Lancashire County Council has announced an investment of almost £3m in new EVs and charging points.
The first service to go electric will be the council’s parking enforcement team, which will be kitted out with 12 new vehicles to minimise the emissions produced.
This follows trials led by the council’s fleet services team to work out which service areas are best placed to adopt EVs. The team recently took delivery of three electric vans that are being ‘loaned out’ to other teams across the authority as part of an ongoing pilot.
Work will also get underway to install charging infrastructure at the offices and depots where the vehicles are based, and where they regularly visit, following a decision by the council’s cabinet this week.
Councillor Shaun Turner, cabinet member for environment and climate change, Lancashire County Council, said: “We’re committed to reducing the carbon emissions produced by the council’s services to net zero, and adopting electric and other zero-emissions vehicles will play a big part in achieving this.
“Investing in the charging infrastructure at our depots and offices to support them will also leave us well-placed to expand our use of electric vehicles in the future.”
The cabinet report outlined that the council’s highways service is expected to be an early adopter of EVs and highways depots will be considered as the next area for charging points to be installed.
The cabinet’s decision will see a budget of £1.98m established to invest in EVs and a further £1m to install charging infrastructure.
