Denbighshire County Council’s Electric fleet has motored up thousands of miles since COP26 in Glasgow.
Since the
climate summit on UK soil a year ago, the current 31 electric fleet
vehicles, which are used across multiple services, have recorded 142,377 miles
of green travel.
That’s the
equivalent to almost six times around the world or even thirteen trips from
Ruthin to Sydney, Australia.
Denbighshire
County Council declared a Climate Change and Ecological Emergency in July 2019
and committed to seeking to become a Net Carbon Zero and Ecologically Positive
Council by 2030.
A part of this work is growing the number of non-fossil fuel vehicles used by the Council.
Examples of these currently in use are taxis, an electric mini bus used in the
Ruthin area, a mobile observatory van and EV ATV used by countryside staff, EV
vans used for goods transport by different services and EV cars supporting
social services staff.
The Council
has also expanded the number of fleet chargers since COP26 to 37 dedicated
charging ports currently utilised exclusively by fleet vehicles.
These have
delivered 35,084kwh to support staff use of fleet vehicles
During the
summer two 50kwh rapid public chargers were installed at King’s Avenue car
park, Prestatyn. These have already delivered 21,609kwh of charge during
nearly a 1,000 individual charging sessions.
That’s 64,828
miles provided to electric vehicle drivers, enough for 27 round trips from
Land’s End to John O Groats and back.
Cllr Barry
Mellor, Lead Member for Environment and Transport, said: “We are working hard
to reduce the miles produced by fossil fuels in our county by council staff and
the public to tackle climate change highlighted by COP27.
“The council
is also working very hard to make sure our electric vehicle charging
infrastructure is in place to help us and the public play their part in
tackling climate change. In the months ahead we have 66 public located charging
points that will come online and very soon, 36 of these will be available at
West Rhyl Kinmel car park.
“We want to
make sure that Denbighshire can support those who wish to transition to an
electric vehicle but who may struggle with no off road parking.”