Electric bin lorry trial to continue to October

An ongoing trial of an electric refuse collection vehicle (eRCV) by Orkney Islands Council is set to continue into October this year.

The trial is part of the Rural Energy Hubs Initiative, funded by the UK Government.

The project is enabling the Council to better understand how an electric version of the existing, conventional diesel vehicles can perform on local routes, as well as improving and future-proofing existing facilities. 

This initiative is fully funded by Innovate UK, covering the lease of the vehicle, charging equipment, and associated civil and electrical works - at a total cost of £277,000.

The eRCV arrived earlier this year and, following operator and mechanical familiarisation and training, has been used by crews on both trade and domestic routes.

During the trial to date the eRCV has completed distances of up to 190km in a single day, including travelling to Burwick and Birsay from Kirkwall.

A 160kw rapid charger installed as part of the trial enhances the route options, charging the vehicle from 50% to 75% during the crew’s morning break and then from 40% to 100% during their lunch break.

The Rural Energy Hubs project takes a place-based approach to overcoming non-technical barriers to accelerate decarbonisation and is one of seven projects selected from across the UK for Innovate UK's £25 million Net Zero Living programme.

The Council’s Corporate Director of Neighbourhood Services and Organisational Development, Hayley Green, said: “Whilst the eRCV operates in much the same way as the existing vehicles, there are the additional benefits in terms of helping our carbon footprint but also to our crews operating the vehicle with reduced noise and emissions.

“The vehicle’s operability is being assessed with data on range, performance and costs being collected and analysed. The trial will run until October this year.

“Feedback from the crews so far is that they have found the vehicle quiet and easy to drive.  They have developed a good understanding of when charging is required and have been able to adapt accordingly.    

“As expected, widespread use of this, or similar types of vehicles across Orkney would require charging infrastructure to be developed and implemented for it to become a long term and practical solution.”

Chair of the Council’s Development and Infrastructure Committee, Councillor Kristopher Leask, said: “This is a great opportunity to trial a greener option for collecting our waste and recycling at no cost to the Council. The fully funded project has also seen the installation of charging infrastructure at our operational base which will support moving to a partial electric fleet if the trial proves to be successful and that is desired by the Council.”