New fleet addition powers service forward

A new addition to Denbighshire County Council’s Fleet is helping drive the service forward.

Council fleet officers have procured a Kia PV5 electric van which will become an integral part of reducing carbon emissions at the Bodelwyddan Fleet Depot.

The van ( funded with assistance from the Welsh Government Energy Service)and with a range of 258 mile, will be used for day-to-day fleet support operations. However, when not in use the Kia PV5 will perform a different support role to the service.

Once parked up at the depot, the electric battery powered vehicle will be connected to the depot’s Vehicle 2 Volume Energy Yield charging point a project that was led by engineering company Hangar19 in partnership with CrowdCharge and DriveElectric.

The charger uses alternating current (AC), rather than the usual direct current (DC). This introduces bi-directional charging, enabling EVs such as the Kia PV5 to both take power from the electricity grid and send power back to it.

Connecting the new fleet addition to this innovative charger will help support less power usage and savings by the depot resulting in a lower carbon footprint for the site.

Martin Griffiths, fleet mobility lead officer at Denbighshire County Council, said: "Its great to incorporate the Kia PV5, which was procured as part of our commitments to reducing the number of fossil fuel vehicles, into this vehicle to grid charging system.

“This initiative, linked with recently installed solar and storage batteries at the fleet depot, gives us the potential to reduce reliance on the grid system even further.”

Councillor James Elson, Lead Member for Environment and Transport added: “As part of our Climate Emergency declared in 2019, we remain committed to reducing the number of fossil fuel vehicles across our fleet and replacing with EV powered ones when appropriate through funding grants or end of vehicle life replacements.

“This allows us to reduce our long-term running and maintenance cost, lower our carbon footprint and importantly reduce reliance on petrol and diesel supplies. Bringing in the Kia PV5 van to link to this smart charging system allows us to drive forward this commitment at Fleet Services.”