Issue - meetings

The replacement of Open Spaces fleet vehicles and equipment a minimum of 7 years old to the value of £1.12 million

Meeting: 24/10/2024 - Cabinet (Item 61)

61 Purchase of Low Emission Caged Vehicles pdf icon PDF 210 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Cabinet discussed proposals for the planned purchase of six new 7.5 tonne Caged Tipper vehicles. These vehicles form part of the rolling vehicle replacement programme and were required to replace equivalent vehicles which had reached the end of their planned working life. In line with the Council’s Net Zero Strategy, the intention was to investigate the possibility of all of the vehicles being electric powered, however a combination of factors meant that a full electric cage fleet was not possible These factors were:

 

  • A very narrow market for EV versions of these vehicles - after extensive research only two suitable vehicles were found with the required range;
  • Cost - the capital cost of purchasing these vehicles is more than twice that of a diesel powered one;
  • Lack of infrastructure - the power supply into the depot is currently insufficient to serve the required high capacity chargers;
  • Actual range - whilst the manufacturers claim that the vehicles in question have the required range, this is yet to be tested on a real working day in Thanet.

 

With these considerations in mind it was decided to recommend purchasing two electric powered tipper vehicles and four 7.5 tonne combustion engined diesel vehicles via a compliant procurement route using funding allocated for that purpose in the 2024/25 vehicle replacement programme. Annex 1 to the report provided more detail on the vehicle research undertaken and how the required vehicle range was assessed.

 

While the electric vehicles would cost more than the £80,000 per vehicle allocated in the rolling vehicle replacement programme, the diesel versions were expected to be less than the provision. However some reprofiling of funds would be necessary, from £480k to £590k in total subject to Cabinet’s approval of the recommendations in the report. That reprofiling of funding could be managed within the existing approved 2024/25 budget. Therefore no extra funding would  be required.

 

The Council had started the process of assessing how best to increase the capacity of the power supply to the depot, assessing solutions for the short/medium/long term and how this could be incorporated into the developments at Manston Road. Separately from the proposed vehicle purchases we have recently been investigating the use of Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) which is a bio-based fuel which is a low carbon alternative to standard white diesel. Due to the way it is produced this type of diesel reduces emissions by up to 90%, in comparison to standard diesel.

 

The price of HVO had come down steadily over the last 18 months to the point where the difference between it and standard diesel was now around 15%. It was fully mixable with normal white diesel and all manufacturers had confirmed the support for its use and would not affect the warranties. Annex 2 of the report provided more detail on this work and a proposed trial using selected vehicles from the existing fleet.

 

Councillor Dawson spoke under Council Procedure Rule 20.1.

 

Councillor Albon proposed, Councillor Duckworth seconded and Cabinet agreed the following:

 

  1. To approve  ...  view the full minutes text for item 61