Scottish Water’s first fully-electric HGV has hit the streets of Glasgow to provide waste water services to customers in the city.
The tanker represents a key milestone in the publicly owned utility’s transition of its fleet to net zero, joining 187 fleet vans and 500 fully electric vehicles (EV).
The vehicle, which can charge at 240kW per hour and be fully powered in under three hours, will be operated during the day and charged overnight. It is one of the first in the UK to be delivered by Scania.
In addition to the EVs on its fleet, Scottish Water has installed 374 EV charging points across the country which are increasingly using renewable energy generated on sites.
It has also begun trialling the use of hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) in its commercial vehicle fleet.
Mark Hunter, Development Services General Manager at Scottish Water, said:
“We did a pilot several months ago working with all the teams involved in operating the tanker, to make sure that this vehicle would be fit for purpose.
“It is vital that as well as helping Scottish Water reach its net zero targets, that it is a functional vehicle for the teams that use it and can deliver what they need – which I’m very pleased to say it does.”
Scottish Water Fleet Manager, Elaine Pringle, said:
“The addition of our first fully electric HGV to our fleet is a key milestone in our transition journey, helping us to make the leap from decarbonising the smaller vehicles used across Scottish Water to focusing on the next steps that we need to take in order to reach net zero.
“There was a lot of work done to ensure that we ended up with a vehicle that the waste water team could have confidence in using on a daily basis and I’m delighted to see the tanker now in operation and helping to deliver vital services to our customers in Glasgow.”
Image courtesy of Scottish Water
