Agenda item

Report to follow

Matt Elmer, Head of Cleansing Services introduced the report and made the following points:

·  This report proposed the planned purchase of six new 7.5 tonne Caged Tipper vehicles. These vehicles formed 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, our 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 through 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 the assessment for the required vehicle range were done;

·  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 to make adjustments from £480k to £590k in total. This was subject to Cabinet’s approval of the recommendations in the report. This reprofiling of funding would be managed within the existing approved 2024/25 budget. There was therefore no extra funding hat would be required;

·  The process of assessing how best to increase the capacity of the power supply to the depot had been started. This would include assessing solutions for the short, medium to long term period and how this could be incorporated into the developments at Manston Road;

·  The Council had recently been investigating the use of Hydro treated Vegetable Oil (HVO) which was a bio-based fuel that was a low carbon alternative to standard white diesel. Due to the way it was produced, this type of diesel reduced 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. This would therefore not affect warranties. Annex 2 of the report provided more detail on this work and a proposed trial using selected vehicles from the existing fleet.

Members asked questions and made comments as follows:

·  One Member asked what HVO fuel the Council would be trialling;

·  Another member said that this was broadly a good compromise. They further asked the replacement of diesel fleet would be partial or for the entire fleet;

·  A member asked whether officers were confident that HVO fuel use would be a success and whether EV infrastructure would in the meantime continue to be set up on council properties;

·  They further asked if there were any funding opportunities from government;

·  The Port of London Authority would have a lot of information on HVO use and performance as they had been using these fuels for a whole;

·  They also said that hybrid engines were an intermediate approach and the range for these vehicles were unlimited;

·  One member asked whether the Council had put in place extra caution for fire protocol for electric vehicles at depots.

Matt Elmer and Mike Humber responded as follows:

·  The HVO fuel being used for trials was second generation;

·  A mixed approach to the procurement of new vehicles was the best way forward;

·  There were other councils around the country that were also trialling HVO fuels;

·  TDC was getting the electric vehicles from the same company that also supplied the Council with diesel engine vehicles;

·  Officers were now reviewing EVF infrastructure and would be setting up the right balance to accommodate new EVs;

·  The hybrid market for 7.5-tonne trucks was very small. However the 3-tonne market was much better;

·  Extra caution measures had been put in place to minimise the risk of fires related to EVs. This included ensuring that appropriate gaps were left between parked EVs at the depot. A protocol was in place as this was an insurance requirement.

The Panel noted the report.