Galway City Council deploys 8 fully-electric vans

The initiative is part of the drive to zero-emission vehicles

Galway City Council has deployed 8 fully-electric vans which will be used by staff across different departments, from Community Wardens to Housing Maintenance, starting next week.

Tit for tat

The procurement is part of Phase 1 of the conversion of the City Council fleet to zero emission vehicles. The 8 Nissan e-NV200 vans will replace 8 diesel vans, currently running errands in the Irish city.

This initiative forms part of the Galway City Council Climate Action Plan, and confirms the local government’s ambition to lead the way in switching from fossil fuels to alternative sources of propulsion, mitigating climate change, and improving air quality.

Welcoming the move towards electric vehicles, Mayor of Galway City Colette Connolly, said, as quoted by the city website: “Local Government plays a key role in the delivery of Ireland’s National Climate Action ambition, Galway City Council is showing our intent and commitment in aiding to achieve these targets by phase 1 of the conversion of City Council fleet to fully-electric vehicles and making our contribution to the national decarbonisation effort.”

Ireland: 51 percent decarbonised by 2030, emission-free by 2050

Brendan McGrath, Chief Executive of Galway City Council, added: “The 2020 Programme for Government has set out an ambitious target to achieve a 51 percent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2030 and “net zero” emissions by 2050. One of the key interventions in achieving this is to increase the number of electric vehicles (EV) on our roads, reducing our reliance on fossil fuel energy consumption and greenhouse gases.

Galway City Council recognises the vital role the organisation has to play in relation to Climate Change mitigation and adaptation, as part of the Galway City Council Climate Action Plan. The deployment of the 8 fully-electric vans is the start of the conversion of the City Council fleet, which we look forward to expanding in the coming years.”

This initiative is fully funded by Galway City Council, which hopes to proceed with Phase 2 in 2022, removing more diesel engines from the streets of Galway.