The two 26-tonne Renault Trucks E-Tech D Wides are the first Renault Trucks to join the council’s 150-strong fleet and are expected to cut emissions by 60% compared with the diesel vehicles they replace.
Supplied by RH Commercial Vehicles (RHCV), the electric RCVs – named Usain Volt and Electric Boogaloo – also feature CP Davidson Titan refuse bodies and are equipped with Renault Trucks’ low-entry cab.
The procurement process was undertaken by Aragon Direct Services, Peterborough’s Local Authority Trading Company (LATCO), which manages the council’s environmental services.
The new trucks will initially work on garden waste collections and will be trialled on other waste streams in the coming months. Collections are transferred to Peterborough’s Energy from Waste plant at Fengate, where 85,000 tonnes of residential waste can be converted into electricity to power 16,000 homes.
Peterborough City Council’s two eRCVs are the first Renault Trucks in the UK to be fitted with four 94kW battery packs, which offer up to 40% more capacity. The new vehicles are expected to cover 120km and up to 1,300 bin lifts per day, over a 10-hour shift.
Ian Spence, Director of Operations at Peterborough Limited, of which Aragon Direct Services is part, said: ‘These new Renault Trucks E-Tech eRCVs are the first step to a greener fleet for Peterborough City Council, delivering for our residents almost silently with zero tailpipe emissions. As we transition to a decarbonised fleet, our vehicles need to keep up with the demands of our operation, and the increased capacity of the Renault Trucks 94kW batteries makes the difference.’
Cllr Nigel Simons, Peterborough City Council’s cabinet member for Infrastructure, Environment and Climate Change, commented: ‘We are fully committed to reducing carbon emissions in everything that we do as a council and these new electric vehicles will play a key role in this. Residents may notice the new vehicles by how quiet they are. It’s fantastic to have them in our fleet and we look forward to monitoring their progress over the coming months.’
If this article was of interest, then check out our interview with Andrew Scott, head of Electric Mobility at Renault Trucks.
