Bradford Council is trialling an EV gritter which is 100% electric, can achieve a full charge in less than two hours, runs near silent and offers a range of up to 170 miles, depending on load and road conditions.
The electric gritter, leased from Yorkshire-based Econ Engineering, is funded from Clean Air Zone revenue so is offering a saving to the Council base budget. It is expected that there will be operational savings of around 0.13p/mile (based on current cost/KW and current price per gallon diesel).
Expanding on its fully electric HGV vehicle trial, the Council is keen to evaluate how moving to fully EV gritters could be possible in the future.
The trial will explore the vehicle’s attributes on different routes, capturing real time data from the vehicle such as the location, vehicle performance and battery life. The performance data will be analysed and used to assess the practicality of EV gritters for future years as well as on the use of new cost-saving technologies.
Callum Mapplebeck, principal engineer at Bradford Council , says: “Our drivers have reported that the electric gritter is a lot cleaner to recharge rather than refuelling, has no oil so there are no oil leaks and it a is offers a quiet drive which is a benefit when gritting in residential areas.”
As part of a school competition, pupils at Dixons Music Primary Academy have named the electric gritter “Glittery Ice Machine”. The EV gritter will be integrated into the Bradford Council fleet based out of Wakefield Road Depot where it will be treating roads in Little Horton, Great Horton, Wibsey, Woodside and the city centre.
