Nottingham to invest in depot EV upgrade

Electric Vehicle

Nottingham City Council is to fund an electricity capacity upgrade for its Eastcroft depot, which is becoming a centre for electric vehicle activities. 

The depot houses the majority of the council’s vehicle fleet, about 140 (30 per cent) of which have already been converted to battery electric, funded by the Office for Low Emission Vehicles. Nottingham has purchased two electric refuse vehicles for delivery this autumn.

The council has also secured funding from the EU’s Interreg North West Europe CleanMobilEnergy project to run what Nottingham says will be the UK’s largest vehicle to grid (V2G) trial, with 40 chargepoints allowing the bidirectional flow of electricity, from the grid to vehicles and from vehicles to the grid and adjacent buildings.

A large lithium-ion battery is proposed for installation at the site to supply electricity at peak times.

Eastcroft will also house what the council says will be the UK’s first ULEV service centre run by a local authority – Nottingham Electric Vehicle Services – that will offer services to the general public.

Katie Greenhalgh, the council’s enegy projects manager, said the site’s electricity supply could not support all these demands. Working with Western Power Distribution, the council has developed proposals to consolidate the six existing supplies of electricity to the depot into a single high voltage cable with a new substation.

The council has not revealed the cost of the works.