Shortage of power points leaves EV refuse trucks ‘hidden’ in yard
ECO-FRIENDLY refuse trucks have been “hidden away” by a council because it does not have any charging points to power them.
The brand new electric vehicles embossed with the City of York’s logo have been photographed sitting idle in a storage yard.
The council invested £8million in replacing its diesel and petrol trucks, used for general litter collection, with more eco-friendly vehicles.
But Cllr Mark Warters labelled the project “farcical” after it was revealed delays with charging infrastructure meant some could not be used.
A council spokesman admitted that construction was “behind schedule” but claimed it was better to purchase the vehicles early owing to inflation.
However, Mr Warters felt bosses had concealed the wagons deliberately.
He said: “There are 25 vehicles out of what’s arrived that haven’t been used yet and are just hidden away because they’re an embarrassment. Basically, they’ve got nowhere to charge them.
“You would have thought there would be satisfactory due diligence carried out before you engage in an £8million procurement project.”
It is understood the council spent about £6.5 million of its procurement budget on new vehicles, while the other £1.5million covered the creation of new charging stations. But Mr Warters, 58, questioned how the project would work in practice, saying council staff would need to keep vehicles at home overnight, where they cannot be charged.
He said: “The wider side of this is, even when they get the charging infrastructure in place, how you actually manage a fleet of vehicles when there are a lot of council workers that will start at 5am or 5.30am in the morning? It’s always been accepted practice that those people take these vehicles home with them. So they’re already questioning how that system would work.”
A spokesman for York council said 13 of its new electric vehicles are in operation, 15 are in the yard in the process of being deployed and 15 are yet to be brought into play.
“Those that are being used are being charged either at the depot or at hyperhubs and public charging points,” he added.
“There are more chargers to go into the depot and this work is under way. This work is behind schedule, partly due to a power outage and works associated with dealing with existing cables at the depot.”