Plymouth City Council is to splash £11million on new vehicles – with nearly a third being all-electric.
During the next six years a total of 177 vehicles, used in many different departments of the organisation, will be purchased. Of these 54 will be 100% electric cars and vans.
Over the eight-year life-cycle of each vehicle, they will reduce carbon emissions by more than 1,000 tonnes, reduce maintenance costs and improve air quality.
The other 123 vehicles will be made up of specialist motors such skip trucks and tele-handlers and also refuse lorries.
The council stressed the technology is not yet readily available to be able to run its fleet on electric alone.
Some of the vehicles the council needs to keep services running to the required standards simply do not exist in electric form yet. Others that do, don’t yet have the capability to be a viable replacement.
As soon as the technology develops, the authority stressed, it will be considered in the future fleet replacement plan.
The first vehicles in the new programme are expected to be in use by Spring 2020.
This follows a recently announced Climate Emergency Action Plan which seeks to ensure Plymouth is a carbon neutral city by 2030.
Cllr Sue Dann, Cabinet member for Street Scene and the Environment, said: "It is really exciting that so soon after putting our climate emergency plans into action that we are able to announce this major step.
“We’re going to replace fossil fuels with electric wherever we can wherever the technology allows to make sure that as a Council, we are practising what we preach.
“Carbon neutrality won’t come overnight but if we can set an example to others in the city, we hope that they will also follow suit when it comes to their own fleet replacement.”
