Scottish Water switches to electric with Renault Kangoo ZE 33

Scottish Water has added a fully electric Renault Kangoo ZE 33 to its fleet.

It’s the first electric vehicle to be used by the business and will be used to determine how it can electrify its entire fleet.

Scottish Water provides drinking water to nearly 2.5 million households across the country. The refrigerated Renault Kangoo ZE 33 will be used to assist with the water sampling undertaken by its Scientific Services team across the Highlands.

As part of the conversion by Bott Ltd, the liveried Kangoo features roof-mounted 150-watt solar panels to power its onboard refrigeration equipment. The panels charge a 200 amp lithium battery, which in turn powers the 140-litre temperature-controlled refrigerator that is required to keep water samples in optimum condition during transportation.

With a real-world range of up to 124 miles (75-99 miles in winter) on a single charge, the Renault Kangoo ZE 33 is able to comfortably accommodate the routes throughout the Highlands that are regularly completed by Scottish Water’s water samplers.

Scottish Water plans to charge the van via 26 charging points that are available at its numerous locations. 

“We have already lowered our carbon footprint by introducing drivers to fuel efficient techniques and awareness coaching, which has seen 10-15 per cent saving in fuel use, but the next big step is to evolve the electrification of our fleet and we believe the Renault Kangoo ZE 33 to be the perfect vehicle for an electric vehicle trial. It’s a very big milestone for us.

“First impressions are already good and our sampling team are enjoying how easy it is to drive, while both vehicles are also performing well in terms of range and being up to the task. Being able to do our part to protect our local environment is upmost to us, but the cost savings we will make on fuel and maintenance will also enable us to invest in other areas that have a direct impact on the customer experience,” said Ross Shepherd, fleet manager at Scottish Water.

The Kangoo ZE 33 has a load capacity of up to 4.6m cubic metres and a payload of up to 640kg. Its enhanced 33kWh battery benefits from an upgraded charger that reduces charging times and is twice as powerful as its previous one.

The Kangoo ZE 33 is priced from £18,392, excluding VAT, after the Plug-in Van Grant.