Mansfield District Council’s first electric vehicle (EV) has hit the road as part of the authority’s ambition to be a carbon neutral authority by 2040.

The Maxus eDeliver 9 van is being used by plumbers in the Housing Repairs team and will be charged overnight at council depots.

It is one of the first batch of electric vehicles at the council as it starts to phase out older diesel vehicles at the end of their economic life.

The new van is expected to cover about 130 miles on a single battery charge, which will cost around £1.50. This is estimated to be a tenth of the cost of using diesel.

The new vehicles will be evaluated on their performance over fuel costs, value for money, and cutting emissions over the coming year and, if successful, will pave the way to a wider vehicle replacement roll-out in the council fleet.

The Mayor of Mansfield, Andy Abrahams, said: “We are excited to be moving forward with replacing the council’s vehicles with EVs.

“It is a major investment but it makes so much sense, both in economic terms and in cutting carbon emissions.

“Getting over 100 miles on the road for less than the cost of three pints of milk has to be a good move.”

Every department in the council is seeking ways to be cleaner and greener, and the authority has also been selected to take part in national schemes on tree planting and decarbonising social housing.

The council is currently running a public consultation on climate change until 4th April. Details of this and the council’s draft Climate Change Strategy document can be found at www.mansfield.gov.uk/climatechange.