New electric vehicles and hydrogen refuse truck join council fleet

A council has taken delivery of more than 30 new electric vehicles (EVs) and a hydrogen-powered electric refuse truck.

The new zero-emission vehicles joining St Helens Borough Council's fleet, include six Ford E-Transits, 23 Toyota Proace electric vans and two kerbside electric recycling vehicles.

There is also a hydrogen fuel cell electric refuse collection vehicle – custom made by German manufacturer Faun Zoeller – being deployed by the council as targets achieving net zero by 2040.

Procurement of the vehicles is part of ongoing plan to replace ageing council vehicles with electric and low-emission alternatives.

To facilitate the charging of the new electric vehicles St Helens Borough Council has installed 25 charge points.

Alongside the reduced emissions, the council says that the modernisation of the fleet is helping to increase service resilience and efficiency, with less downtime for repairs and reduced maintenance costs, which had begun to spiral with many vehicles long past their typical replacement cycle.

Councillor Andy Bowden, St Helens Borough Council’s cabinet member for environmental services and climate change, said: “This replacement programme is supporting our services to undertake wider modernisation and provide flexibility for the future.

“It will also ensure that our workforce has access to modern and fit for purpose vehicles and equipment, increasing service efficiency and cutting maintenance costs dramatically.”

He added: “By adopting more electric and hydrogen vehicles we continue our transition to a low carbon fleet in a managed way, taking further significant steps towards our ambitious target of net zero emissions by 2040.”

Photo caption: Council leader Cllr David Baines (centre) and Cllr Andy Bowden (centre right) with senior council officers and some of the new electric vehicles.