vehicles should balance out with lower running costs, and of course more importantly, significantly reduced carbon emissions.

The council has been working with installers of smart electric vehicle charging equipment, Elmtronics, who supplied four smart charging stations in Sidmouth.