Rotherham goes electric for council’s vehicle fleet refresh

Rotherham will benefit from a whole new greener fleet of vehicles as the council looks to go electric for a fleet refresh. 

Proposals presented at a meeting this week saw a phased approach to the buying and renting of vehicles which included a commitment to buy 64 new EVs. 

The council is looking to refresh 35% of its 337 strong fleet in the next few years as part of the town’s net zero ambitions for 2030, bolstered by the council’s climate emergency declaration in 2019.

Cllr Dominic Beck, the Cabinet Member for Transport and Environment, said: ‘Refreshing the Council’s fleet with greener, more fuel economic vehicles is just one of the many things we are doing to make Rotherham a net zero borough.’ 

He added that the proposal ‘also compliments other projects such as our commitment to planting more trees and supporting active travel schemes that will bring a wide scope of benefits to residents.’ 

With vehicles in use across 22 of the council’s departments, the new additions to the fleet will be used in a range of services included street cleaning and waste disposal. 

Alongside the new vehicles, the council has also been working to increase the availability of EV charging points across the borough. 

Rotherham was also recently confirmed as one of the 16 new areas to be covered by the governments Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure pilot scheme which will aid the work to install chargepoints. 

Cllr Denise Lelliott, Cabinet Member for Jobs and the Local Economy, said: ‘With electric and hybrid vehicles becoming more widely available in a variety of different types, it is natural that the Council moves to adopt more of these into its fleet.’ 

Rotherham is one of many councils looking to support EV take up both in the wider community and with the council itself as Nottingham recently launched a UK first project looking at the benefit of bi-directional charging with its own fleet of EVs.

Photo by Michael Fousert