Electric bin lorries 'may not have demonstrated value for taxpayers'

CITY WAS FIRST TO BUY THEM - BUT COUNCILLOR SAYS VEHICLES HAVE HAD PROBLEMS WITH CAPACITY, RANGE AND RELIABILITY

- By JOSEPH LOCKER JLocal Democracy Reporter

A SENIOR Nottingham councillor says lessons have been learned after the purchase of electric bin lorries “may not have demonstrated good value for taxpayers”.

In December 2020, Nottingham City Council rolled out two new electric bin lorries in what it described as a “world-first” at the time.

The Labour-led council said it expected the vehicles would save the taxpayer £32,000 per year in running costs and reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the city by 52 tonnes per year.

It also bought the fully electric vehicles to support its ongoing aim to become carbon neutral by 2028.

The authority now owns 20 electric bin lorries, but a senior councillor has admitted the council should have waited before adopting the new technology.

A Freedom of Information request from 2024 shows the council spent £8.7m on its fleet of 20 electric bin lorries, which have encountered a series of problems since their adoption.

Some of the problems included charging faults which led to reliability problems on the road, as well as capacity concerns and range problems when collecting garden waste.