Cardiff Council has confirmed it has been using diesel generators to charge some of its electric bin lorries. The local authority has been using Dennis Eagle eCollect electric waste collection vehicles since 2021 to further transition its fleet away from diesel and to aid its mission to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2030.
But an anonymous source made the Local Democracy Reporting Service aware of images showing one of the council's electric waste collection vehicles being charged by a diesel generator. Cardiff Council said it had been using the diesel generators as a temporary measure to mitigate a fault between the new vehicles and the electric chargers at Lamby Way.
A spokesperson for Cardiff Council said: "The council’s waste department is modernising to ensure that both the workforce and the vehicles that are used can deliver an efficient service for residents. For some time, the council has been transitioning away from diesel vehicles towards electric and we currently have 12 electric vehicles in our fleet. You can get more Cardiff news and other story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.
Read more: 'Council remains confident Cardiff can reach net zero target by 2030'
They added: "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 council 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.
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