Case study: an electrification strategy for a council fleet
As COP27 begins in Egypt, we’re taking a look at some of the steps local authorities can take to meet net zero targets. Transport accounts for around a third of carbon emissions, and decarbonising a council’s fleet is vital in reducing its impact, as well as improving air quality. For a deeper dive into some of our fleet electrification work in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, DG Cities’ Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Specialist, Ash Burton explains how we used depot, fleet and operational analysis to develop and cost scenarios for the transition to cleaner, greener council vehicles.
As part of the council’s wider carbon neutral aims, the Royal Borough of Greenwich (RBG) has an ambition to convert its fleet to be fully electric in the coming years. RBG’s fleet consists of more than 500 vehicles, a proportion of which are currently electric. In order to sustain an all-electric fleet, RBG need to upgrade their electrical infrastructure at their two main depots and consider further installations across other areas of the borough.
DG Cities worked alongside RBG to develop a business case for the transition. This sets out proposals, costs, a delivery plan and the risks and benefits for the electrification of their vehicle fleet. The study explored three different electrification scenarios to provide a range of cost options.
This included:
Scenario one: Main depots to support the whole electric fleet.
Scenario two: Main depots to support the fleet, but reliance on smart charging, charge time optimisation and battery storage to minimise overall capital investment required. Home agreement vehicles to be charging at home. Solar photovoltaics could also act as an additional technological solution to potentially supplement the final design.
Scenario three: Main depots to support the fleet as in scenario two, but with maximum reliance on off-site charging as well.
Scenario evaluation
After discussions with the council’s fleet management team, we developed the details of the three scenarios. Scenario one would include a designated charger for each vehicle at the main depots. This would enable each vehicle to be charged whenever necessary without the need for scheduled charging. Operationally, this would work well, as drivers could plug in their vehicle at the end of each shift and there would be no worry regarding charging availability. However, it isn’t totally necessary for each vehicle to have its own charger, as most vehicles would not need to charge every day due to lower mileage. This means that vehicles could share chargers and have their own set days to charge. Also, this would be a lot cheaper for the council, as it would reduce their capital expenditure. This is why scenario two and three were developed.
Scenario two and three would both include a scheduled approach to charging, which reduces the number of chargers required at the depot. Each service would have a dedicated number of chargers based on their fleet. The services would schedule their vehicles' charging patterns based on their planned daily and weekly usage. These two scenarios would also include the possibility of home charging for those vehicles within the fleet that have a home agreement. The drivers of these vehicles could potentially have charge points installed at their homes and charge their vehicles overnight, or drivers could use nearby public charge points. For scenario three, the possibility of further offsite charging was included for vehicles that make longer, more frequent stops at repeated locations. Scenario two and three would both require fewer chargers located at the depot and would effectively be less costly.
Understanding the fleet
One of the first steps of the process was to ensure that we fully understand the workings and demands of the entire vehicle fleet. We wanted to know how often vehicles went out each week, how many miles they were doing daily and what their typical pattern looked like. This involved an in depth analysis of the vehicles using a full fleet list, fuel consumption data and trip telematics provided by RBG. The fleet was analysed by service and vehicle type, and typical daily and weekly usage of each vehicle was determined. This allowed us to calculate how often each vehicle would need to charge throughout the week, whilst being able to carry out their usual weekly patterns. From this, we were able to work out how many chargers each service would need to maintain their fleet. For this piece of work, we wanted to propose that services have their own designated chargers as it would make it easier operationally for the fleet as each service would have their own set of chargers and can schedule when their vehicles should charge. This reduces the risk of over-booking chargers between services.
We also wanted to work out how much it would cost RBG to replace their current vehicle fleet with electric vehicles. Currently, vehicles have a seven year replacement cycle within RBG. The full fleet included expected replacement years for each vehicle and, alongside this, a list of potential replacement vehicles was developed which identified possible electric alternatives to each vehicle type. We were able to estimate how much it would cost annually to gradually electrify the fleet as vehicles meet the end of their replacement cycle each year.
Understanding the depot
We also needed to understand the depot, this included how things currently operate, what electrical infrastructure is currently in place and what would have to change to support a fully electric fleet. Our subcontractor, UKPN Services, carried out electrical site surveys at the two main depots to establish current infrastructure and also drafted cost estimates and concept designs showing the locations of required equipment based on the three different electrification scenarios developed. UKPN Services also submitted a request to the distribution network operator (DNO) to provide a quote for electrical upgrade for each scenario. Ultimately, we were able to provide full estimates for capital and operational costs for each electrification scenario. This included electrical upgrade and infrastructure costs, vehicle replacement costs and full operational expenditure.
Working with the council
Throughout the project, we worked closely with RBG’s fleet management team, using their expertise and understanding of the fleet and depot to ensure our proposals align with their aims. During the project, we also met with managers of the largest services within the fleet. We discussed the typical running pattern of their vehicles, what their schedule entails and any causes of concern when it comes to electrification. We also spoke about what each electrification scenario would mean for the service. For example, scenario two and three could involve vehicles in some services to charge at home or offsite - we discussed how this would work and how it would benefit the council. At major milestones throughout the project, we arranged workshops with relevant wider RBG colleagues to share project progress and discuss any thoughts or concerns regarding the proposals.
Electrifying the vehicle fleet will bring the council a step closer to carbon neutrality. The process of electrification will be gradual, and will get easier in years to come as better technologies and more infrastructure become available. This project has made it clear that this is not a ‘one solution fixes all’ issue, it will take several solutions to play their part in the transition to electric.