Council confirms using diesel generators to charge electric bin lorries
A council authority has confirmed using diesel generators to charge electric vehicles within its fleet of bin lorries.
Cardiff Council has been using Dennis Eagle eCollect electric waste collection vehicles since 2021 to help transition its fleet away from diesel and to aid its mission to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2030.
An anonymous source recently came forward and made a BBC funded national news service aware of photographs showing a council electric waste collection vehicle being recharged by a large diesel generator at one of its depots.
Cardiff Council said it has been using diesel generators as a temporary measure to mitigate a fault between new vehicles and the electric chargers at Lamby Way.
A Cardiff Council spokesperson said: “For some time, the council has been transitioning away from diesel vehicles towards electric and we currently have 12 electric vehicles in our fleet.
“The council has infrastructure at Lamby Way Depot to charge electric vehicles.
“This equipment charges the smaller vehicles without any issue, but a software problem between these electric chargers and the new electric Dennis Eagle RCV vehicles, causes the system to ‘trip’.
“To mitigate this, the council does have portable diesel generators onsite which are being used on a temporary basis when issues occur.
“This is being used while we wait for portable electrical chargers, which are engineered by the vehicle manufacturer – Denis Eagle – to be installed.”
Cardiff Council’s One Planet Cardiff strategy, which sets out the local authority’s plans to become carbon neutral by 2030, was approved in October 2021.
As part of its plans to reduce carbon emissions, the authority said it will look to move its fleet away from diesel-powered vehicles to electric and other clean-fuel vehicles.
Cardiff Council’s cabinet approved the phased purchasing of a new waste and recycling collection fleet over a two year period in March 2021.
The council ordered five Dennis Eagle eCollect vehicles in June 2021 after its first went into service in April 2021.
By: Ted Peskett, BBC Local Democracy Reporter
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