Decision details

To seek approval to enter into a funding agreement with, and accept grant funding from, Highways England Electric Van Centre of Excellence capital funding of £896,400 for:

•           An ‘Electric Van Centre of Excellence’ which will provide local fleet operators with an opportunity to gain operational experience with electric vans as a precursor to purchasing similar vehicles, with a priority focus on those in the Lower Don Valley likely to make use of both the local and SRN network.

That authority be given for:-

(a) the acceptance of the grant as set out within the report; and

(b) the Council to enter into a grant funding agreement with Highways England.

The option proposed (30 vehicles plus public rapid chargers to support the scheme) maximises benefits to air quality and carbon emission reductions whilst being able to accommodate the vehicles in-house, resulting in a stronger proposal which could be produced within the bid timescales.

The funding is appropriate to support the Council’s ambition of improving air quality in Sheffield.

Sheffield City Council considered the following options:-

Option 1 – Not applying for the Electric Van Centre of Excellence funding.  This was discounted as the Council has a requirement to improve Sheffield’s air quality.

Option 2 – Bid for a smaller scheme (20 vehicles) and no public chargers. This was discounted as less ambitious, air quality improvements would be lower and Invest to Save case weaker.

Option 3 – Bid for a larger scheme (60 vehicles) plus public chargers. This would have required the purchase of additional land to store the vehicles, and would be likely to require operation by an external provider. This was less likely to receive support from Highways England due to less certain deliverability, much longer implementation timescale (for land purchase) and a lack of revenue funding (no longer ‘invest to save’ as exceeds capacity to incorporate into fleet).