The Labour led Exeter City Council has been trying out an electric powered waste collection and compacting vehicle as part of the Council’s core objective of a carbon neutral city by 2030.

The Waste Operations team took delivery of the vehicle on a short loan and it is been being trialled on a variety of rounds in Exeter looking at the vehicle’s size, manouevrability and other operational aspects.

Cllr David Harvey, Lead Councillor for City Management, said the Council was assessing the viability of moving its fleet of diesel-powered recycling and rubbish collection trucks over to more sustainable and environmentally friendly energy sources.

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Below is a link to the Exeter City Council’s YouTube video.

Powering a fleet of vehicles of this size alongside the electric fleet the council already uses will require a significant recharging capacity, but this will be supported, in part by existing solar power generation and further by the new solar farm being developed.

When complete the Council’s solar farm in Marsh Barton which will create 1.2MW of clean, green energy.  The farm will feature a substantial battery storage capacity to provide flexibility between peak generation and peak usage, and will be able to power the Council’s fleet of vehicles. The City Council already has substantial solar panel arrays across its buildings generating more than 2MW, including a 1.5MW solar installation on the Livestock Centre.

The Labour led Exeter City Council began electrifying its fleet some time ago and continues to replace its fleet with electric vehicles.  Finding green alternatives to the extremely heavy refuse collection and compacting vehicles has been challenging but if successful this trial may enable the Council to take the next significant step.