Salford City Council have revealed that they have bought a fleet of electric vans in their aim to become carbon neutral.
The council has bought 12 new Renault Kangoo electric vans, which will be used by the pest control team, waste, animal welfare, recycling and fly tipping teams.
But the council have also revealed they have bought a further 15 diesel vans, as replacing all the current ones they have from diesel to electric, will cost too much.
The council will spend £12,456.06 on each of the 15 new diesel vans, with the average lifespan of each van, being just five years.
The installation charge for 15 electric vehicles would be up to £130,000, more than doubling the total capital cost of the fleet upgrade to around £400,000.
It was planned that the council would also replace the old bin wagons with electric or hybrid vehicles, but concluded that this would cost far too much.
Salford City Mayor, Paul Dennett, said it is ‘disappointing’ that the council have bought 15 new diesel vehicles, but agreed finances come first.
He followed, “Covid-19 has had a significant impact on the council’s revenue budget both in terms of loss of income and increased expenditure.
“So I think it’s prudent, certainly in the short-term, for us to be looking how we can save the city council money through initiatives like this.
“I think this is probably the right thing to do in the short-term, but we do need that more medium to long-term strategy for transitioning to an electric or hybrid fleet for the city council.”
Salford City Council revealed last year their plans to be carbon neutral by 2038, with the local authority suggesting that climate change is it’s main priority to sort.
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