The two new Nissan E-NV200 battery-powered electric vans will be used by the council’s parking services team as they patrol and manage 42 car parks scattered around the city.

They replace two older diesel-powered vans and will be charged using electric charging points already fitted in council car parks.

The council declared a climate emergency in 2019 and has made a commitment to be net carbon neutral by 2028. The council endorsed an action plan last year setting out the steps it will take to meet the ambitious 2028 target.

The council has around 450 vehicles in its fleet, which are currently responsible for emitting 2,500 tonnes of harmful carbon dioxide into the environment each year. This is around 25% of the council’s total emissions.

Cllr Steve Evans, City of Wolverhampton Council’s cabinet member for city environment and climate change, said: ‘Our parking attendants are driving right across the city every day patrolling 42 car parks and now they can do so knowing they won’t be polluting the atmosphere.’

‘Replacing the fleet is a big task, it isn’t just getting the vehicles, but also putting the infrastructure in place to be able to charge them and maintain them,’ he continued.

‘A huge amount of work is going behind the scenes to make this happen as quickly as possible and it won’t be long before residents start to see many more of our vehicles with zero or ultra-low emissions.

‘We will also be creating a brand new fleet depot containing all the of the infrastructure we need to be able to run an electric fleet, so these are exciting times as we literally drive forward our green agenda.’